Megan Schutt gets ready for 200th international outing – ‘It’s a stupid game but I just love it’

But she is revelling at the prospect of achieving the milestone when Australia host South Africa on Saturday in the opening fixture of the three-match one-day series at her beloved home ground, the Adelaide Oval.

“It makes you feel a bit old, to be honest,” Schutt, the 31-year-old quick, told reporters on Friday. “Game one, I didn’t even expect to play that in my lifetime. So to get to 200 is pretty darn cool and having it at Adelaide Oval is fate in itself and extremely special.”

Schutt is just the sixth woman to reach 200 internationals across formats.

“I love the game,” she said. “It’s a stupid game and there’s so much more failure than success but I just love it. I love the people that are involved in it, and it’s a game that keeps evolving as well. I keep striving to be better. Being a fast bowler in a batter’s game is quite tough but I kind of like the challenge.

“Admittedly it’s a bit harder to get out of bed in the mornings. But I’ll keep pushing hard in the gym, doing what I can, and if I keep getting a contract, I will keep playing”

Megan Schutt

“The most rewarding part is being a bowler and having played that much cricket, there’s not many players around that have played as much cricket as I have. I guess not being an express pace bowler helps me, but [reaching 200 games] as a bowler is probably a special achievement.”

Schutt, who made her international debut in an ODI in December 2012, said she would continue playing “as long as my body holds out and as long as Cricket Australia want me”.

“Admittedly, it’s a bit harder to get out of bed in the mornings,” she said. “But I’ll keep pushing hard in the gym, doing what I can, and if I keep getting a contract, I will keep playing.”

Schutt, who has taken 260 wickets in her 87 ODIs, 108 T20Is and four Test matches, nominated Australia’s 2020 World Cup T20 triumph as her career highlight.

“I mean, 86,000 people at the MCG; I was super-sceptical that we were going to get 20,000,” she said. “That was a real life-changing moment for me and something I’ll always remember. If I had to bank one moment in my life, it’s probably that.”