Ton of wickets better than a World Cup win: Coyte

Sarah Coyte ranks claiming 100 WBBL wickets as a bigger personal achievement than any feat from her international career.

Bigger than her Australian debut in 2010, her first Baggy Green in 2011, and even bigger than her player-of-the-match effort in the 2014 Twenty20 World Cup final.

She feels this is bigger, because when a battle with anorexia nervosa ended her career six years ago at 24, she was adamant she would never play again.

"I was already playing cricket when I did all that," Coyte said of her international achievements.

"I was already there, I was already playing. The ultimate goal for me was to play for Australia when I was a kid, sure.

"But this would probably be the biggest achievement, to contribute 100 times with wickets.

"Given six years ago I was so sure that I would never play cricket again ... It's harder to get back once you stop."

A teenage debutant for Australia who took 100 international wickets, Coyte has made no secret of the challenges she faced in that period.

"At one point I was heading towards having to be admitted to hospital with my eating disorder," Coyte said.

"Because I was running 10km a day and riding a lot. I would have panic attacks after if I was by myself. I was stuffed."

Which is why she classes her second phase in cricket a greater achievement than anything achieved in her first.

Brought back by the Sydney Sixers in 2018, Coyte won a title before being among Adelaide's leading wicket-takers in recent seasons.

On Sunday she became just the eighth WBBL player to reach the 100-wicket milestone, with 3-22 at her new club the Melbourne Renegades in their last-ball loss to the Stars.

"When I came back it was, 'If I am in a better state of mind and am healthy and happier, then let's see how good we can be'," Coyte said.

"The outcome is different now when I'm angry about cricket. 

"I have a bad game or whatever. I have flashbacks and I think it could be a lot worse.

"I'm not making myself so anxious and worked up that I will vomit now. It's all on my terms."

Coyte has also gone from full-time athlete in the first half of her career to part-time now, in a period where the sport has turned professional.

The 31-year-old has returned to working in a gym, with the WBBL her only block of full-time cricket along with fly-in fly-out games for Tasmania.

"This year has been tougher," she said.

"The game is really evolving a lot, a lot of the girls are playing 360-degrees.

"I've been training a lot more than I ever have to refine my skills and just making sure I can still execute."

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