Often a bowler’s graveyard, North Sydney Oval was tamed today by Megan Schutt, who recorded her first international five-wicket haul
Schutt tames North Sydney graveyard with first five-fa
Megan Schutt and North Sydney Oval have traditionally not been the greatest of allies, but the Australian spearhead is beginning to make the iconic venue her own.
Two months after taking the best figures in WBBL history at the ground – her 6-19 for Adelaide Strikers against Sydney Thunder during the final weekend of the regular season – Schutt picked up the first five-wicket haul of her international career.
She ran through the Pakistan line-up to finish with 5-15 in the opening T20I at North Sydney, ticking off one of the few remaining achievements she had yet to unlock in a career filled with highlights.
Schutt’s figures were the third-best by an Australian woman in a T20I, behind Molly Strano’s 5-10 against New Zealand and Jess Jonassen’s 5-12 against India.
"I'm glad to tick the box because I've had a lot of four-fas in my life and I've never been able to do that," Schutt, who celebrated her 30th birthday earlier this month, said.
"So I hit 30 and now it happens … maybe 30 is not too bad.
"The thing is I normally really hate North Sydney Oval, it’s not a bowling friendly place.
"And my god, I've had some bad memories here.
"So it's nice to actually swing that around … it's been a good 12 months (playing here), but prior to that my stats probably weren't as great."
Schutt sat out the second ODI against Pakistan last week, with Australia eager to manage the right-armer’s workloads heading into next month’s T20 World Cup in South Africa.
The South Australian said she hoped to feature in all three T20Is against Pakistan, but conceded she may ultimately be overruled by team medical staff.
"I'm pretty happy to be getting to the T20 format, to be honest," Schutt said.
"It's all a bit (to do with) my age, to be honest, a bit of load management.
"No one really likes missing a game, but I'm getting a bit smarter in terms of accepting when I need to actually have a rest.
"So I didn't argue (missing out in Brisbane) as much as I normally do.
"It's nice to be coming out to the T20 format and only bowling 24 balls."
One job Schutt will not be sticking her hand up for in a hurry is the role of back-up wicketkeeper.
Beth Mooney did not open the batting in Australia’s chase of Pakistan’s 118 all out, suffering from soreness after standing in for injured Alyssa Healy behind the stumps during the three ODIs and in the first innings of Tuesday’s game.
Australia do not have a reserve wicketkeeper in their 14-player one-day squad, and Healy will not be fit to return until the team arrives in South Africa.
Should Mooney be in doubt for Thursday’s second T20I in Hobart, Australia could look to draft in either NSW ‘keeper Tahlia Wilson, who was selected for the Governor-General’s XI earlier this month but was forced to withdraw from the game due to COVID, or Victorian Nicole Faltum, who ended up playing the GGXI game in Wilson’s place.
Queensland and Brisbane Heat wicketkeeper Georgia Redmayne, who was a travelling reserve for last year’s one-day World Cup in New Zealand, is unavailable after rupturing her Achilles tendon during the WBBL finals.
"I think I'd be absolutely terrible," Schutt laughed when asked if she had ever kept wicket.
"My back mobility is horrid, my squat's terrible, I've got a bad knee, I just think I'd be pretty bad with the gloves ... I struggle to catch without the gloves so I'd probably be bad with them too."
CommBank T20I Series
Tuesday Jan 24: North Sydney Oval, 1:45pm
Thursday Jan 26: Blundstone Arena, Hobart, 7:05pm
Sunday Jan 29: Manuka Oval, Canberra, 1:45pm
Buy #AUSvPAK T20 tickets here
Australia T20I squad: Meg Lanning (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham
Pakistan T20I squad: Bismah Maroof (c), Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Fatima Sana, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hassan