Schutt poised for 100 club, but no end in sight

Despite conceding her days as a Test cricketer are done and admitting that "some mornings I wake up and feel 50", Megan Schutt has no plans to call time on her decorated international career.

Schutt, who turns 31 in January, will become the 27th women's player – and just the fifth representing Australia – to reach 100 T20 International appearances when the three-match Commonwealth Bank Series against West Indies begins at North Sydney Oval on Sunday.

She is also the sole specialist pace bowler among her teammates who share that achievement – Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Meg Lanning and Jess Jonassen – and could join Perry and Lanning as the only others to date to have also played 100-plus ODIs if she adds significantly to her current tally of 82 one-dayers.

Given Schutt has identified the 2025 ICC World Cup in India as a potential stepping-off point from international cricket, and noting the packed schedule Australia's all-conquering women's outfit faces over the coming six months, it's feasible she will finish as a 100-club member in both formats.

But having been overlooked for Australia's past two Test encounters (Ashes matches against England at Manuka Oval in 2022 and Trent Bridge earlier this year), the swing-bowling specialist accepts her Test total will remain at four.

"If I play a Test in the future, that would be great but that's not really my goal if I'm honest, and I don't think that's CA's (Cricket Australia's) goal," Schutt said prior to the start of the women's team international home summer.

"I've ticked that goal, that's fantastic.

"I've been part of a winning Ashes Test, and some of the most thrilling moments in my life have been in Tests but I have achieved that and now there are some new kids on the block.

"Plus the body isn't what it used to be, and I understand that short format is where I have the most impact.

"So I'm really making sure I'm fit and ready to go for those."

The physical wear and tear experienced by pace bowlers explains why so few feature in the lists of most-capped players across all formats, and Schutt has endured more than a decade in that demanding role at international level.

Her recollections of her T20I debut (against New Zealand at the MCG in January 2013) are as scant as those of maiden ODI (against the same opponent at North Sydney a month earlier) mainly because the newcomer struggled to make an impact in either game.

But since then, Schutt has been part of Australia's ODI World Cup triumphs in 2013 and 2022, plus their string of T20 World Cup successes in 2018, 2020 and this year in South Africa in addition to a Commonwealth Games gold medal and a ranking as best bowler in the women's game.

Indeed, the only teams to break Australia's stranglehold on those global trophies since Schutt became a regular member of the star-studded Australia team have been West Indies (2016 T20 World Cup winners) and arch-rivals England (2017 ODI World Cup).

Rather like their male counterparts, this year's Ashes campaign in the UK saw Australia's women retain the urn but only by dint of early results before England stormed home at the back end of the series to produce a drawn final scoreline.

"We weren't overly pleased with how our Ashes campaign went, retaining (the urn) was great but we really wanted to win that," Schutt said.

"We caught up together as a group at our recent media content camp, and went through more where we want to get to versus where we've been.

"I won't go into detail too much, but we had some points where we knew we were beaten, and areas where we weren't overly consistent and (identified) some areas to address that.

"So hopefully a new style of cricket going forward.

"There's a few things internally that we're going through at the minute, that we might try and input during this West Indies series.

"With some new faces in the team and some of the older girls to help as well, hopefully we can tick that off."

While the West Indies women's results have fluctuated significantly since their T20 World Cup victory over Australia in India seven years ago, the reigning titleholders will be understandably wary when of their opponents when they regroup in Sydney for their first competitive outing since the Ashes.

Under skipper Hayley Matthews, West Indies endured a tough T20 World Cup campaign in South Africa earlier this year where losses to England and India followed by narrow wins over Ireland and Pakistan saw them fail to progress beyond the group stage.

But Matthews then led her team to a clean sweep of the ODI and T20I series against Ireland in the Caribbean, and her players have since tuned up for their Australia tour through involvement in the recently completed Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament.

As a result, Schutt is expecting the unexpected from her mercurial foes and looks forward to the challenge of having to problem solve in real-time during matches depending on whether the West Indies are having an 'on' or 'off' day.

"I think the West Indies women are a lot like the West Indies men, where you don't really know until you turn up what they're going to bring," she said.

"They can play some amazing cricket if they decide to, and I think that's going to be probably biggest part.

"They are an explosive bunch of cricketers, they've just had a really successful CPL over there and I've watched some of their scores and some of their big hits.

"So it's a little bit worrying from a bowler's perspective how hard they're going to hit the ball.

"I think that's perfect prep for the T20 World Cup in the future, it's perfect prep for the Big Bash.

"And to be honest it's the type of cricket I prefer.

"If I can think on my toes, it's really refreshing and keeps it exciting."

CommBank T20s v West Indies 2023

First T20: October 1, North Sydney Oval, 12pm AEDT

Second T20: October 2, North Sydney Oval, 7.05pm AEDT

Third T20: October 5, Allan Border Field, 7.05pm AEDT

CommBank ODIs v West Indies 2023

First ODI: October 8, Allan Border Field, 10.35am AEDT

Second ODI: October 12, Junction Oval, 10.05am AEDT

First ODI: October 14, Junction Oval, 10.05am AEDT

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris (T20Is only), Jess Jonassen, Alana King (ODIs only), Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

West Indies squad: Hayley Matthews (c), Shemaine Campbelle (vc), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Stafanie Taylor, Rashada Williams