Australian bowler Megan Schutt believes she’s played her last Test match, resigned to the fact she’s no longer in the first-choice XI for the national red-ball team.
The 30-year-old, a mainstay of the Australian side over the past decade, has played four Tests since her international debut in 2012, taking nine wickets at 20.11. The right-armed seamer claimed career-best figures of 4-26 in the first innings of Australia’s 161-run victory over England in Canterbury in 2015.
Schutt has missed three consecutive Tests since her most recent red-ball appearance during the 2019 tour in England. After not playing the 2021 pink-ball Test against India on the Gold Coast due to her first child’s birth, she was rested for last year’s Ashes Test in Canberra following a Covid-19 setback.
Earlier this year, the South Australian was controversially sidelined for the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, with selectors favouring debutant Kim Garth and young gun Darcie Brown.
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Australia is scheduled to play a day-night Test in India later this year before hosting South Africa at the WACA for a four-day contest in February. Although she’s excited at the prospect of more Test cricket on the calendar, Schutt’s not expecting to participate in either match.
“For me, it’s not really my desire anymore. I haven’t played the last few Tests, and I’m at peace with that,” Schutt told Fox Cricket.
“It’s probably not my forte. I completely understand that once the ball stops swinging, I’m not going to get a batter out with raw pace.
“I understand that my role in the team is definitely the shorter format stuff now.
“I’ll do what’s required and build up just in case I need to play, and I’m more than happy to play it, but in terms of how my body copes with that, and the actual desire to play Tests, it’s probably not what it used to be.”
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Schutt, currently fifth on the ICC women’s ODI bowling rankings, confessed her skill set is better suited for white-ball cricket, suggesting she doesn’t have the speed or fitness to earn selection for the upcoming Tests.
“I’m at the back end of my career now,” Schutt continued.
“We’re all pretty realistic. I’m 30, my knee’s probably not going to cope with bowling potentially 30 overs in four days, and that’s fine. It’s conversations we’ve had in the past.
“I’m pretty realistic, knowing that swing and slower balls are my strength, and that’s not really applicable in Test cricket. If the ball’s not swinging, that’s great, we’ll go to something else, but it’s probably not going to be leg-cutters for six overs in a row.
“It’s too late to try. I mean, I’m never going to gain 10km/h to get me into the team, so I think you’ve got to be pretty realistic about it.
“I’m not disappointed. I got to play Tests, I got to be in a winning Test side. The 2015 Test was one of my favourite memories ever in cricket, so I’ve done what I’ve wanted to do.”
Schutt was named in Australia’s 13-player squad for the upcoming T20 series against the West Indies, which gets underway at North Sydney Oval on October 1. If selected, she’ll play her 100th T20 international at the picturesque venue, becoming the fifth Australian woman to achieve the feat.
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