Megan Schutt’s seven-month-old World Cup companion as cricket ramps up support for mums

She’s tasted success in every format, her trophy cabinet is complete.

And while she wants nothing more than to add another 50-over World Cup victory medal to her collection, she’s never been more content than when she walks off the field, gets back to her hotel room in New Zealand and sees her seven-month-old daughter, Rylee, cheekily grinning back at her.

“I guess it puts life into perspective,” Schutt says.

“[Motherhood] wasn’t going to change anything on the field. We’re all naturally competitive and that will never change, but it’s definitely changed off of it.

“You come off a bad loss or being thumped for a couple of overs and you get home and Rylee gives you a little smile and suddenly you forget all about that. I don’t sit there stressing about my bowling figures or whatnot. When you’ve got the distraction of Rylee you don’t have time to have those thoughts.”

While riding the ups and downs of raising a young child on tour with her partner Jess has been challenging – “I’m not overly functional in the mornings” – the occasional sleepless night has been worth it considering how much of Rylee’s development she would have missed spending six weeks in New Zealand alone.

“In the time that Rylee’s been here, she‘s changed completely,” Schutt says. “She’s not only bigger but just in the way she’s developed in that time. I would have kicked myself for missing all of that.

“… But especially with our first child, it is super lucky that they were able to have an exemption and get over here.”

A report by Cricinfo confirmed there are eight mothers competing in this year’s World Cup with more support for than ever before.

Schutt says such a balance between cricket and home life was unlikely even just five years ago.

“I think there’s lots of people who have thought about kids for years,” Schutt says.

“Sometimes it takes a great policy to come into place to go, ‘Hey, we’re going to support you girls financially and we’re going to make sure you’re looked after and in every other way’. It just wasn’t there five years ago. And I think that’s the beauty of it.

“You’re seeing the number of babies that there are around world cricket at the moment, it’s showing that if the support is there, people are going to use it. I’m glad that we can kind of blaze a trail for the future.

“For me, I don‘t know if I’ll use it in terms of carrying a baby myself and coming back, but hopefully you know, girls that are a bit younger now know that that’s an option for them in the future.”

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Schutt has been Australia’s most-used bowler this tournament, sending down 63 overs ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final against the West Indies, often to the detriment of her own bowling figures.

Her role throughout the World Cup has been to lock down an end and get the new ball to swing – often helping to create opportunities for those bowling at the other end. But stats have never worried Schutt and they’re not going to start now.

“I always call myself the workhorse – I’m always the one bowling into the stiff breeze and since we played so many games here at Welly [Wellington] I’ve been blowing,” Schutt says.

“I think I’ve bowled two overs with the breeze for the entire tournament. If I can do my job to contain and then Darcie (Brown) or Pez (Ellyse Perry) or Tahlia (McGrath) can rip through them at the other end, then I think I’ve done my job.

“As long as we’re taking them [wickets], then I’m more than happy to be that person who can just go at four or five an over.”

The unspoken trade-off for teenage phenom Brown bowling with the wind has often been babysitting duties.

“She’s taken a liking to Darcie,” Schutt says of her daughter and young teammate. “No matter what, if she sees Darcie’s face she’s going to get a smile. So she’s kind of like a bit of a fall back plan if we can’t settle Rylee then we pass her to Darcie”.

Schutt and Brown shape as Australia’s new ball pair against the West Indies after a back injury has laid Perry low once more, though there is still hope she can play in Sunday’s final with a semi-final win.

The Australians are well and truly wary of their West Indies counterparts in a World Cup celebrated as one of the closest tournaments on record. South Africa’s thrilling defeat of India – securing a semi-final clash with England – was one of nine matches where the result went down to the final over.

While Australia’s dominance has continued throughout the tournament so far, Schutt acknowledges the gap between her side and the rest of the world is closing fast, to the overall benefit of women’s cricket.

“I think back to 2017 you had the dominators and that was kind of us, England, India, maybe New Zealand on a good day. But this tournament has blown that out the water in terms of how far those teams have come,” Schutt says.

“This is what we’ve dreamt of: a tournament that is this closely contested and it goes down to the very last match, match 28 out of 28, to know who our finalists are going to be which is incredible.

“I think that shows the growth of the women’s game around the world. It shows if you put time and money and effort into the game it will grow and lead to people watching more women’s cricket in the future.”