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Katherine Brunt admits reaching the milestone of 100 one-day international wickets would mean “everything” ahead of England women’s three-match series in South Africa.
The Yorkshire seamer, fresh from helping Perth Scorchers reach the finals of the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League, needs just one more wicket to reach the landmark which could come when England face South Africa in Benoni next Sunday.
Having made her debut against the Proteas in 2005, Brunt would become the fourth English bowler to reach the landmark and after ongoing back injuries throughout her career, she feels this moment would be the icing on the cake for the hard work put it off the field.
“It’s felt like a long time coming to be fair,” Brunt told ecb.co.uk.
“Obviously I’ve been riddled with back injuries my whole career so it’s just something I’ve had to manage and I’ve worked really hard over the past couple of years to get myself on the pitch for a consistent amount of time.
“So to be able to do that and reach milestones like I did in the summer with the 50th T20 cap, and approaching 100 wickets just means everything to me. This is where I’m at my most happy so each milestone is another dream come true.”
Brunt is in good form after she was the Scorchers’ joint-leading wicket taker at the recent WBBL, along with former England team-mate Nicky Shaw, with 16 wickets including figures of 4-17 in their opening match against Brisbane Heat.
The 30-year-old right-armer was pleased to finally participate in a domestic competition abroad.
“I really enjoyed it,” added Brunt.
“I’ve been waiting a good 10 years to experience some domestic cricket abroad and it’s just really good to, A: be a part of the first (Women’s) Big Bash League in history, and B: to be playing amongst the best players in the world.”
England women will play South Africa in three ODIs before finishing the tour with three Twenty20 matches and Brunt spoke on the in conditions compared to those she bowled on for the past two months.
Brunt said: “The ball actually swings a lot more so I’m just channelling the ball and what area I want to bowl so I need to bowl tighter lines.
“I’ve been practising a few variations and a few yorkers as I’ll probably get two or three spells here as opposed to just the one so it’s a bit of an adjustment.”
Source: ECB