“What that defeat brought was a form of professionalism and accountability that we didn’t have back then”
“And what that [defeat] brought was a form of professionalism and accountability that we didn’t have back then. And now we have plans A through to F and that was the kick up the butt that we kind of needed. So, as much as we can talk about that being a failure and whatnot, that actually created a really good dynasty for us and it’s nice five years later to finally be in a final.”
“That was my first thought when we heard she was having back spasms that surely she’s not missing another World Cup final. It’s a tough break for someone who’s had such a long and successful career. It’d be crazy if she couldn’t take the field on Sunday.
“But one plus is we have a whole bench to back that up. So as much as I would love Pez to be on that field and she would love that, too, we know we’ve got the replacements for that, but hopefully that doesn’t come [to that].
“She’s a supportive player. We’re all pretty lucky that we get along beautifully and love each other’s company. So it’s just making sure we rally around Pez who’s not playing, so it’s more so that role but we all had a bit of a laugh and she’s a calm head.
“For someone like Belsy (Sutherland), who she really takes under her wing, they both come in and bowl pretty hard. I can see a lot of Belsy and Pez and I think that’s a beautiful sight.”
Schutt said she was particularly pleased with how clinical Australia had been in this World Cup, never dropping a game despite the stiff challenge posed in patches by some of their opponents.
“It’s a dream start,” she said about Australia’s unbeaten run leading into title clash on Sunday. “We’ve had some tough games there. I mean, this tournament has been so tightly contested and to come away with eight straight [wins], I think speaks volumes of the cricket we’ve been playing.
“I think today [Wednesday] was definitely a more clinical performance [in the semi-final against West Indies] and one we’d be more happy with when we’re going through our reviews which is crazy to have that kind of form coming in.
“We’ve been playing consistent cricket for a very long time now and I genuinely believe we deserve to be in this position but to do eight straight so far, is great. But we know that there’s one more game to go and whoever our opponent may be hopefully we can just play our best cricket.”
Annesha Ghosh is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @ghosh_annesha