Emily Drumm set to reach 100 ODI caps on her “fantastic journey”

New Zealand batter Emily Drumm has admitted the prospect of reaching 100 ODI caps was a motivating factor for her to come back from a career-threatening injury.

Fitness and weather permitting, the 31 year-old right-hander will reach that landmark against India at Lincoln on Saturday, only the fifth woman to achieve the feat, and she will do so after her career appeared to be over.

Drumm returned home from the Women's World Cup in South Africa in early 2005 with a serious hamstring injury but after plenty of soul-searching she decided to play on.

And her reward for that decision is to join Australia's Belinda Clark, fellow New Zealander Debbie Hockley and the England duo of Clare Taylor and Jane Smit as the only players with 100 ODI caps.

"I had mentally decided to finish after the last World Cup," said Drumm. "It was my fourth (World Cup) and whatever the result it would have been a nice way to finish.

"But to be forced to come home after two games of the tournament with no chance to play a part in defending the title (New Zealand won in 2000) because of something out of my control was very disappointing.

"It was a major low and I could not finish that way. I had given too much to walk away so I decided to give it another nudge and 100 caps was a motivation to get there.

"It was hard, both mentally and physically, because my rehabilitation took three months but I am glad I made that effort. It has been a fantastic journey for me over 15 years and I have had an enjoyable time getting to the magical figure."

But despite her obvious pleasure at the impending achievement, Drumm - also the fourth-highest run-scorer in ODI history - was keen to stress that figures were not the be-all and end-all for her.

"It is something I am very proud about and I feel a real sense of achievement but I do not play with statistics in mind," she said.

"I want to leave with a respectable record but the main thing for me is to win cups and trophies.

"If I score a century in a final and lose a match then it means nothing to me and that is why I love cricket so much.

"There is individual recognition like this but I could go through life without it and I would always rather have what we won when I was captain."

Talking of which, it is not hard to guess Drumm's career highlight.

"By far it was winning the World Cup in 2000," she said. "You don't get many chances at winning one and to do it on home soil and as captain made it a dream come true.

"As an 18 year-old I had a terrible final at Lord's (against England) in 1993 so there was also a part of me trying to bury some demons.

"It was the Holy Grail for all of us with months of planning and hard work and to come up against our nemesis, Australia, and beat them when it really counted... You could not have written a better script as there was such a sense of achievement."

Memories like that make playing cricket seem like an attractive option and Drumm is happy to confirm that fact.

"It is fantastic. It is a non-contact sport, unlike soccer or rugby, and it has helped me learn so much from a young age," she said.

"It is a team sport that puts you in pressure situations and sees how you respond and in that sense it correlates to the working environment. It pushes you out of your comfort zone, you meet like-minded people and some of them become friends for life.

"So if anyone is considering a career in cricket there is now a fantastic pathway to the White Ferns (the New Zealand women's team) and I hope I have inspired girls to take up the game," she added.

And the secret of Drumm's successful career? Hard work, lots of it and no short cuts.

"I had a very supportive family that encouraged and pushed me but from my early 20s I realised I was on my own and it was up to me," she said.

"What I have achieved in the last five, six or seven years is largely down to what I have put in with training. Some seasons have been poor and that is probably down to a lack of work.

"You may think you can rely on coaches but you really do have to drive yourself as a non-professional athlete and if you are not driven in that way then you are only half-prepared and you get found out pretty quickly."

Given that mentality, can Drumm keep driving herself for much longer, especially once the landmark of 100 caps has been reached?

"I do not know what is left," she said. "I only decided in September to play this season and even then there were no guarantees I would make it into the side if the selectors decided to rebuild for the next World Cup.

"I got good support from the coach and the selectors which made it easy and I had a good domestic season too.

"But in a week's time I will be back at work (as an account manager for Konika Minolta) making up for the two weeks I have taken off here and so I do not know what the future holds. Nowadays I just take it very much season by season," she added.