Ellyse Perry

Perry’s cricketing journey has been quite unusual. She holds the distinction of representing her country in both cricket and football and is a generational talent who has been a global icon of the game and female sport.

Perry is an all-rounder who bats right-handed and occasionally bowls right-arm medium pace. Perry was fast-tracked from a very early age and was included in Australia’s ODI squad to face New Zealand in 2007, despite never playing a single domestic match at the senior level. Australia's women's team had been looking for a replacement for fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick, and Perry fitted in that role perfectly.

However, she had a certain liking for football and went onto represent her nation at the 2011 Fifa Women’s World Cup, and became the only sportswoman to represent her nation in two different sports.

As far as her cricketing journey is concerned, Perry made her first appearance at a major ICC tournament in the 2009 Women’s Cricket World Cup. She was at her best against the Windies in a group stage match, scoring 36 and scalping 2 crucial wickets to earn the player of the match award.

The following year, Perry was instrumental in Australia’s triumph at the Women’s T20I World Cup, held in West Indies. She performed with both bat & bowl and was outstanding under pressure situations. In the final against New Zealand, Perry took 3 for 18 and was awarded player of the match as Australia clinched the T20 title.

She was again the star of the show in the 2012 Women’s T20 World Cup final, where the all-rounder took a solitary wicket, but kept the scoring rate down as Australia went onto win back-to-back World titles.

During a two-year period between 2016-2018, Perry was in the form of her life, especially in the ODI format. In the 23 innings she played, Perry made 17 scores of at least 50 runs at an average of 89.53.

Her dominance continued in the 2017 Women’s Ashes series, wherein the day-night Test at Sydney, she slammed a sensational double ton while no other batswoman managed to score more than 47. The match was drawn, but Perry hogged all the limelight for her skills and temperament. 

Perry was named in the Australian squad for the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup. During a quarterfinal clash with New Zealand, Perry tore her hamstring and was subsequently ruled out of the tournament as the Aussies clinched their fifth World T20 title. 

In the same year, she was named by Wisden as the Cricketer of the Year for her performances in 2019.

A generational talent, Perry has been instrumental in Australia’s success over the last decade or so. She has contributed heavily with both bat & the bowl and the ability to score quickly and take wickets at crucial junctures makes her a special player. 

(As of March 21)