Some athletes are more than the numbers they produce and with her cinematic career, she is regarded as one of the biggest influences on the game.
One of the world’s most prolific all-rounders, Ellyse Perry has been in terrific form with both the bat and the ball during this season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Her valuable contributions and breathtaking cammeos have guaranteed the Royal Challengers Bangalore a spot in the finals of cricket’s queendom.
Arguably the best athlete in Australia, Belinda Clark Award winner Ellyse Perry is one of the greatest players of her generation. With more than a decade of success, Ellyse Perry is still able to retain her prime.
The story starts back in Sydney. Born on 3rd of November 1990, Perry was raised in a Sydney suburb of Wahroonga. During her school years, she played a wide range of sports besides cricket and football, which included tennis, athletics, touch football and golf. She became friends with her future Australian teammate, Alyssa Healy at the age of nine, and they played cricket together throughout their childhood.
Soon after turning 16, Perry played cricket for New South Wales in an under-19 interstate tournament in January 2007. In the three games she played, the all-rounder scored 74 runs and took three wickets. A month later, she was selected in the Australian youth team for a tour of New Zealand, playing against the hosts’ second XI. She scored 43 runs and took one wicket.
Beneath all the glory that Ellyse Perry has achieved today, it’s the hard yards that Ellyse Perry has put over the years. Her first step towards the mega stage of international cricket was when she made her debut for New South Wales’ senior side in the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) at the start of the 2007–08 season against South Australia, taking 2/29 from ten overs in a seven-wicket win. Her first WNCL scalp was Karen Rolton, rated the best batter in the world at the time
She ended her first season for New South Wales with 66 runs at 13.20 and nine wickets in seven matches. Perry went on to win ten more WNCL championships with New South Wales.
Ellyse Perry was fast-tracked into the Australian team for a series in July 2007 against New Zealand, despite having never played a match at senior level. On July 22, 2007, the 16 years – 8 months young girl was handed over her debut cap becoming the youngest cricketer ever representing Australia. Perry showed signs of greatness right from the start of her career. She went on dismissing Maria Fahey. Ellyse Perry was also handy with the bat as she went on scoring 19 off 20 balls. Her efforts went in vain as Australia faced defeat.
In her t20 debut for Australia against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Ellyse Perry bagged crucial wickets and ended up with the figures of 4 for 20. Perry late in the innings, with the bat belted 29 runs off 25 deliveries remaining not out.
Perry became the youngest-ever Australian Test cricketer, debuting at the age of 17 years and 3 months in the 2007–08 Women’s Ashes test match at the Bradman Oval in Bowral on 15 February 2008. Perry scored 21 from 77 balls before being run out.
Over the years, Ellyse Perry has made herself a name in all three cricketing formats for Australia. With her power and panashe, Perry has been delivering the goods time and again for Australia in all the major ICC Cricket tournaments. Ellyse Perry has always been a prominent member of the cricketing fraternity when it comes to ICC Women’s World Cups and ICC Women’s T20 World Cups.
With her top notch sporting abilities, it’s not just the game of cricket that Ellyse Perry has conquered. The Australian poster girl has also featured for Australia on the highest stage in the sport of football. Perry, primarily a defender, played her first match for the Australian national soccer team against Hong Kong at Hong Kong Stadium on 4 August 2007. She was 16 years and 9 months old at the time, having made her international cricket debut less than two weeks earlier, and scored a goal in the second minute of the match.
Be it piling up runs and taking wickets in cricket or be it scoring goals in football, Ellyse Perry has always made her name in whatever she has been doing. Perry began playing for the Canberra United football club at the start of 2009 W-League season. Only a few know that Perry is a joint-recipient of the 2009 W-League Young Player of the Year award for her outstanding display of skills in football. She also won three Canberra United awards for the season: the Players’, Supporters’ and overall Club Player of the Year.
Due to her scintillating performances in club football, Ellyse Perry got a chance to represent the Matildas (Australian National Football Team) in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup which was held in Germany. Perry got her chance to display her football skills in a group stage game against Norway, making her the first player to appear and represent a nation both in the ICC as well as the FIFA World Cups. Perry was in the starting line-up for the quarter-final against Sweden in which she scored Australia’s only goal in the 3–1 loss.
Perry played her last football game in the W-League on 13th December 2015, a week after the launch of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
