Formerly W-League, now A-League, Women premiership player from 2011-12, Commonwealth Games Gold medalist, 2-time ODI World Cup Winner and 5 times T20 World Cup winner, Footballer turned cricketer, Australian legend, Ellyse Alexandra Perry today turns 32, and what better day than today to turn pages and revisit her career in trying to learn what’s earned her the undisputed great all-rounder tag to’ve ever played the game.
Ellyse Perry debuted for both, cricket and soccer national teams as a 16-year-old and happened to be the youngest Australian to play international cricket and the first to have appeared in both International Cricket Council (ICC) and FIFA World Cups. Since 2014, Perry became a single-sport professional athlete and is now widely considered to be one of the greatest female players ever.
One of the greatest all-rounders Women’s Cricket has ever seen
Ellyse Perry celebrates her 32nd birthday today ❤️🎂#CricketTwitter #EllysePerry pic.twitter.com/dPRQCQZYtN
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) November 3, 2022
INTERNATIONAL CRICKET :
ODI DEBUT :
Without any experience of a game at the senior level, such as Ellyse Perry’s aura in the late 2000’s that she was fast-tracked into the Australian team for a series in July 2007 against New Zealand. She, on her One Day International (ODI) debut in Darwin, bagged a couple of wickets for 37 runs from eight overs and batting down the order at 9, made 19(20) balls. Fast forward to 2022, she’s cashed in 3369 runs including 29 runs and a couple of centuries off her 103 innings and has got 161 wickets to her name with best figures of 7/22 in the format from 124 innings.
T20I DEBUT :
Early next year, in February, Ellyse Perry made her Twenty20 International (T20I) debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) against England and she lit the stadium with a superb all-round performance that saw her score a late 25-ball-29 and then bag figures of 4/20 off 4 overs to help Australia win by 21 runs. Fast forward to 2022, Ellyse Perry, the great has been down with a string of injuries that resulted in her poor form and is struggling to find a place in the Australian XI. Her stats read, 1253 runs including 4 fifties from 76 innings and picked up 115 wickets with best figures of 4/12 from 119 innings.
TEST DEBUT :
In the 2007-08 Women’s Ashes match at Bradman Oval in Bowral, Ellyse Perry got her hands on her baggy green. An Australian collapse upfront (5/59) got Ellyse Perry to the crease early and scored 21(77) before being run out, ending the highest partnership of the innings alongside Kate Blackwell. The next day, she claimed her first Test wicket, removing England opener Caroline Atkins for 15 and finishing with 2/49 from 23 overs. She only scored 6 runs in the second innings and bagged a wicket more for the match.
Test cricket with time lost its popularity in women’s now and fast forward to 2022, the elite format of the game is successfully starting to revive. The little Perry’s played in the format, she’s got to 752 runs off 17 innings with the highest score of 213* and with best figures of 9/70 picked up 37 wickets from 19 innings.
DOMESTIC CRICKET :
WNCL DEBUT :
The 11-time WNCL winner, Ellyse Perry made her debut for the New South Wales (NSW) in the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) at the start of the 2007-08 season against South Australia. Her first scalp was that of Karen Rolton and finished with 2/29 (10). Perry ended her first season for New South Wales with 66 runs and 9 wickets from 7 matches and in the 2008-09 final, she registered figures of 4/23 to help her side, NSW, defend their title. In 2009-10, she walked in to bat at 5/86 and scored her maiden century, then went to bag figures of 3/42 in a 15-run win.
BIG BASH LEAGUE DEBUT :
At the Women’s Big Bash League (W-BBL) launch in 2015, Ellyse Perry was announced as Sydney Sixers first signing and also was named as the side’s skipper. In the inaugural edition, the Sixers lost their first 6 matches and the move of Perry promoting herself up the batting order turned the side’s fortunes as they went on to win their next 9 matches. The win streak came to a close in the final when the Sixers lost to the Sydney Thunder by 3 wickets.
The Sixers’ in the 2nd edition finished at the top of the table and owing to a hamstring injury, Ellyse Perry was forced to miss the playoffs. However, the Sixers went on to beat the Perth Scorchers in the final and Ellyse Perry was present in person to accept the team’s maiden championship trophy. In the following edition, Perry scored 552 and with a 36* against the Scorchers in the Final, hit the winning runs and secured the second-consecutive title for the side.
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS :
Ellyse Perry on an individual basis is a three-time winner of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award, two-time Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World, 3 time Women’s Ashes Player of the Series awardee and 3-time Belinda Clark Medal winner. In ICC awards, she won the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2019, ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade (2011–2020), ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade (2011-2020) and Women’s World Twenty20 Player of the Final in 2010.
Her individual domestic awards see her with Women’s National Cricket League Player of the Final in 2008-09 and Women’s National Cricket League Player of the Tournament in 2015-16. She also won the cricket NSW Rising Star in 2007-08, Women’s Big Bash League Player of the Tournament in 2018-19, Sport NSW Athlete of the Year in 2019 and Australia Post Legend of Cricket in 2021. For her football contributions, an individual list of awards sees her with the W-League Young Player of the Year in 2009 and Canberra United Player of the Year in 2009.