Every team around the world, be it men or women have that one player in their team who always proves to be the X factor. Such players are generally all-rounders because they have their say in all the three aspects of the game: batting, bowling, and fielding.
Indian men team has Ravindra Jadeja, Indian Women team has Deepti Sharma, the Australian women team similarly has Ellyse Perry who can be so-called the backbone of the team.
She is truly a player with strong basics and sharp technique with the match-winning abilities and has proved herself time and time again.
Perry is one of the most special players in the Australian Sports Industry. She is the only player to have played International level football as well as Cricket for the country.
She got her ODI cap in 2007 and later got her Football cap a month later. She is also the only Australian to have represented them in both Cricket and Football World cups.
She plays in the WNCL for New South Wales. She shot into fame with her amazing performances in the WNCL (Women’s national cricket league) in the final of which she took 4 wickets for just 23 runs and impressed the selectors.
She was then inducted into the 2009 ICC World T20 but wasn’t as efficient there and ended the tournament with 9 wickets only. She came back stronger again in the WNCL next year with 22 wickets in the tournament. She also went on to score 148 runs in the tournament helping to boost the team’s total as and when required.
In the World T20 next year she was at her level best with some amazing batting and bowling performances. She managed to take 3 wickets in the finals against West Indies thus making Australia pip Windies by 3 runs to lift the trophy.
She played a very important role throughout the tournament continuously bowling tight spells, batting at the right moment and saving runs with her athletic fielding.
During the WT20 2018, Perry became the only Cricketer for Australia, male or female to play 100 twenty 20 international matches and she also became the first to take 100 wickets in the final of the same tournament.
She was in one of the purplest patches of her career during that period. She is a right-handed batsman and also bowls right-handed medium pace. She has all the deliveries a good bowler has in her armory. From yorkers to bouncers, inswingers to off cutters she can do it all. She is a master of disguise. Her slower one often gets her wickets due to her skill of bowl deception.
In the ongoing WT20 world championship, she was impressed with the ball in her first match against India with bowling figures of 1-15 in 3 overs but failed terribly in batting and was bowled first ball by Poonam Yadav.
In the second match against Sri Lanka, she had figures of 4-23 and stayed not out till the end to ensure Australia goes over the line smoothly.
Further, she even had figures of 3-12 in her four overs in the next match. She has been at the top of her bowling form if not her batting. In the recent match against New Zealand, Perry had to leave the pitch due to a hamstring injury while fielding the ball.
Reports state that the injury is grave enough and she has been ruled out of the championship for the same. This is a major blow to Australia’s hopes of retaining the title in the absence of their star player.
Perry has proved herself every time on the international stage. She has never been a player to be surrounded by controversies. Australia was on a search for an apt replacement or an alternative for fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick, who retired in March 2007, and Perry made sure she settles well into the shoes of Cathryn.
She had to juggle between two sports at the starting of his career playing national level cricket for Australia and also playing football for Sydney Fc in the women’s league. Perry’s amazing form in the 2015-17 season ensured Australia resolve all their no. 4 problems and finally get a technically sound batsman to bat at the no. 4 positions.
She has dropped her bowling pace too over the years but still is as lethal as always emerging as one of the Australian gems and the greatest women superstars Cricket had found so far.
Stay tuned.
