Hopefully Women’s T20 final will have a flow-on effect on the sport, wishes Ellyse Perry
Ellyse Perry has stated that the incredible spectacle that was the Women’s T20 World Cup final at the MCG should have a flow-on effect on the future of women's cricket. The iconic Aussie all-rounder further added that the win was less about Australia because the impact means a lot more.
The Women’s T20 World Cup final was a huge spectacle for the advertisement of women’s cricket and the 86000-plus attendance further added to the mania. Although the game was a soulless encounter, the way Alyssa Healy played that day talked about the fun factor that women's cricket can bring in as well. Ellyse Perry, who suffered an injury ahead of the mega final, spoke about what the final on March 8, celebrated as International Women’s Day, meant for the sport’s marketability.
“Personally, it was poor timing and I would have loved to have played in the rest of the tournament, absolutely without a doubt. But at the same time, it’s not about me. Sometimes I think about that tournament, and particularly about that final, and I don’t even think it was about our team,” Perry told Cricket Australia website.
“It was just about the event, the moment in women’s cricket that it created was just absolutely incredible. Hopefully, what it does for the sport has a flow-on effect.
“And I think that was something the team was really quick to acknowledge. All the past players and all the effort that’s been put into developing women’s cricket over the last little bit, it made that whole tournament so much bigger than just the tournament itself. It was more about the sport and women’s sport in Australia and around the world. We all felt like that, whether you were playing or not. This was so much bigger than just one game of cricket or one innings or one spell of bowling from any one individual. It was about the moment.”
After being dazzled by a Katy Perry concert live at the MCG, the packed crowd cheered for both teams. While many women’s cricketers were never accustomed to such an electric atmosphere, Perry, one of greatest Aussie sports icons, stated that she was thankful for Australia’s coach Matthew Mott for deciding to stick with her even though they could have brought in a replacement after knowing about her injury issue.
“And to be part of that and still be amongst the group when that was all occurring, I feel very fortunate. Motty (Australia’s coach Matthew Mott) and the Australian staff could have replaced me with another player, but they let me stick around. That was pretty cool.”
“As soon as our sights were set on filling the MCG for the final, it felt like that and it promised to be that. And was just about whether it was going to pan out like that or not. As the tournament went on and even in the lead-up to it in terms of the interest and scrutiny on the event, I think we all knew it was going to be something. We just didn’t know how big it was going to be.”