Ellyse Alexandra Perry

International Career

Nowadays women are breaking taboos in every field and competing with men equally. Even in the cricket field, they are now claiming equal attention worldwide. There are a few faces who are gaining popularity and becoming the face of women's cricket, Ellyse Alexandra Perry is one of them. Born in Wahroonga, Sydney, New South Wales, on November 03, 1990, Perry was a sharp adapter of any kind of sports and athletic activities. Her passion for sports soon attracted her to the game which is particularly known as the ‘Gentleman’s Game’. Perry transformed her career from a soccer player to a cricketer and sharpened her skills in domestic cricket for the New South Wales team. Soon her stats started to echo in the selectors’ minds and she received a call from the national team. Some of her key international moments are mentioned below:

• July 22, 2007:In 2007, Perry debuted on the New Zealand Women's tour of Australia due to her inclining domestic records. In the 2nd match of the series at Darwin, Perry proved her worth with 2 valuable wickets for opener Maria Fahey and Sara McGlashan. Her cheap economy rate with consecutive breakthroughs, helped Aussies to bound NZ on 209. However they failed to win the match, but Perry collected a round of applause from cricket critics for her all-round efforts, including a small batting cameo of 19 runs.

• February 1, 2008:During the 2008 England Women's tour of Australia, Perry debuted for the Aussies in T20 I at Melbourne. This became the dream debut for Ellyse as she stood tall against the English attack. Coming to bat in 1st innings, she added 29 valuable runs which pushed the total to 127. In bowling, Perry took 4 important wickets in her 4 overs giving only 20 runs, and also dismissed Claire Tylor with a run out which broke down the backbone of English batting and secured the victory. In the post-match presentation, she was selected as the “Player of The Match” for her heroics.

• February 15 - 18, 2008: In the same tour of 2008, Perry got her test cap on February 15 and participated in the women’s test for the first time. Her performance was not as impressive as her T20I debut as she scored 21 and 6 runs while batting and took a total of 3 wickets in this match. Although Australia did not win this match, Perry played an important role for Australia in this match and in the upcoming days.

• February 24, 2019:In the New Zealand Women's tour of Australia in 2019, Perry scored her long-awaited maiden ODI century in the 2nd ODI. Her magnificent century in 109 balls added another feather to her crown and Australia won the match following her performance. Also, she got the ‘Player of The Match’ title for her excellent batting showdown.

Women’s Premier League

Following the success of the IPL, BCCI organized a women-centric T20 premier league called WPL, or Women’s Premier League in 2023. From the first edition, players like Perry who has an extravagant calibre of delivering all-round performance, became a hot cake on the auction table. She rammed a total of 600 runs and took 11 wickets in the 2 seasons cumulatively. Let us have a closer look at her marvellous performance in this short yet effective WPL history.

Records and Achievements

Perry is amongst the most successful and talented cricketers who have ever been created. She is an excellent all-rounder and has mastered her techniques and positions in both batting and bowling, she showcases a bulk of talent and persistence in her play style, and with all her show stopping performances, she has earned a lot of achievements, and awards, and has set several records to her name. Let us jump onto some of her awards and records below.

Awards:-

Let us take a glimpse at the awards and achievements attained by Perry with the most important contributions to her squads and her solo performances.

• She has won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award in 2017 and 2019.
• She was ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Decade (2011-2020).
• She was nominated as 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).
• She won Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World twice in 2016 and 2019.
• Thrice the Women’s Ashes Player of the Series in 2013-14, 2015 and 2019.
• Thrice the Belinda Clark Award winner in 2016, 2018, and 2020.
• In 2020, she was amongst the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
• Australia Post Legend of Cricket in 2021.

Records:-

Being one of the greatest, Perry has dominated the record charts with her numerous records in her prolonged cricketing career. Here are some of her records that all must know.

• She has scored hundreds in 2 consecutive Women’s Test matches.
• She has scored the 2nd most runs in an innings (by batting position) (213*).
• She is 3rd in the list of fifties in consecutive innings (4).
• She has the 6th-highest career batting average of 58.12
• She has scored most nineties in her ODI career (6).
• She has scored 2nd most fifties in consecutive ODI innings (6).
• She has scored 1000 runs and bagged 10 wickets in an ODI series.
• She scored 1000 runs, took 50 wickets, and grabbed 50 catches in Women’s ODI.

Personal life

Ellyse Perry, possibly the greatest women cricketer from Australia was born on 3 November 1990 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in a family of all professional athletes. Her great journey had a kickstart from a very young age when she found cricket interesting while her father was training her brother to bowl. She was born into a sportsperson family, so playing and enjoying different sports was in her blood.

She pursued her schooling at Beecroft Primary School in Northern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and her further studies at Pymble Ladies’ College, New South Wales, Australia, she completed her HSC in 2008 and she was also the cricket team captain at Pymble. She completed her degree in Bachelor of Economics and Social Science from Sydney University. Perry is a great philanthropist on the other hand, she contributed to the McGrath Foundation, the Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation, and the LBW (Learning for a Better World) Trust.

Family life

Perry was born into a family of sportspersons, her father, Mark Patrick Perry, is a former cricketer and squash player who represented both sports professionally. Perry’s mother, Kathy Perry is a former professional swimmer and her elder brother, Damien Perry is also a cricketer.

She got engaged to Matt To’omua, the Australian Rugby player on 20 August 2014, and the couple married each other on 20 December 2015.

The couple mutually parted ways in July 2020 and took a divorce ending their 4 years relationship. She was again in the headlines when there were rumours about her relationship in 2021 with Nat Fyfe, the Australian Football League player, but eventually, they broke up in 2022 and since then, her private life has been limited.