Ellyse Perry Biography – an Australian Cricketer and All-Rounder

Quick Info→
Real Name:	Ellyse Alexandra Perry
Profession:	Australian Cricketer
Birthplace:	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Spouse:	Matt To’omua
Age:	32

Ellyse Alexandra Perry (born 3 November 1990) is an Australian sportswoman who has represented her country in cricket and association football. Having debuted for both the national cricket team and the national soccer team at the age of 16, she is the youngest Australian to play international cricket and the first to have appeared in both ICC and FIFA World Cups. Gradually becoming a single-sport professional athlete from 2014 onward,  Perry’s acclaimed cricket career has continued to flourish and she is now widely considered to be one of the greatest female players ever.

A genuine all-rounder, Perry’s mastery of both batting and fast bowling disciplines is reflected in several statistical achievements—she was the first player to amass a combined 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20Is, she holds the record for the highest score by an Australian woman in Test matches (213 not out), and she was the third player to claim 150 wickets in women’s ODIs. Her contribution to various successful teams at an international and domestic level across cricket’s primary formats has led to winning seven world championships with Australia, eleven WNCL championships with New South Wales, and two WBBL championships with the Sydney Sixers. She has also been recognised with numerous individual honours, such as winning the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award and the Belinda Clark Award three times each and being named one of the Wisden Five Cricketers of the Decade: 2010–19.

Due to her on-field performance, off-field marketability and stature as “the ultimate role model”, Perry is credited as a leading figure for the rising female presence in Australia’s sporting culture.

Ellyse Perry Biography

Personal information
Full name	Ellyse Alexandra Perry
Born	3 November 1990 (age 32) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nickname	Pez
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast
Role	All-rounder
Relations	Matt To’omua (husband) (m. 2015; sep. 2020)​
Website	ellyseperry.com
International information
National side	Australia (2007–present)
Test debut (cap 152)	15 February 2008 v England
Last Test	27 January 2022 v England
ODI debut (cap 109)	22 July 2007 v New Zealand
Last ODI	21 January 2023 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.	8
T20I debut (cap 21)	1 February 2008 v England
Last T20I	11 February 2023 v New Zealand
T20I shirt no.	8
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2007–2019	New South Wales
2015–present	Sydney Sixers
2016–2017	Loughborough Lightning
2018	Supernovas
2019–present	Victoria
2022–present	Birmingham Phoenix
Career statistics
Competition WTest WODI WT20I WNCL Matches 10 128 131 91 Runs scored 752 3,369 1,418 2,613 Batting average 75.20 50.28 30.17 51.24 100s/50s 2/3 2/29 0/6 7/13 Top score 213* 112* 75 147 Balls bowled 1,881 5,524 2,315 4,083 Wickets 37 161 117 123 Bowling average 19.97 24.90 19.41 21.05 5 wickets in innings 2 3 0 2 10 wickets in the match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 6/32 7/22 4/12 5/11 Catches/stumpings 5/– 43/– 38/– 35/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 11 February 2023
Medal record Representing  Australia Women’s Cricket Commonwealth Games 2022 Birmingham Team

Early life (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Perry was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga, attending Beecroft Primary School and Pymble Ladies College. She was the Sports, Athletics, and Cricket Captain at Pymble. During her school years, she played a range of sports besides cricket and soccer, such as tennis, athletics, touch football and golf. She became friends with future Australian teammate Alyssa Healy at the age of nine, and they played cricket together throughout childhood. Healy occasionally referred to her as “Dags” because of an ill-fitting uniform she wore at junior level, though Perry is more commonly known by the nickname “Pez”.

Soon after turning 16, Perry played cricket for New South Wales in an under-19 interstate tournament in January 2007. In three matches, she scored 74 runs and took three wickets. A month later, she was selected for the Australian youth team for a tour of New Zealand, playing against the hosts’ second XI. She scored 43 runs at 21.50 and took one wicket at 100.00.

International cricket (Ellyse Perry Biography)

2007–08: Debut in all three formats

Perry was fast-tracked into the Australian team for a series in July 2007 against New Zealand, despite having never played a match at the senior level. She made her One Day International debut in Darwin on 22 July at the age of 16 years and 8 months, becoming the youngest-ever cricketer to represent Australia. Taking two wickets for 37 runs from eight overs, her first scalp was Maria Fahey, whom she bowled for 11. Then, batting down the order at nine, she made 19 from 20 balls before Australia were all out for 174 to lose by 35 runs.

In her Twenty20 International debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against England on 1 February 2008, Perry “confirmed herself as a star for the future” through a “superb all-round performance” which included a late-innings knock of 29 not out from 25 balls before taking 4/20 off 4 overs to help Australia win by 21 runs. The breakthrough display, which also featured a skilful piece of fielding to execute a runout, sparked excitement around Perry’s potential to join revered players, such as Keith Miller, in Australia’s exclusive and illustrious club of legendary all-rounders.

In the 2007–08 Women’s Ashes match at Bradman Oval in Bowral on 15 February, Perry became the youngest-ever Australian Test cricketer, debuting at the age of 17 years and 3 months. The hosts batted first and collapsed to 5/59 on the first day, bringing Perry to the crease to join Kate Blackwell. Perry made 21 from 77 balls before being run out, ending the highest partnership of the innings. 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 made just six runs in the second innings and took one more wicket for the match as the visitors went on to win by six wickets.

2009: First Cricket World Cup and World Twenty20 appearances

Perry made her first appearance at a major ICC tournament via the 2009 Women’s Cricket World Cup on home soil. Her most substantial contribution came in a 47-run win against the West Indies, scoring 36 and taking 2/28 from ten overs to earn Player of the Match honours. Australia did not place in the top two positions of the Super Six stage and therefore failed to qualify for the final.

Later that year, Perry was included in Australia’s team for the inaugural Women’s World Twenty20. They were defeated in the semi-finals by the host nation England.

During the 2009–10 home summer, Perry enjoyed a highly effective Rose Bowl series against New Zealand, claiming 13 wickets at an average of 12.61 and taking her first five-wicket haul.

2010: First World Twenty20 title

Perry played an integral part in Australia’s triumphant 2010 World Twenty20 campaign in the West Indies. Against India in the semi-finals, she took 1/19 in the first innings. At the start of the 17th over, a 57-run partnership between Harmanpreet Kaur and Poonam Raut came to an end when Perry, off her own bowling, ran out Kaur. Two balls later, Indian captain Jhulan Goswami was run out by Alex Blackwell. Perry then had Raut out caught from the next delivery to fully turn the momentum of the match, with India losing 3/1 in the space of four balls. Australia went on to win by seven wickets with seven balls to spare.

Perry ended with bowling figures of 3/18 and was named Player of the Final. In a retrospective interview, teammate Alyssa Healy described Perry’s match-saving play as “probably some of the more iconic footage we’ve seen over the last ten-to-fifteen years in the women’s game”.

2011–12: Second-straight World Twenty20 title

In the only Test of the 2010–11 Women’s Ashes, Perry claimed first-innings bowling figures of 4/56, helping Australia in a seven-wicket victory to snatch the trophy out of English hands for the first time in six years.

At the 2012 World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, Perry delivered a Player of the Match performance during a 28-run semi-final win against the West Indies, claiming crucial top-order wickets of Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin to finish with figures of 2/19 off four overs. In the final, she managed to take 1/24 off four overs as Australia held on to win by four runs against England to claim a second-consecutive World T20 title.

2013: Cricket World Cup success

The 2013 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in India saw Perry miss three matches due to an ankle injury. In the final against the West Indies, after repeated unsuccessful attempts to make it through her delivery stride, she bowled her full allotment of ten overs and took 3/19 to help Australia win by 114 runs. The apparent pain through which Perry performed earned her the moniker of “Australia’s limping hero” and garnered plaudits for showing an unbreakable spirit through adversity. Days after winning her first 50-over world championship, Perry underwent surgery to repair a fractured ankle.

Perry also excelled throughout the limited-overs fixtures, which included an unbeaten 90 off 95 to steer her team across the line by four wickets with three balls remaining in a one-dayer at Bellerive Oval. Due to the structure of the points system, England regained the Ashes, although Perry was nevertheless awarded Player of the Series.

2014–15: Third-consecutive World Twenty20 title

At the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, Perry was named Player of the Match against South Africa for scoring 41 not out of 29 balls in a six-wicket victory. Australia would go on to “coast” to a third-straight T20 world championship, defeating England in the final where Perry took 2/13 off four overs before making 31 not out and hitting the winning runs with six wickets in hand.

Perry was once again named Player of the Series. In the match on 21 July, she passed the milestone of 1,000 runs in ODI cricket.

2016–17: Individual dominance, team disappointment

Australia suffered a shock upset loss in each of the 2016 World Twenty20 and 2017 Cricket World Cup tournaments at critical stages to be denied two major pieces of silverware. Perry, however, was experiencing a transcendent statistical period in her career, particularly evidenced through her batting in the ODI format of the game—in a 23-innings stretch, she made 17 scores of at least 50 runs at an average of 89.53.

Her first international century, which set a new record for the highest score by an Australian in women’s Tests, was not enough to carry the team to victory as the match ended in a draw. Likewise, the series ended with the two teams level on points, although this meant Australia would nevertheless successfully retain the Ashes.

2018–19: Fourth World Twenty20 title

At the 2018 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, Perry took the wickets of renowned danger players (such as Devine, Dottin and Nat Sciver) early in key matches on Australia’s way to another tournament triumph. In the match against India on 17 November, she became the first cricketer for Australia to play in 100 Twenty20 Internationals. Then, in the final against England on 24 November, Perry became the first Australian to take 100 T20I wickets. She also manufactured a run out during the championship decider as Australia comfortably claimed the title in an eight-wicket win.

After getting out for 116 in the first innings of the Ashes Test, Perry went on to face 432 balls in her next seven international cricket innings across all three formats, scoring 368 runs without being dismissed. On 11 September in a match against the West Indies, she became the third bowler to take 150 WODI wickets. In the same series, she recorded her second century, scoring 112 not out of 118 balls in hot and humid conditions.

2020–21: Fifth T20 World Cup title

In January 2020, Perry was named in Australia’s squad for the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia. On 2 March, coming into what was effectively a knockout quarter-final match against New Zealand at the Junction Oval under an injury cloud, she put on a valuable 32-run stand with Rachael Haynes late in the first innings. Australia held on to win by four runs, although Perry suffered a torn hamstring while fielding which would force her to miss the rest of the tournament. She stayed on with the team in a mentor role for the remaining matches as Australia went on to claim a fifth World T20 championship by beating India in the final at the MCG. In the post-match ceremony, despite her physical ailments, Perry was able to make it on stage to accept her medal as a playing member of the squad and partake in celebrations with the team alongside a performing Katy Perry—with whom she had featured heavily in promoting the tournament.

Perry returned to international cricket on 28 March 2021 in a T20I against New Zealand at Seddon Park, contributing a score of 23 not out from 16 balls in her country’s six-wicket win. In October 2021, in the one-off Test match against India, she became the first woman to score 5,000 runs and take 300 wickets in international cricket. Days later in a T20I also against India, she became Australia’s most-capped women’s international cricketer, appearing in her 252nd match.

2022: Second Cricket World Cup title

At Manuka Oval, Perry took 3/57 and 1/28 as well as scoring 18 and 41 throughout the only Test of England’s 2021–22 tour of Australia, which ended in a draw. She finished the match as the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker in Women’s Ashes history, with 1,552 runs and 68 wickets respectively. A week later at the Junction Oval, in the second match of the series ODI leg, Perry took 3/12 from seven overs to help bowl the tourists out for just 129. She then scored 40 in the run chase, earning Player of the Match honours in the five-wicket win.

In May 2022, Perry was named to Australia’s team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

Domestic cricket (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Women’s National Cricket League

Perry made her debut for New South Wales 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. Perry ended her first season for New South Wales with 66 runs at 13.20 and nine wickets at 24.00 from seven matches. The final against South Australia was washed out without a ball bowled and New South Wales was awarded the title, having finished first in the round-robin phase.

Perry went on to win ten more WNCL championships with New South Wales. Her highlights during that period include:

• In 2008–09 final, she took 4/23 in a Player of the Match performance to help New South Wales defend their title, defeating Victoria by six wickets.
• Across the 2009–10 season, Perry led the league for most wickets with 22 at an average of 10.63. On 7 November 2009, in a match against Queensland, she came into bat with New South Wales at 5/86 and went on to score 66, marking her first half-century, before taking 3/42 in a 15-run win. On 15 January 2010, Perry took her first five-wicket haul, finishing with 5/19 off eight overs to help bowl out South Australia for just 45.
• Across the 2010–11 season, Perry once again led the league for most wickets with 13 at an average of 9.23. On 30 January, she recorded her best bowling figures with New South Wales, finishing with 5/11 off nine overs against the ACT Meteors.
• In 2014–15 final, she scored 57 not out off 50 balls before taking 2/19 from ten overs in a 144-run win.
• Across the 2015–16 season, Perry led the league for most runs with 403 at an average of 67.16. On 21 November, she recorded her first century, scoring 126 off 115 balls in a 120-run win against the ACT Meteors.
• On 29 October 2016, she recorded her second century, scoring 103 off 120 balls during a 107-run win against Western Australia in her only innings of the 2016–17 season.
• Across the 2017–18 season, Perry once again led the league for most runs with 372 at an average of 74.40. On 26 November, she recorded her highest score with New South Wales, making 127 not out of 120 balls in a 97-run win against the ACT Meteors.
• In the 2018–19 final, Perry played her 73rd and last game for New South Wales, scoring 31 to help defeat Queensland by 31 runs in what was her state’s 20th WNCL title.

Deciding to relocate to Melbourne in 2019 following her husband’s move to play Super Rugby for the Melbourne Rebels, Perry consequently signed with WNCL team Victoria. She made her debut on 7 January 2020 at the Junction Oval, making 24 runs and taking 1/20 from seven overs. Perry claimed figures of 3/17 in a two-run win (via the DLS method) against Tasmania on 23 January at the TCA Ground, earning her first Player of the Match award in Victorian colours.

Women’s Big Bash League

At the official Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) launch on 10 July 2015, Perry was unveiled as the Sydney Sixers’ first-ever player signing. She would also become the team’s inaugural captain.

In the inaugural season, the Sixers lost their first six matches of the season. Perry promoted herself up the batting order to form what would become a successful long-term opening partnership with Alyssa Healy, and the Sixers turned their fortunes around to win the next nine matches. The winning streak would come to an end in the final on 24 January 2016 when the Sixers lost to the Sydney Thunder by three wickets.

The Sixers entered WBBL|05 as “hot favourites”, but they lost five-straight games in the back half of the tournament and missed out on qualifying for finals for the first time after Perry sustained a shoulder injury. Although she was sidelined for several matches, Perry still had another prolific season with the bat, scoring a team-high 469 runs at an average of 93.80 and earning her fifth Team of the Tournament selection. In a match against the Melbourne Stars on 3 November 2019 at the WACA, she batted through an entire inning with Alyssa Healy—the pair put on a 199-run stand, setting a new record for the highest domestic women’s T20 partnership.

In April 2020, amidst media speculation regarding a move to one of the Melbourne-based WBBL teams, Perry announced she had activated an extension clause in her contract to remain with the Sixers for a further two seasons.

Women’s Cricket Super League (Ellyse Perry Biography)

In April 2016, it was announced Perry would play for the Loughborough Lightning in the inaugural season of the Women’s Cricket Super League in England. In the 2016 semi-final, she scored 64 not out of 48 balls in a five-wicket loss to the Western Storm. Perry returned for the Lightning the following season, earning Player of the Match honours in the team’s only two wins.

Women’s T20 Challenge

On 22 May 2018, Perry played for the Supernovas in the inaugural Women’s T20 Challenge—an exhibition match in Mumbai serving as a potential precursor to a future female equivalent of the IPL. She took 2/20 off three overs then scored 13 not out in a final-ball victory.

With the Board of Control for Cricket in India adding another team for the 2019 edition, Perry had hoped to once again participate in the event. However, due to a breakdown in communications between Cricket Australia and the BCCI, all Australian players were excluded from the tournament. ESPNcricinfo reported this breakdown was part of a wider disagreement between the two boards that revolved around the BCCI’s insistence on CA honouring a touring commitment to play a men’s bilateral ODI series in India in January 2020. A disappointed Perry voiced support for her nation’s board, although Cricket Australia would eventually issue a public apology to her and the other affected players for mishandling the situation.

In February 2020, Perry was reported to hold a strong desire to play in the competition’s future instalments. However, she would miss the next opportunity later that year, with the BCCI electing to stage the T20 Challenge’s third edition in a delayed calendar slot (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) which clashed with the timing of WBBL|06.

The Hundred

On 18 March 2021, the Birmingham Phoenix announced the signing of Perry for the inaugural season of the Hundred. However, she withdrew from the tournament two weeks before its commencement, citing personal reasons. In February 2022, the ECB confirmed that Birmingham Phoenix had retained Perry for the 2022 season.

Playing style (Ellyse Perry Biography)

In cricket, Perry is an all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm pace. She is also a highly skilled fielder with safe hands and a strong throwing arm. Perry’s tall, athletic build paired with her speed across the ground makes her particularly adept at riding the boundary, and she is prone to creating “incredible” catches and run-outs off her own bowling.

Bowling

Perry typically bowls at speeds ranging between 110 and 115 km/h, though she can reach up to 125 km/h which puts her near the fastest in the women’s game. A natural outswing bowler, she is also able to move the ball into the right-handed batter through the air and off the pitch. With a “blonde ponytail swaying from side to side” and a “lovely, rhythmic action”, her smooth run-up is the length of 18 casual paces and has been described as “a sight to behold”. She is at her most effective when “crafting an intimidating spell in which her opponent is pinned down, pushed back and controlled by fastidious line and length” and “outfoxing the best in the business with careful planning and perfect execution”. During her time at the Loughborough Lightning, she worked with coach Matthew Hoggard to make “some small technical” adjustments to her run-up and movement through the popping crease. Due to team balance, Perry tends to bowl less frequently when playing with the Sydney Sixers, delivering 80 fewer overs than teammate Marizanne Kapp across the first five WBBL seasons.

Batting

Perry is noted for her picturesque and technically correct batting style, generally preferring to play straight strokes down the ground. Her level-headed temperament under pressure is optimal for assuming the anchor role in an inning, in which she is usually more circumspect with her shot selection than her freely attacking batting partner. She has nevertheless gradually introduced a wider range of aggressive and unorthodox shots into her limited-overs game, resulting in a marked increase in her strike rate. Despite being named Player of the Tournament in WBBL|04 as an opener, she remained in the middle-order for Australia’s T20I team which prompted debate among commentators.

When accelerating the run rate of an inning, Perry is renowned as an immensely powerful striker, having scored the third-most sixes across the first five WBBL seasons. During a match at North Sydney Oval on 9 December 2017, Perry hit a ball into the crowd which struck a 13-year-old boy in the face. She immediately rushed to the boundary to check on the boy’s welfare and directed the on-field medics to his location. The boy, who was transported to the hospital by ambulance for observation and later released, received a phone call from Perry the following morning. In another example of her literal destructive batting capabilities, Perry hit a six during a 13 November 2019 game in Launceston which smashed the windscreen of a nearby parked ambulance.

Traits and influences

Throughout her career, Perry has been known to spend frequent three-hour net sessions with her father, and personal coach, Mark. After moving to Melbourne, she predominantly relied on Victoria assistant coach Dulip Samaraweera to help maintain her lofty training standards. Former teammate and captain Lisa Sthalekar have described Perry as “the ultimate professional” and “meticulous” in her preparation, while Meg Lanning has called her a “perfectionist”.

Despite achieving success as captain of the Sydney Sixers, Perry has never held the top on-field leadership position for the national team. After Jodie Fields stepped down from the job in 2014, Meg Lanning assumed the role, with Alex Blackwell and Rachael Haynes intermittently standing in when required. In a 2019 interview with Daisy Pearce on 1116 SEN, Perry characterised herself as having a youthful and jovial persona within the Australian team, regardless of her experience and seniority. She attributed this phenomenon to having broken into the setup at such a young age.

In a quirk reminiscent of Michael Jordan’s propensity to wear college basketball shorts underneath his NBA uniform, Perry has invariably worn a pair of New South Wales PSSA socks in top-level cricket matches throughout her career. Perry cites Michael Hussey as the cricketer she idolised most while growing up. Other players whom she considered among her favourites include Glenn McGrath, Steve Waugh, Michael Bevan, Belinda Clark and Karen Rolton.

Statistics (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Across all forms of international cricket, Perry has scored a total of 5,539 runs and taken 315 wickets during her 269-match career. In top-level domestic leagues, she has compiled 7,340 runs while claiming 226 wickets from 271 matches. The table below details Perry’s key statistics for each major format and competition in which she has appeared.

Format/Competition	Mts	Batting							Bowling					Cts	Ref(s)
		Inns	NO	Runs	Ave	HS	100s	50s	Wkts	Conc	Ave	BBI	5WI
Tests	10	17	7	752	75.20	213*	2	3	37	739	19.97	6/32	2	5	[218][219][220]
One Day Internationals	128	103	36	3,369	50.28	112*	2	29	161	4,010	24.82	7/22	3	43	[221][222][223]
Twenty20 Internationals	131	79	32	1,418	30.17	75	0	6	117	2,272	19.41	4/12	0	38	[224][225][226]
Women’s National Cricket League	91	70	19	2,613	51.24	147	7	13	123	2,589	21.05	5/11	2	35	[227]
Women’s Big Bash League	111	108	31	3,769	48.94	103*	2	25	51	1,915	37.54	3/14	0	48	[228][229]
Australian Women’s Twenty20 Cup	52	30	14	452	28.25	61	0	2	44	890	20.23	3/12	0	15	[230]
The Hundred	6	6	2	134	33.50	58	0	1	–	–	–	–	–	6	[231]
Women’s Cricket Super League	11	11	4	372	53.14	78*	0	3	8	224	28.00	2/9	0	3	[232]
Statistics correct as of 7 January 2023

International centuries (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Test centuries

Ellyse Perry’s Test centuries
#	Runs	Match	Opponents	City/Country	Venue	Year
1	213*	7	England	Sydney, Australia	North Sydney Oval	2017
2	116	8	England	Taunton, England	County Ground	2019

One Day International centuries

Ellyse Perry’s One Day International centuries
#	Runs	Match	Opponents	City/Country	Venue	Year
1	107*	102	New Zealand	Adelaide, Australia	Karen Rolton Oval	2019
2	112*	108	West Indies	North Sound, Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium	2019

Football (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Primarily a defender, Perry 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. Perry scored her second goal at the international level in the 2008 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in a match against South Korea.

Playing domestically for the Central Coast Mariners in the 2008–09 W-League season, Perry made her debut for the club against Queensland Roar on 15 November 2008. She began playing for Canberra United at the start of the 2009 W-League season and went on to become the joint-recipient of the 2009 W-League Young Player of the Year award with Brisbane Roar’s Elise Kellond-Knight. She also won three Canberra United awards for the season: the Players’, Supporters’ and overall Club Player of the Year.

Following a match on 16 November 2013 against Melbourne Victory, The Sunday Telegraph reported Perry’s “fame and fortune” had spurred opponents to kick and punch her behind the play. After the game, she required six stitches for a leg wound caused by a late tackle from Lisa De Vanna. In a subsequent interview with the Australian Associated Press, De Vanna denied any jealousy or trouble concerning Perry: “There was no punching, there was no kicking, there was no sledging. The only incident that happened was a tackle and it wasn’t the deliberate tackle that it’s been made out to be.”

International goals

Perry scored three international goals during her football career.

Scores and results list Australia’s goal tally first.

 

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 August 2007	Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong	Hong Kong	1–0	8–1	2008 Olympics qualifying
2	31 May 2008	Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	South Korea	1–0	2–0	2008 AFC Women’s Asian Cup
3	9 July 2011	Impuls Arena, Augsburg, Germany	Sweden	1–2	1–3	2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Choice of sport (Ellyse Perry Biography)

On 29 May 2012, The Age reported that Heather Reid, the chief executive of Canberra United FC, had given Perry an ultimatum to choose between football and cricket. On 5 September, Perry joined Sydney FC, with new coach Alen Stajcic stating he was prepared to accommodate her twin sporting careers. This arrangement came to a head in January 2013 when Sydney FC’s W-League semi-final was scheduled for the same day as New South Wales’ T20 Cup final. A few days later, The World Game revealed Perry’s decision would be to play in the football semi-final. The following weekend, Perry declined to play for Sydney FC in the W-League grand final, opting instead to play for Australia in a warm-up game for the Cricket World Cup.

On 13 February 2014, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Perry had elected to play in a W-League semi-final ahead of the Women’s National Cricket League final. In March, she was left out of a 23-player Matildas squad that was set to face Brazil in a two-match series. National team coach Hesterine de Reus confirmed Perry wouldn’t be considered for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup later in the year either: “When you play at the highest level you need to invest a lot of time to become a world-class player… We’re always keeping an open mind for competition, but at this point, she was not invited.”

Perry played her last game in the W-League on 13 December 2015, a week after the launch of the Women’s Big Bash League—Australia’s new domestic Twenty20 cricket competition. She was named in Sydney FC’s squad for 2016 grand final but instead played a conflicting T20I match against India. In a 2018 interview with The Roar, Perry said her path to becoming a single-sport athlete occurred naturally: “Essentially, both sports have grown so much and developed so much in the last couple of years that they really demand people be full-time professional athletes… I ended up in cricket and haven’t played any football recently. I truly enjoyed my time playing football.”

Off the field (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Personal life

After completing her HSC in 2008, Perry studied Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney.

On 24 October 2013, Perry and Australian rugby player Matt To’omua went public with their relationship by appearing together at the John Eales Medal ceremony. On 20 August 2014, the couple announced their engagement. They married on 20 December 2015. A self-described “coffee aficionado”, Perry co-owns several cafés with her husband. The couple separated in 2020.

Perry’s philanthropic causes include the McGrath Foundation, the Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation and the LBW (Learning for a Better World) Trust.

Media figure (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Perry has been involved in various projects spanning several forms of media:

• In June 2010, she hosted the show Football Stars of Tomorrow which aired on One HD.
• In 2011, she was a recurring guest on the Triple J radio breakfast show with Tom Ballard and Alex Dyson to present her segment Perry Good Sportswoman.
• In 2016, Perry wrote a series of children’s books with Sherryl Clark which followed a young sport-loving girl transitioning from Primary School to High School.
• In August 2018, Fox Sports signed her to the Fox Cricket broadcast team.
• On 20 October 2019, she featured as a guest panellist in the first episode of The Blast—a Sunday night prime-time show on Fox Cricket dedicated to discussing the women’s game.
• On 4 November 2019, her first non-fiction book was released through HarperCollins, titled Perspective.
• On 27 November 2019, Facebook Watch premiered a seven-part short-form documentary series, titled Insight, intended to provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Perry’s life.
• In December 2019, Perry and her teammates were the subjects in a reprisal of “C’mon Aussie C’mon”. The lyrics of the iconic cricket anthem, which were reworked to reflect the Australian women’s team, described Perry’s skills as “kind of scary”. She featured prominently in an accompanying television commercial for the Commonwealth Bank.

Endorsements (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Perry is “a very private person”, according to her former NSW and Australian captain and teammate Alex Blackwell. However, Perry herself has estimated that, up until 2017, she spent an almost-even amount of time between “training, touring and playing” versus “sponsorship and promotional work”.

The number of hours Perry had to commit to the latter would dramatically decrease after Cricket Australia announced a landmark pay deal for its elite female athletes—an evolution Perry said she was “stoked” about: “There is something incredibly tiresome about walking into a studio and trying to pretend like you know what you’re doing in front of a camera.”

In 2013, Perry was ranked by SportsPro magazine as the 36th most marketable sportsperson in the world, and the most marketable Australian athlete. She has fronted campaigns for Jockey, Hisense and Weet-Bix while also taking on ambassadorial roles with Red Bull, Microsoft, and Hublot. Her current corporate partners include L’Oréal, Adidas, Fox Sports and Commonwealth Bank.

Honours

Cricket (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Team

• 2× Women’s Cricket World Cup champion: 2013, 2022
• 5× ICC Women’s World Twenty20 champion: 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020
• Commonwealth Games champion: 2022
• 11× Women’s National Cricket League champion: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
• 2× Women’s Big Bash League champion: 2016–17, 2017–18
• 2× Australian Women’s Twenty20 Cup champion: 2012–13, 2014–15

Individual

• 3× Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award winner: 2017, 2019, 2020
• ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year: 2019
• ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade: 2011–2020
• ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade: 2011–2020
• 2× Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World: 2016, 2019
• ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Player of the Final: 2010
• 3× Women’s Ashes Player of the Series: 2013–14, 2015, 2019
• 3× Belinda Clark Award winner: 2016, 2018, 2020
• Women’s National Cricket League Player of the Tournament: 2015–16
• Women’s National Cricket League Player of the Final: 2008–09
• 3× Belinda Clark Medal winner: 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19
• Cricket NSW Rising Star: 2007–08
• Women’s Big Bash League Player of the Tournament: 2018–19
• 2× Sydney Sixers Player of the Season: 2017–18, 2018–19
• Sports NSW Athlete of the Year: 2019
• Australia Post Legend of Cricket: 2021

Football

Team

• W-League premiership: 2011–12

Individual

• W-League Young Player of the Year: 2009
• Canberra United Player of the Year: 2009

Books (Ellyse Perry Biography)

Non-fiction

• Perspective (Sydney: HarperCollins, 2019;)

Children’s books

• Pocket Rocket (with Sherryl Clark) Ellyse Perry series, no. 1 (North Sydney: Penguin Random House Australia, 2016;)
• Magic Feet (with Sherryl Clark) Ellyse Perry series, no. 2 (North Sydney: Penguin Random House Australia, 2016;)
• Winning Touch (with Sherryl Clark) Ellyse Perry series, no. 3 (North Sydney: Penguin Random House Australia, 2017);
• Double Time (with Sherryl Clark) Ellyse Perry series, no. 4 (North Sydney: Penguin Random House Australia, 2017.

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