Ellyse Alexandra Perry (born 3 November 1990) is an Australian sportswoman who made her debut for both the Australian cricket and the Australia women's national soccer team at the age of 16. She played her first cricket international in July 2007 before earning her first football cap for Australia a month later. Perry is the youngest person to represent Australia in cricket and the first Australian to have appeared in both cricket and football World Cups.
Perry was fast-tracked to make her Women's One Day International (WODI) debut for Australia against New Zealand, three months before playing a single match for her state New South Wales in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL). In 2007–08, she made her debut for New South Wales and won the WNCL with them, and at the end of the season, she made her Women's Test cricket debut in Bowral against England. During the season, she was the player of the match in her Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) debut against England, and made her maiden WODI half-century against New Zealand.
Perry took 4 wickets for 23 runs in the final of the 2008–09 WNCL to help New South Wales defend their title. She then took nine wickets as Australia came fourth in the 2009 World Cup held in Australia. She was ineffective during the 2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20 in England, taking only two wickets in Australia's four matches.
In 2009–10, Perry took 22 wickets and scored 148 runs as New South Wales won the WNCL again. She then took 18 wickets in 10 WODIs against New Zealand at the end of the season, as the Australians won all the matches. During these matches, Perry took her maiden five-wicket WODI haul. Perry played in each of Australia's matches at the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies, taking 3 wickets for 18 runs and being named player of the match in the final as Australia defeated New Zealand by three runs to claim the title. In December 2017, she won the inaugural ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year award.
In November 2018, during the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies, Perry became the first cricketer for Australia, male or female, to play in 100 Twenty20 International matches. In the final of the same tournament, she became the first cricketer for Australia, male or female, to take 100 wickets in Twenty20 International matches. In July 2019, during the Women's Ashes, Perry became the first player, male or female, to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in Twenty20 International cricket.
A defender, Perry represented Australia at the 2008 Asian Cup, and scored in the match against South Korea. She played for the Central Coast Mariners in the Australian W-League during the 2008–09 season, before transferring to Canberra United the following year. In June 2010, Perry began her media career by hosting the football-related show Football Stars of Tomorrow, screened on the digital sports channel One HD. However she hasn't played football for the national team since as the team did not call her up again.
MORE