T20 World Cup bigger than teams because of the moment it created for women’s cricket: Ellyse Perry

This year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup was a seminal event in the women’s game as it raked in record numbers and laid the path for the future of cricket, feels star Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry.

Perry missed out on the business end of the tournament due to a hamstring surgery but she does not regret it as the event was bigger than an individual or team for women’s cricket.

“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,” she told Cricket Australia website.

“Sometimes I think about that tournament, and particularly about that final, and I don’t even think it was about our team. 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.”

Perry, the ICC Player of the Year, spoke about how it was a huge moment for women’s cricket.

“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.”

The final against India turned out to be the most-watched women cricket match with close to 90 lakh fans thronging the MCG to watch action unfold.

It was completely different from the matches the women cricketers have been accustomed to, playing before empty stadiums.

“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.

With PTI Inputs