Australia allrounder Ellyse Perry would make it among the top sportspersons in the world just on the basis of her cricketing accolades.
She has an average of 78.00 in Test cricket (second best all-time for minimum 10 innings) and has a highest score of 213* (third highest overall). She is also second in the list of top wicket-takers in T20Is, and is the first Australian cricketer (male/female) to reach the 100 milestone. She has won the T20 World Cup title five times and the ODI World Cup once.
She has been adjudged ICC’s women’s player of the year in both ODI and T20 formats during her career and quite rightly is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time.
However, her sporting achievements don’t end here. Perry an all-rounder in cricket, is pretty much an allrounder in life too.
The Sydney native has also had a football career that many would envy. She has won Australia’s W-League in 2011-’12 playing for Canberra United two years after she received the W-League’s young player of the year award.
However, that wasn’t the zenith of her football career that Perry managed to sustain simultaneously with her cricketing career for a while.
In 2011, Perry was picked in Australia’s squad for the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Germany when she became the first player to ever play in both ICC and Fifa World Cups.
Well, even that wasn’t all. Perry was not there in Germany to just make up the numbers. Having helped Australia reach the quarter-finals, Perry started for the Matildas against Sweden. Even though Australia went down 3-1, Perry ensured there was a moment to remember for Australia from that game.
Perry scored the team’s only goal in the 1-3 defeat but it was one for the ages. Receiving the ball just outside the box on the right side. Perry sent a side-foot dipper over the goalkeeper into the net.
It remains one of the finest goals scored by an Australian at the World Cup and Perry who eventually decided to solely focus on cricket, recalls the tournament very fondly.
“I was fortunate to have that experience in Germany,” Perry told the ICC recalling her memories of the 2011 Fifa World Cup.
“I remember our quarter-final with over thirty thousand people there. Just stepping on to the pitch for the warm-up was the biggest kick I’ve ever had as an athlete. It’s an experience that will stay with me forever,” she added.
With Australia spearheading the revolution in the women’s game, Perry decided to focus solely on cricket having juggled between the two sports for the earlier part of her career. However, there’s little doubt that had she continued to play football, she would have made a further impression in the sport. Such is her talent. Don’t believe it? Her goal in the Fifa World Cup will clear any doubts.
Here’s the sensational goal she scored:
You can watch the match highlights on YouTube here and Perry talking about her experience of the football World Cup to ICC here.
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