The holder of 253 caps for Australian Women in international cricket and three time winner of the Belinda Clarke award, Ellyse Perry finds herself carrying drinks in the 2022 Ashes WT20I opener. Despite her notable performances across formats over the years, her exclusion comes as surprising but not shocking.
When asked for a comment regarding her non-selection, coach Matthew Potts stated, “All our research shows, (and) particularly the trends in the men’s game that (the requirement is) for 5, 6 and 7 to score quickly at a higher strike rate. Once she wasn’t considered in the top order it became a different conversation that is why someone like Grace (Harris) has come in”
In the last two years, Perry has not been able to deliver the goods as a batter for Australia in T20I cricket, which is much to the surprise of many critics. Her average of 16.33 at a SR of 102.8 across 14 matches doesn’t even help her cause. During the same period all other batters who played more than three innings have both a better strike rate and average than Perry.
While her returns with the ball have been much better, the emergence of Tahlia McGrath as a first choice all-rounder diminished Perry’s chances as well. Furthermore, Nicola Carey coming off an unbeaten century and 74 run knock in her last two List A fixtures helped her seal the number 7 spot too. The growing stocks of Nicola Carey with the bat meant that Australia could go in with 6 proper bowlers with batting till number 8 in the form of Jess Jonassen.
While Perry remains a lynchpin for Australian women in the longer formats (WODIs and WTests) and would have her say later on in the Ashes. However, looking forward, she would need a remarkable turnaround in her game to reclaim her spot in the WT20I side for Australia.