Star all-rounder Ellyse Perry will win the player of the Ashes series in Bristol
Four awards in six games leaves little doubt who will be the player of the series when the Women’s Ashes series winds up with the final T20 on Thursday morning (EST).
Even without a single ball being bowled in the third and final T20 International,, star all-rounder Ellyse Perry is guaranteed to win player of the Ashes series.
Such has been Australia’s dominance that to date, they have claimed the six bottles of Veuve on offer for player of the match, with Perry winning four of them.
Right now the bottles remain on ice.
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But among the toasts on offer when the bottles are popped on Thursday morning (EST), will be Perry’s outstanding summer which now includes becoming the first player, male or female, to complete the double of 100 wickets and 1000 runs in T20 cricket.
“I guess it’s lovely, I wasn’t aware of it,” Perry said.
“I actually think in T20 cricket at international level, we probably play it as much as the men, so I have played a pretty big volume of games now — over 100.
“So I suppose when you played 100 games you might get close to it. That’s probably the only reason I’m there - because I’ve played a lot of games.”
Yeah, right Pez, the only reason.
Even Socceroo Matt Ryan, in the crowd at Hove to watch the Aussies win by seven wickets with 2.1 overs to spare, was impressed.
“I’ve been following it and it’s nice to see us do so well. I’m a proud Aussie and to have them over here in my own backyard, living locally was nice to come out and support them.
“I’ve seen how dominant they’ve been. This is my first time ever to the cricket — men’s or women’s — and I’ve enjoyed it.
Ryan, who is playing for Brighton and Hove Albion as the last Aussie playing in the English Premier League, said: ”Everyone in the team has obviously sacrificed a lot of their lives to be at their pinnacle.
“It’s always great being Australian and seeing records broken. Hope this continues for a long time.”
At first it seemed far-fetched when England coach Mark Robinson said Australia was just a side that were gifted “God-given physical attributes”.
Perhaps he was right and this dominance was delivered through divine intervention.
Perhaps he was wrong and it was the years of training, preparation and strong domestic competition.
Either way, Australia will head into the final game confident of going through the Ashes series undefeated.
IN A SNAPSHOT:
Australia experienced a little wobble at 3-35 and then Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning combined for an unbeaten 87-run partnership to claim victory in the second T20 international.
The seven-wicket win came with 2.1 overs to go, Perry finishing on 47 not out and Lanning 43 not out.
Perry also snared Amy Jones again, for the fourth time this series. Jess Jonassen and Georgia Wareham also bowled beautifully.
The post-mortems as already begun for England. Records have fallen all series, not in England’s favour.
In comparison the Southern Stars are setting up for a dynasty headlined by Perry and Lanning with the likes of Sophie Molineux and Wareham coming through the ranks.
Originally published as Star all-rounder Ellyse Perry will win the player of the Ashes series in Bristol