Star Ellyse Perry says Australia’s game can evolve in home series against West Indies

With the next World Cup less than a year away, Ellyse Perry knows Australia has to continue to improve in its first home series since bringing home the Ashes.

Ellyse Perry says the Australian women’s cricket team can go to another level ahead of their first home series of the summer against the West Indies.

Despite returning with the Ashes, Australia lost both white-ball formats in their recent tour of England and drew the series 8-8.

With the next World Cup already under a year away, Perry knows that the team can’t afford to waste any opportunity to get back to their best form.

“We’d like to hit the ground running,” Perry said.

“There’s a great opportunity for us to evolve some of the style of our play. Perhaps it’s not even visible from the outside looking in, but I think it’s some of the processes in terms of how we’re going to approach our white-ball cricket.

“It’s small changes, but when you add them up, they’re hopefully quite meaningful.”

Perry’s off-season has looked quite different after taking time to recover from a knee injury she suffered during the white-ball series in Ireland.

It meant she was ruled out of The Hundred, and the 32-year-old has played only one WNCL match for Victoria before the first T20 at North Sydney Oval.

Ellyse Perry was on hand to launch the summer of cricket at North Sydney Oval on Friday. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images for Cricket Australia

As a result, Perry may not be used as a bowler for the entire series against the West Indies.

“I think in terms of my full fitness, bowling is probably something that I still work through this series,” she said.

“It was probably a priority to get back on the field and be available as a batter and then the bowling will progress. But it’s been tracking well.”

While injuries have interrupted Perry’s career recently, she still has as much love for the game as she has had since day one.

Her form over the past two years is as good as it has ever been, and that passion for the sport is what’s driving her to improve.

“I think I just really love it and I’m open to the challenge of improving,” Perry said. “I think that’s what gives me the most enjoyment out of playing the game.

“It’s easy to maintain a level of enjoyment because it’s constantly different. The (Commonwealth) Games, for example, potentially an Olympics on the horizon for cricket as well.”

Ellyse Perry took to the field alongside the returning Meg Lanning for her first WNCL match of the summer at the WACA. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

The West Indies are aiming to become one of the next teams to signal their intent in women’s cricket as they enter a new era on Sunday.

The series will be the first for new coach Shane Deitz, who says he has analysed Australia’s performance in the Ashes to locate any potential weaknesses.

“We looked at that series and found a few areas we can probably try to target,” Deitz said. “But we’re focusing on what we’re trying to do at the moment.

“I still think (Australia is) the marker we want to get to and compare ourselves to.”

Deitz has promised to bring back the flair to West Indies cricket, and Perry knows from experience that the Aussies will have to be at their best as the quality of the women’s game continues to advance.

“The unknown is the exciting thing,” Perry said. “The fact we haven’t come across a lot of players actually makes it a bit of a threat to us … (the West Indies) are always a challenge on any given day.

“I think it’s really important for global cricket going forward that every team is on equal footing. You look at signs like Pakistan beating India, South Africa’s success against New Zealand, Sri Lanka having some wins against England, there’s good development going on in the game.

“I think we’re going to have to play really well to be successful in this series, but I think it’s a really great starting point for us as well this summer.”

Originally published as Star Ellyse Perry says Australia’s game can evolve in home series against West Indies