Inside Ellyse Perry’s fight back from the brink to return to top of world cricket

Ellyse Perry has been an international cricketer for more than half of her life, but her career came close to ending three years ago. This is how she reclaimed her place among the world’s best.

If you are ever floating around near Melbourne’s Junction Oval and happen to spot a famous face zoom past you on a skateboard, rest assured it wasn’t just your imagination.

Yes that’s Ellyse Perry, she of more than 300 matches for Australia in cricket, an iconic FIFA World Cup goal and more than three million Instagram followers taking the Bart Simpson mode of transport around town.

“I walked past an op shop, I think, during Covid, and it had a little Penny Board in there going for about $20 and I grabbed that,” Perry told this masthead.

“And then I suppose I just kind of taught myself from there. I probably had some kind of experience from when I was a kid, but it was just like a really cool way to get around where I live and to get to training and those kinds of things.

“So it turned into a bit of like a hobby after that, and I bought a few more boards since but like, Yeah, I mean, certainly no daredevil. It’s really just like a cruiser to get around every now and then.”

Ellyse Perry has played international cricket for more than half of her life. Picture: Getty Images

So does one of Australia’s most recognisable sportspeople, arguably one of Australia’s most recognisable people, get some strange looks from members of the public as she grinds into the pavement?

“I’ve got no idea. I’m normally in my own world when I’m on it, and also concentrating on not coming off it,” Perry said.

Given Perry remains a reasonably valuable commodity for Cricket Australia, you may wonder how her employer feels about it all.

“I’ve taken it on tour a few times and I’ve never been told off. Now that this is in print, that’ll change.”

Perry debuted for Australia in July, 2007. It is now 2025. She is 34. Do the maths. The all-rounder has been an international cricketer for more than half her life.

Ellyse Perry celebrates a century against India in Brisbane. Picture: Getty Images

It wasn’t necessarily what she set out to achieve, but even with her long-time teammate Meg Lanning having retired and Megan Schutt flagging the end too, Perry gives no indication that she is about to hang up her spikes.

“I’ve been playing for a long period of time, and I guess you don’t really set up or design like what your career is going to look like, but I certainly feel incredibly fortunate to have been participating for as long as I have.

“To that end, it’s just felt like you just want to make the most of every opportunity whilst that’s still available. From the perspective of being good enough to do that by still contributing, but I guess equally by feeling passionate and engaged and motivated by what I’m doing. And that certainly hasn’t changed from a motivation point of view. I’m kind of just open to what that looks like. I mean, I’ve got no kind of set date or time frame. It’s just kind of like whatever unfolds.”

Ellyse Perry has fought back from the brink to reclaim her place as one of the world’s best cricketers. Picture: Getty Images

The Perry journey has had many extraordinary chapters, but as she prepares for another home Ashes series things have certainly changed since the last time Australia hosted England.

Three years ago, Perry found herself dropped from the Twenty20 side, but having remodelled her game with a more attacking bent, she has again cemented her spot in the shortest format.

For such a dominant sportsperson, Perry’s T20 omission is a period on which she reflects perhaps surprisingly fondly.

“It was a really meaningful experience, and it was just a point in time where I was at and where things had unfolded. For that opportunity to have a new perspective on things, a different challenge, and also find an opportunity to learn a lot more about myself.

“(It’s something) I’m really grateful for, in a sense. It just unfolded how it did. I don’t think you can ever have full control over what you’d like to happen, and I suppose, from that perspective it was a different challenge that gave me a lot.”

Originally published as Inside Ellyse Perry’s fight back from the brink to return to top of world cricket