Ellyse Perry’s dedication leads to career best form

If you want to make Sydney Sixers’ Ellyse Perry uncomfortable, as her about how good she is. But a team-first approach has her at her best.

IF you want to make Ellyse Perry a little uncomfortable, ask her about how good she is.

The Sydney Sixers captain has been almost unstoppable this WBBL season.

Opening the batting for her team, which will this Saturday feature in its fourth consecutive final (there have only been four seasons), Perry has seen the innings out seven times.

She has scored 744 runs to date, the most by a player in one season, and 2110 in her career in this competition, again the most by any player.

Ellyse Perry is focused on leading her team to another title. Pic: Phil Hillyard

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Perry has hit two 100s, six half-centuries, taken 10 wickets, eight catches and six player-of-the-match awards.

When asked to explain her stunning form, she doesn’t smack this delivery out of the ground but instead plays a deft deflection.

“I haven’t really thought too much about it,” Perry said.

Perry has gotten used to raising her bat this WBBL. Pic: AAP

“It’s something I’ve worked at for a long period of time, it’s not just been I’ve decided that’s how I’m going to play. It’s something I’ve tried to evolve in my own style and my own way in the last three or four seasons of this competition.

“Since we’ve been playing this year, it’s really just been about winning the comp.

“I guess my greatest concern and where my interest is at the moment is just how the team is tracking and how we’re playing to win games or what we need to do better.”

While her overriding concern may be the team, Perry pays close attention to what she’s doing.

It was as close as it gets for the Sixers in the semi-final. Pic: Getty Images

Sixers coach Ben Sawyer knows better than most what it takes for Ellyse Perry to be as good as she is.

Sawyer has been with the champion Sixers team since its inception in 2015 and has worked with Perry as his captain since that day.

His recent appointment to the Australia set-up last year means the two have spent even more time together.

Last week, in the lead-in to the Sixers’ semi-final against Melbourne Renegades — a thrilling super over victory in which Perry hit the winning six — Sawyer turned to his captain for direction on how to prepare the team.

He was even with her on the scheduled day off to work on Perry’s game, not the game plans.

Perry works tirelessly to be the best. Pic: Phil Hillyard

“I believe that hard work pays off and if there’s ever an example of that, it’s her,” Sawyer said. “Even the planning she does for her and the team.

“People think she demands a lot, she doesn’t. She knows what she needs to play really well and gets it done.

“Thursday (before the semi), everybody had the day off. I came down here for an hour and a half and threw balls to her. It’s not a hassle because she’s then comfortable to walk out there and, ‘I’m ready to go’.”

Preparation like that goes a long way to winning and is what registers with Perry rather than records and accolades.

She etched herself in Australian sports history when she smacked a double ton at North Sydney Oval during the Ashes Test in 2017.

The Ashes Test was a defining moment for herself. Pic: Phil Hillyard

And for women’s Test cricket. Pic: Mark Evans

Perry described it as an “amazing experience”, but said it was better to have the idea that women’s Test cricket was boring “blown out of the water by one match at an amazing ground”.

That was the first time she had made triple figures in any format.

Her two centuries since had a bit more cut through.

“As a batter, it’s nice to score big runs, that’s what you want to do,” Perry said.

“Probably it’s been nice to prove myself that I can do that in the shortest form of the game as well.

The Sixers have a chance to win three titles in a row. Pic: Monique Harmer.

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“I never really had thought about doing it until it happened and it’s nice to know that what you’ve worked on is a successful blueprint for that.”

On Saturday, all eyes will be on Perry once more when she leads her Sydney Sixers for the final time this season.

She is contracted for next season, so there’s no talk of her moving on yet.

But with husband Matt Toomua playing for the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby, she hasn’t ruled out a possible shift south.

Could she ever leave her Sixers? Those who know her best have their doubts.

“I don’t think she’d ever leave because this is her team,” Sawyer said.

“I’m a massive believer in it’s the captain’s team. She’s built this and I put stuff into place.

“But I’d find it hard to (see her) move away from this when it honestly is a lot of her hard work.”

Originally published as Ellyse Perry’s dedication leads to career best form