T20 World Cup: Ellyse Perry’s fitness a $1 million question

Playing Ellyse Perry in Monday’s must-win clash with New Zealand will come down to a risk-versus-reward strategy.

Ellyse Perry has been struggling with a shoulder and hip injury. Picture: Getty Images

Playing Ellyse Perry in Monday’s must-win clash with New Zealand will come down to a risk-versus-reward strategy that could have ramifications beyond the Junction Oval match.

For Australian captain Meg Lanning and coach Matthew Mott it’s added pressure during a tournament in which the walls have continued to close in on the defending champions and red-hot favourites.

Already carrying a sore shoulder in to the tournament, Perry, the ICC’s cricketer of the year and the Belinda Clark medallist, now has a hip issue.

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The all-round superstar couldn’t train with her teammates on Sunday.

It was an optional session for the squad, but everyone, other than Perry, trained together.

Perry had to have treatment at the hotel before eventually arriving at the ground later.

All she could do, however, was take some easy throwdowns in the indoor nets, without pads on. Perry then tried doing some throwing from a standing start to test her hip.

“It’s to give her the best chance to play,” Lanning said of the softly-softly approach for Perry.

“She’s the ultimate professional and doing everything she can to get herself up. If anyone’s able to do it I’m sure she is.

“Given who the player is, she has shown in the past that she is extremely resilient and able to play through things.

“We’ll give her the best chance possible, leave it as late as we can and then go from there.”

Australia have to beat the Kiwis to progress to the semi-finals. The bookies have them $1.23 favourites. A loss would end the home team’s campaign, a long way short of the final at the MCG where hopes remains for a crowd of 90,000.

So do the Aussies play a 75 or 80 per cent fit Perry to help secure passage to the semi-finals knowing she could hurt herself even further and be unavailable on Thursday in Sydney?

Or do they let Perry rest and back themselves to beat the White Ferns with maybe Delissa Kimmince brought in to carry Perry’s bowling load, or even Erin Burns, who hasn’t played yet in the tournament, as an extra batter?

It’s literally a million-dollar question. The World Cup winners receive $1.5 million.

“I said it at the start of the tournament that we had 15 players who I felt could play a role at any point and that hasn’t changed,” Lanning said. “If Ellyse is unable to play we feel we have people who can come in and play a role and play really well.”

The expectation around this Australian team was something Lanning and her teammates expected. Pursuit of a World Cup win at home brings extra attention, extra scrutiny, extra hope.

An injury to arguably the team’s most important player, given her all-round excellence, on the eve of the biggest game, has turned the pressure cooker dial up to 11. But Lanning said the mood in the team had gone the other way.

They were calm, and just wanted to play, with Perry or without .

“There’s been a lot of talk and attention but that’s nothing we didn’t expect. Being in the middle of it is different to thinking about it,” Lanning conceded.

“But I have really sense a calmness about the group in the last few days, a real want to just get in to the game. There’s no escaping that is it a big game and there will be a few nerves about us. There will be with the New Zealand team too and that’s a good thing.

“We want to play in big games. We want to embrace the opportunity. We are backing our experience and ability to adapt to the situation to get us over the line.”

HERALD SUN