It was akin to languid poetry as Ellyse Perry approached the crease to bowl at Mumbai Indians’ Sajeevan Sajana. A few seconds later, all one heard was the ball rattling timber. Perry, playing for RCB in the WPL, went on to bag six wickets in the game, all of them coming through the LBW and bowled modes of dismissal. She had married precision with skill to run through the cream of the opponent.
Here was a bowler who had bowled just six overs before that WPL game. But right after Perry pouched a fine catch in the deep, Smriti Mandhana, RCB’s skipper, signalled to her trump card that it was time for a bowl. In what was a crucial match for her side, Perry grabbed the opportunity and put her hand up with a virtuoso bowling show. It was indeed an exhibition of pace bowling.
With fluid strides, the run-up was rhythmic. And then, Perry delayed her bowling arm nicely to create a big stretch between the hip and shoulder in order to generate some pace. More importantly, with a slightly tilted seam, she found just enough movement in the air and more so off the wicket to take advantage of the low bounce on offer at the Kotla.
You still need control to employ all the skillset that you possess. And that is where Perry used her vast muscle memory built over more than a decade of playing professional cricket to find the right line and length for the conditions.
Perry, who has now played 17 years of international cricket, is an emblem of durability and perseverance. Just spool back in time to the 2010 T20 World Cup to recollect images. It was the last over of the final against New Zealand and Perry had the ball in her hand. A young Sophie Devine was threatening to take her side to a famous win. Perry, however, bowled very full and to the field that was side on the off-side as she propelled Australia to a victory by the barest of margins, three runs.
Yes, there were also some brilliant fielding efforts from the Australians in that over, but one could see the fierce competitive spirit in the eyes of Perry. Take into consideration the first ball that Perry bowled in that final over: Devine had pinched a single after nudging one towards the on-side. There didn’t seem like a second run on offer. Perry, though, didn’t want to take any chance. Initially, she attempted to save the single with a dive. And that was followed by a small collision with the non-striker, Liz Perry. Despite all the drama which unfolded, Perry didn’t lose her focus and ran across to pick up the ball in a flash.
Around three years later, in the 50-over World Cup final, Perry was laid low by an ankle problem. She could barely complete her run-up, but that didn’t stop Perry from returning with astounding figures of 3 for 19 off 10 overs.
As an all-rounder, Perry has also been very consistent with a willow in hand. She now has close to 6000 runs in international cricket. For a moment, scratch the outside coating and you will see that even a great cricketer like Perry has had to overcome a few hurdles.
A simple search on the internet and you might find two contrasting headlines. ‘Perry dropped from Australia’s T20 side against England’. A year or two later, ‘Perry set for her 300th match across internationals with no end in sight’ . Just around 12 months after Perry was dropped, she was nominated for the ICC’s T20 player of the year award. During that phase, she had the highest strike rate for any woman cricketer who had faced more than 200 balls in T20 cricket. That kind of transformation is the hallmark of a gritty cricketer.
Perry has had to iron out a few bowling flaws as well. Somewhere in 2021, when India toured Australia, Perry was searching for some rhythm. During that time, there were a few photos of Perry trying to improve her bowling alignments by having intense conversations with Mitchell Starc and Ben Sawyer. It was basically going back to basics for Perry as she continuously strived to fine-tune her front-arm and the bowling arm.
Charlotte Edwards, who has coached Perry at Sydney Sixers and the current head of Mumbai Indians, aptly said in the presser: “I’ll still stand by what I said five years ago. She is the greatest player that I’ve seen play the game with that energy and she’s unbelievable person as well. We’re very lucky to have Ellyse in our game and be such a great role model.”
Perry will be 34 this year. She has won all the accolades and big prizes in women’s cricket. She can easily take a walk into retirement life and find herself anointed as the finest cricketer in the women’s game. But Perry is determined to write out a few more chapters before she hangs up her boots.
It is perhaps Perry’s love for the game that keeps motivating her to conquer the next challenge. The immediate goal would be to help the RCB franchise fill their trophy cabinet for the first time.
Shafali Verma’s blistering knock powers the Delhi Capitals to another victory.@ishaanshahane11 reviews #DCvGG@hrxbrand @wplt20 #WPL pic.twitter.com/Ibk19bgiuM
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) March 13, 2024