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At only 18 years of age, Ellyse Perry holds the rare distinction of being a current dual international, representing Australia in cricket and football (soccer). Furthermore, she managed to achieve all of this while still at school, studying for her HSC. An amazing feat by anyone’s standards!
Ellyse made her international debut for the Australian women’s cricket team (also known as the Southern Stars) in a One-Day International match in 2007 at the age of 16 years and 261 days. Shortly after, she made her Test cricket debut against England in a one-off Ashes Test at the age of 17 years and 104 days, becoming the youngest ever Test cricketer, male or female.
An athletic all-rounder, Ellyse has starred for Australia with both bat and ball, highlighted last summer in a Twenty20 match at the MCG where she scored 29 not out (including a massive six down the ground!), then cleaning up with bowling figures of 4-20. She was a popular member of the Australian team at the ICC Women’s World Cup held in Australia this year, where they finished fourth in the tournament.
Ellyse is also one of four key players selected to develop, promote and integrate females into all facets of Australian cricket as a part of Cricket Australia’s National Female Cricket Ambassadors program. This role involves a variety of activities including media appearances, school visits, involvement in national and state junior cricket championships, promotional shoots and speaking engagements.
Only two weeks after representing the national cricket team for the first time, Ellyse made her debut for the Australian women’s football team (the Matildas) in an Olympic Games qualifier against Hong Kong. As an energetic midfielder, Ellyse has scored 2 goals for the Matildas in her 11 appearances. She is set to play in the upcoming W-League (national women’s competition), where she has previously played for the Central Coast Mariners.
With a passion to continue representing Australia in both sports, Ellyse intends to keep hitting sixes, bowling wickets and scoring goals for as long as she can. With such a positive attitude, she’s destined to become one of Australia’s leading female athletes.