Australian cricketer Ellyse Perry thinks the exposure and media coverage the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars received throughout their Twenty20 World Cup campaign in Barbados will do good things for women’s cricket.
Cricket Australia
Australian cricketer Ellyse Perry thinks the exposure and media coverage the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars received throughout their Twenty20 World Cup campaign in Barbados will do good things for women’s cricket.
“It’s great to see interest being taken and hopefully it continues to improve,” she told Cricket Australia after touching down at Sydney Airport, following their three-run final victory over New Zealand.
The men’s and women’s tournaments were jointly held in the Caribbean, which allowed Michael Clarke and the rest of the men’s team to sit in the stands and watch their female counterparts in action during the final.
“It was fantastic to see them sitting up on the balcony and being so enthused and in to it as we were,” Perry said.
“To have their support and to know they were up there cheering us on every step of the way was just fantastic.
“Certainly I think it’s done a great deal of good for cricket in general and Australia - to have that cohesiveness between the men’s and women’s teams is fantastic.”
The men’s side also joined in the celebrations after the game, despite having earlier lost their final to England by seven wickets.
“We watched the game from the ground and I felt really heartbroken for them actually, especially after that thrilling semi-final against Pakistan, it must have been quite hard to take and for them to join in and share our celebrations was fantastic.
“It was a real thrill to have them and to be a part of the same tournament and secondly to be as involved as they were was just great.”
Perry, who bowled the final over of the thrilling final against New Zealand, won the player of the match award after taking 3-18 from her four over.
The White Ferns needed 14 from the last over and then five from the last ball, but were restricted to just a single, thanks to the speedy footwork of the 19-year-old.
Australian fans gasped as big-hitting batter Sophie Devine struck Perry’s delivery straight, but Perry stuck her foot out in a reflex action and the ball deflected to mid-on, where it was fielded by captain Alex Blackwell and the celebrations began.
“I just wanted to make sure that, whatever happened, the ball didn’t go near the boundary,” Perry explained.
“We’d already been through a super-over at the very start of the tournament against England, so I think all the girls and all the support staff where very keen not to go down that path again.
“I just wanted to stop it going to far out of the outfield and luckily enough my big old clumsy foot got in the way.”