While the ramifications from Australia’s whitewash of the women’s Ashes continue in England, star all-rounder Ellyse Perry opted against rubbing salt into the rawest of wounds when declaring their arch rivals will bounce back from the drubbing last summer.
Almost two months after Australia’s 16-0 thrashing, which culminated in an easy triumph in a historic pink ball Test at the MCG, England sacked longstanding skipper Heather Knight and head coach Jon Lewis last week following an internal review of the debacle.
Rather than stick the boot into a rival on their knees when quizzed as to the differences in the Australian and English cricket environments, Perry said it was likely the change in leadership would spark a revival in women’s cricket in England.
“You can be really biased about that and I think we’re incredibly fortunate to have amazing set of structures and leadership within our in our team that’s been successful over a long period of time, led by Shelley (Nitschke) as head coach,” Perry said.
“She’s just been phenomenal in terms of the direction that she’s taken the team (and in) continuing to challenge us. But also, I think it’s easy to sort of sit back and throw stones in opposition when they don’t do well, but everyone has patches of challenges.
“I’ve got no doubt England are going to be back. They’re so important to the women’s game and the competition that they add. So I don’t think it’d be long time until they’re playing some of their best cricket again, (because) they’ve got so many world class players.”
Knight led England to 134 victories as captain and was the skipper during their record-breaking run of eight consecutive ODI series wins.
But recent struggles in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and the whitewash in Australia put the writing on the wall for the 34-year-old.
“Captaining my country for the last nine years has been the biggest honour of my life and I will look back on my tenure with an enormous sense of pride,” said Knight.
“I have loved the challenge of leading the team, but all good things come to an end and it’s time for me to go back into the ranks and focus on being the best batter and teammate that I can be for the team.”
Ellyse Perry of Australia. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images
Perry, who is also 34, said the outgoing English skipper deserved respect and she has no doubt Knight will continue to excel with the bat.
“It was obviously a really tough series for them and (there were) probably a few different results leading up to that series that probably did not go on as well as they wanted to,” she said.
“Without being on the inside and knowing day-to-day what goes on in their environment, it’s really hard for me to comment, other than to say I know Heather really well and she’s been an amazing servant to their team as captain for a long period of time and achieved so much, just looking at her list of accomplishments with the side.
“So I think she should be applauded for everything that she’s done and I know that she’ll still continue to have an impact as a player going forward.”
Fresh from sweeping an away T20 series against World Cup champions New Zealand, the Aussie women have an extended break from international duties, though some will head to the United Kingdom to feature in County Cricket.
Looking ahead to next summer, the Australians have an ODI World Cup in India in October and will then host that nation in a multi-format series that culminates with a Test at the WACA in March, 2026, before a tour of the West Indies that also features a Test.
While the Australians were shock casualties in a semi-final of the T20 World Cup last October, they are clearly the best team in the world across all formats, and Perry said the national team is working hard to ensure they retain their edge.
“I can only sort of perceive that it’s going to get bigger and bigger as we go along, but certainly these next 12 months are really exciting for the group,” she said.
“I actually think, not to sit on the fence with this answer, but we’ve really been targeting the style of play that we want to play, and any competition gives you a chance to test that.
“But I think our biggest sort of marker and metric is actually how we’re playing, and hopefully as a result of that, inspiring lots of people to want to come and watch our matches, both here and abroad, and for lots of young boys and girls to play cricket. So I think for us at the moment, (the) real focus is on what we’re doing internally and then what we’re putting out on the park.”
