15 February - Gqeberha - Australia player Ellyse Perry pre-match press conference
[Reporter]
I actually wanted to ask you about Chamari Atapattu. She's a player who seems to lift against Australia in world tournaments. What have you made of her so far in this one? What are you expecting?
[Ellyse]
Oh, I think very much in Chamari style so far. You know, I think we've had a really great sort of look at Chamari, whether that's been in international fixtures when she's been playing for Sri Lanka or when she's been playing out in the WBBL. So yeah, tremendously threatening player, a lot of power, a lot of sort of energy and passion for the game as well. And certainly, sort of observing her play with a team that's playing some really good cricket so far in this tournament too. She's looking like she's really enjoying it.
[Reporter]
What were the discussions like after the game yesterday? Because Bangladesh made it look a lot harder than you were thinking it would win today.
[Ellyse]
Yeah, no, I thought Bangladesh played especially well, you know, particularly in terms of the way that they bowled. I think it suited the conditions out here at St. George's Park incredibly well. And yeah, I suppose chasing a low total, it can be tricky at times and the way that Midge and Meg went about it, I think was really quite professional in the end, but in saying that it's sort of nice to have another opportunity in the same conditions tomorrow against, I guess, a similar attack. You know, we've sort of taken away some key learnings from that. We've had a good chat this morning. And then I suppose it's just about trying to make some adjustments to the way that we play that particularly in our batting innings.
[Reporter]
It was a big day a couple of days ago for quite a few of the players. How did you approach auction day? Did you watch it live? Kind of what were the emotions going through when you were watching?
[Ellyse]
Oh yeah, like everyone else, I think it was just a really special day for the sport. You know, thrown in the mix with, you know, current World Cup going on, it makes things a little bit different. You know, we had training that day, so it's probably like the best thing that sort of could have been happening. I think it would have been particularly hard to be playing a match around that. Yeah, you can't ignore it. And I don't think you can put your head in the sand. So I think, it's just about everyone enjoying in their own way, sort of taking in how best they felt. And yeah, as I said, it's a huge day for the sport and, it's tremendous that this is sort of going to be coming up on the horizon for a lot of players and also going forward for the next, forever. Really, I think it's really changed the sport. So, it's great.
[Reporter]
Did you find out after training finished or during training?
[Ellyse]
After training finished, yeah.
[Reporter]
On a personal note, is it really satisfying to be here, I guess, given the injury troubles that you had in 2020 and then during the one-day World Cup and then, you know, not being able to bowl at Comm Games? Just on a personal note, does it feel really good to be back as you are?
[Ellyse]
It always feels great to be in the Australian team. Yeah, I've been really fortunate to have experiences for a number of years now with this group and just the changing nature of the sport and the way that it's been evolving, I guess, to sort of be part of that has been such a wonderful ride. Yeah, and in a lot of ways, I've really enjoyed the challenge of the last couple of years. I think it's sort of pushed me to kind of change the way that I've done things or find new ways to do things and evolve a little bit. So, yeah, from a personal perspective, it's always awesome to be here.
[Reporter]
And you say evolving, and you spoke a little bit about that toward the end of last year. What sort of things have you done specifically to ensure that you're doing that?
[Ellyse]
I don't think there's anything specific, to be honest. It's just a general attitude to always want to kind of find new avenues and ways to play, I suppose both like from a skills perspective, but just the way you think about things and approach things. So, yeah, nothing like super specific, just, always chipping away at stuff, which has been really fun. And like, I mean, I've got the easiest job. I just get to go in the nets and out in the game and practice and play. I think it's the support and help from people around you is always, you know, the biggest factor in that.
[Reporter]
How important was the India tour for you looking back at how it went constant, a few 70 plus knocks there. And when I asked the same question to Meg Lanning the other day, she sounded a note of warning for the rest of your opposition saying, probably you could go on to doing something that you've not done yet in your career because you've sort of taken your batting to a new gear. Looking back at that India tour, where would you place it in terms of how your comeback has spanned out?
[Ellyse]
Well, I think more broadly, firstly, that tour was really important for us as a group. I think like, from the comm games onward, we've had a lot of change within our setup. And so to go over to India and play one of the best teams in the world and certainly the most up and coming team in their own conditions in front of big crowds as well, sort of like a precursor not to just the World Cup, but I suppose the WPPL as well. So just to be in those conditions was great. Personally, yeah, the opportunity to play in those games and I suppose you have the chance to just challenge myself and have, I guess, a pretty open perspective on those games and just enjoy the opportunity was really cool.
[Reporter]
Somebody part of the touring party who made the headlines during auction day was Ashleigh Gardner, the most expensive, joint most expensive overseas player. Yes, very much. A whopping 580,000 AUD only. What makes Ashleigh Gardner special? You've seen her at Sydney Sixers, Sydney Street, seen her grow up into the big ticket player. She is what makes us special. What has stood out in your opinion as far as her evolution is concerned?
[Ellyse]
Yeah, Ash is a phenomenal player. I think, yeah, it's kind of well documented but her growth as well as a player has been amazing. Sort of fortunate enough to play with Ashley in her first WPBL campaign with the Sixers. And I don't think she's looked back since then. I think year on year, she's just got better and better. Probably what stands out to me the most now is the contribution that she's making with the bowling. I think added to the obvious power that she possesses as a batter and ability to take games away there. Now the consistency in her bowling and what she's contributing during our fielding innings just makes her such a threat. She's also an amazing fielder and great in the outfield. She sort of has every facet of the game covered off and really, it's just perfectly built for T20 cricket. But the consistency that she has for that now has probably made her as rich as what she is.
[Reporter]
And for her going for that bonkers amount of money before the auction, was there any chatter among the Australian playing group as to who could end up being that most expensive Aussie player?
[Ellyse]
Yeah, look, I guess from my perspective, I don't think any of us ever led the conversation in terms of monetary value. I think there's something at play that's much bigger than that. And of course, remuneration and the chance to earn that kind of money is wonderful, but much larger than that I think is just the general growth of the sport right around the world. I think India is kind of, I guess, the spiritual home of cricket in a lot of senses. And I think now that women are starting to have a really strong presence in the Indian sort of market and also in the Indian game, that is so much more important than any kind of dollar value that is placed on any player. So I think from that perspective, the chat was just around wanting to be involved. Of course, like after the auction, those discussions come in about certain value and how much people are sold for, which in itself is a weird kind of concept to swallow. But yeah, I just think it's so much bigger than that. So, the discussion from us as a group was just what it's going to do for the game, not so much what it's going to do for an individual.
[Reporter]
I just want to ask what you made of Wolfe’s return last night and what it means to her and everyone, given what she's gone through.
[Ellyse]
Ah, it was so awesome to see Wolfe play again last night. Yeah, such a long road back from a really devastating injury. I think any athlete who hears the word ACL in terms of an injury, it's a pretty tough one to swallow. So, I've been sort of lucky to have a first-hand look at Wolfe go through that whole process. Having said that, no one's probably been there in the times that she sort of felt lonely and not been able to play cricket like she would have liked to when the team's been doing things. So yeah, to sort of have the patience that she's had to work as hard as she has. And then I also think the other part of it is she's hardly played any games of cricket in the last 16 months and she just comes out and does that. And that's so Wolfe, she's just the most naturally talented and laid-back sort of cricketer that I've come across. And I think that really stands out for me that often after long injuries, it takes a long time to perform again, but she's done it straight away.
[Reporter]
With Georgia returning, it means you've got sort of three really good spinners there. We saw JJ miss out against Bangladesh. Do you think there's a way that you can get all three of those spinners into the team? Is there a way that you can do that each time?
[Ellyse]
I think there's certainly a way. I'm really glad that I don't have to think about that. That's obviously a discussion with the selection group. But yeah, I mean, we're really kind of fortunate to have that spin group and then you add Ash into that, obviously playing as a true all-rounder. So yeah, it's a good conundrum to have, but it's also a tricky one and it may sort of come down to conditions, but yeah, it's nice not to be a part of that group making that decision.
