Ellyse Perry to miss entire New Zealand series
According to Cricket Australia, her recovery from a low-grade hamstring injury she picked up earlier this year was set back by another strain suffered to a different part of her hamstring.
Perry had torn her right hamstring during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at home and missed the final as a result. She underwent surgery in March and was confident of playing a part in the ongoing series.
But, in a training session before the first match, she strained her right hamstring – a different portion this time – again. She is now expected to return only for the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in October.
Ellyse Perry ruled out of entire #AUSvNZ series with injury 🤕
— ICC (@ICC) September 29, 2020
A low-grade hamstring strain has put the star all-rounder's comeback on hold. She is now hoping to recover in time for the WBBL, starting late October 🤞 pic.twitter.com/NTJaopNQDi
"Ellyse had been on track to play some part in this series but unfortunately she had some hamstring awareness, she’s got a low-grade strain so she won’t be available for the rest of this series," Australia captain Meg Lanning said on Tuesday, 29 September.
"She is doing everything she can to be available as soon as possible. It’s a very complex injury and hard to get the timing on when certain things will happen. Hopefully (she will be available) at some point, she is doing the best she can and it’s really important to get it right."
Although the latest injury is believed to be less serious than her previous one that needed a six-month layoff, it is likely that the star all-rounder will take a cautious approach given her recent injury history. The WBBL is set to begin on October 25.
One last hit out for the @AusWomenCricket up in Brissy before #AUSvNZ starts tomorrow... and Ellyse Perry is in the nets 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/yX4nT2gxD2
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) September 25, 2020
Australia lead the three-match T20I series against White Ferns 2-0 even with Perry missing both games. They are also on a 18-match winning streak in ODIs. Lanning said that while Perry's injury is a blow, Australia do not rely on one or two players and should continue to do well.
"I think we’ve developed that over a period of time. We don’t rely on one or two players. As we saw in the first game, Ash Gardner was able to step up and make a match-winning contribution. So that gives us a lot of confidence that if our top three doesn’t fire, we’ve still got real depth to get us over the line. With the ball as well we’ve developed that depth.”
The teams play again at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Wednesday.