One of the great modern-day women cricketers, Australia’s Ellyse Perry, has welcomed the increased scrutiny that women’s cricketers face these days, saying it is good for the game. Perry was referring to the media scrutiny England faced after being thrashed in the Women’s Ashes earlier this year.
Australia whitewashed England 16-0 in the multi-format Women’s Ashes, and what quickly followed for England was widespread criticism of their performance. Perry believes this shows people care about their game.
“It shows that people care, and people expect a certain level of performance from their elite female teams and they are passionate about it,” Perry told BBC Sport.
“That’s a far cry from where the women’s game was five to 10 years ago. So while criticism and being held to account isn’t always pleasant, equally it’s very positive for the direction of the game and shows it’s being taken really seriously,” she added.
Continuing her perspective, Perry said: “People expect more (now we are paid more), and all we’ve wanted is to be taken seriously and respected for how we play the game and the level we can take it to. With that comes pressure to perform. There will be moments where that’s hard to handle and it’s challenging, but it’s also exactly what the game needs.”
Australia won the ODI and T20I series 3-0 while beating England by an innings and 122 runs in the one-off Day-Night Test. Perry defended the English side, saying the result was a “bit of an anomaly.”
“It’s really easy to get caught up in the scoreline without seeing the bigger picture,” said Perry.
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“There are amazing players in that English team – world-class players who can win a game from anywhere. It was a moment in time. It was great for us and our fans during our home summer, but I feel it was probably a bit of an anomaly. The next time we meet, it’ll be different circumstances – maybe in a World Cup. It’s a moment that has passed, not something we want to get stuck on or gloat about because cricket is so fickle; things can change quickly,” she said.
