Ellyse Perry Wins Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award For ICC Female Cricketer Of The Decade

Australian cricketer Ellyse Perry bagged the top honours at the International Cricket Council Awards 2020 for various 'Best Player of the Decade' categories. The fast-medium all rounder of the national women's cricket team of Australia won the following awards:

• ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade
• ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade
• Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for Female Player of the Decade

The phenomenal Ellyse Perry wins the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade 🙌

🏏 4349 international runs during the #ICCAwards period
☝️ 213 wickets
🤯 Four-time @T20WorldCup champion
🏆 @CricketWorldCup 2013 champion

A clean sweep for Perry ⭐ pic.twitter.com/yc9GjGBlFS

— ICC (@ICC) December 28, 2020

Other women cricketers nominated for the Cricketer of the Decade Award were Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Meg Lanning (Australia), Mithali Raj (India), Sarah Taylor (England) and Stafanie Taylor (West Indies).

Also Read: Why Does The Onus Of India’s Cricket Losses Fall On Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma & Their Unborn Baby?

Ellyse Perry's remarkable performance throughout the decade

Ellyse scored 4,349 international runs for Australia in the decade. Meanwhile, she also took 213 wickets as her team won four Twenty20 World Cups and a 50-over World Cup in that span. Furthermore, she was the first and only women cricketer in history to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20I cricket.

The outstanding player had a major role in Australia’s domination in women’s cricket in the last decade. She was one of the key players in their five World Cup-winning campaigns. Her notable performance came in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup of 2013, where she took 3/19 in finals in Mumbai against West Indies in spite of her injury. After aborting her run-up twice in her first over, she went on to deliver a maiden. After three overs, she took two wickets and let the opponent batswomen fetch just three runs.

Ellyse was the youngest to debut for Australia in ODI 2007 at the age of 16 years and 261 days. Her bowling was her signature in the initial days.  She eventually also became a skilled batswoman, with her double hundred in the 2017 Ashes in Sydney as one of the many highlights of her career.

Moreover, she also represented her country in association football, debuting for both the national cricket team and the national soccer team at the age of 16. Perry is the youngest Australian to  play in both ICC and FIFA World Cups. She then rose as an acclaimed cricketer and she is now widely considered to be one of the greatest female players ever in the history.

On winning the prestigious awards

After winning the award today, she expressed her delight and recalled the old days of her journey. She said, "It has been tremendous to develop the women's T20 game and take it forward. Amazing to see where it's come from when I was introduced to it."

Here is the video of the full interview:

🇦🇺 "Making my debut for Australia in ODI cricket was an incredibly special experience, sharing it with the players that I looked up to as a kid growing up."

Ellyse Perry, the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade, reminisces about her early days in the format 🙌 #ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/7cyRXQB7jo

— ICC (@ICC) December 28, 2020

Sugandha Bora is an intern with SheThePeople.