Ash Gardner has heaped praise on star teammate Ellyse Perry, saying she should go down as the greatest cricketer the game has seen – male or female.
The all-rounder brought up her 350th game on Saturday night against India, another milestone in her incredible career.
Perry has an incredibly long list of accolades, including being named the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Decade (2011-2020).
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She won the Belinda Clark Award for best Australian women’s cricketer in 2016, 2018 and 2020 and has been named WBBL player of the tournament twice.
Ellyse Perry of Australia with a young fan after the game. Cricket Australia via Getty Imag
Perry has nearly 7000 runs for Australia in white ball cricket, while also taking over 300 wickets for her country.
Speaking before the loss to India in Adelaide, Gardner spoke glowingly of her teammate.
“I haven’t said it in the media, but I genuinely think she’s going to go down as the best, female or male, player that we’ve ever seen,” Gardner told Triple M.
“Her record speaks for itself, but I just think the person that she is, she’s done so much for this team, for the world game, she’s an absolute icon wherever she goes, she’s very recognisable and I just think she’s so down to earth … she would hate that all of this.
“She’s certainly earned it. Playing 350 games for your country and starting at the age of 16 is an incredible feat.
“It’s an absolute honour to share a small part of her career and she’s certainly going to go down as one of the best I’ve seen.”
Australia’s Ellyse Perry is bowled by India’s Shreyanka Patil during game three of the Women’s T20 International Series at Adelaide Oval. Mark Brake via Getty Images
India spoiled Perry’s 350th milestone match, handing Australia a rare home series defeat with a clinical 17-run victory on Saturday night.
After the visitors opted to bat first, opener Smriti Mandhana and No.3 Jemimah Rodrigues fired India to a record-breaking 6-176 — the side’s highest team total at Adelaide Oval.
Mandhana’s blistering 82 off 55 was her highest-ever T20 score in Australia, eclipsing her previous high of 66.
It was the 29-year-old’s 33rd T20 50, featuring 11 boundaries and three sixes, while Rodrigues’ 59 off 46 marked her 15th career half-century and her first on Australian soil.
Australia’s bowlers struggled to contain the onslaught, with allrounder Annabel Sutherland (2-34) leading a largely expensive showing from Shelley Nitschke’s cohort.
Only fast bowler Kim Garth offered sustained control, finishing as the most economical with 1-25 from her three overs.
Despite the leather-flinging, the crowd erupted in the ninth over when Perry pulled off a brilliant one-handed save at the long-on rope to deny Mandhana a certain boundary.
The milestone allrounder later capped off her fielding display with a run-out on the final ball of the innings.
In response, Australia slumped to 3-32 early in the chase, losing Perry for cheap in her milestone game when she was bowled by Shreyanka Patil (3-22) after dancing down the wicket to a turning delivery.
Patil had earlier snared the crucial wicket of the in-form Georgia Voll (10), who was fresh off a career-high 88 on Thursday.
A defiant 57 off 45 from Gardner eventually gave the hosts a glimmer of hope, but her fourth T20 half-century stand against India ended when Rodrigues dived forward at full stretch to claim a stunning catch at deep mid-wicket.
The dismissal left Australia reeling at 6-128 in the 16th over, and despite Georgia Wareham (12) and Annabel Sutherland (14) adding late runs, the chase fell short at 9-159.
Shree Charani (3-32) and Arundhati Reddy (2-35) provided the finishing touches with the ball to help steer India to the series-clinching win.
As attention now turns to three ODIs and a one-off Test, Perry — who debuted in 2007 — leaves the T20 leg as the third-most capped woman in international cricket, trailing only India’s Harmanpreet Kaur (357) and New Zealand’s Suzie Bates (355).