SYDNEY: Cricketing all-rounder Ellyse Perry will get a chance to win her second world title in just over a year after being included in Australia’s squad for the women’s soccer World Cup on Wednesday.
Perry, who made her debut for her country in both sports four years ago as a 16-year-old, helped Australia win the women’s cricket Twenty20 World Cup in May last year and now has a chance to double the glory in Germany from June 26-July 17.
”To be given this opportunity is just fantastic for me, purely from the perspective that I absolutely love playing football as much as I love playing cricket,” Perry told reporters on Wednesday.
”Having had that experience with cricket and also winning a World Cup I know how great that is and how enjoyable that is.
”To be involved in this team now, in a football World Cup, is really special and something I’m excited about.”
The demands on top sportsmen usually force players to make a choice between sports in their late teens, as happened to former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh when he packed in a promising soccer career.
As well as being a defender for soccer’s Matildas and an all rounder for cricket’s Southern Stars, however, Perry also manages to juggle university studies with her sporting exploits.
”The way that I view things is that playing the two sports is what makes me happiest and what helps me to perform as well as I can,” she said.
”There’s never been that point where I’ve felt like things were too much or I really needed to make a decision.”
Unlike in cricket, Australia, ranked 11th in the world in the FIFA rankings, are considered having just an outside chance to lift the World Cup next month.
”It’ll be interesting to be in that position, not being one of the teams that’s hunted or looked at,” Perry added.
”Rather we’re the ones that have got the opportunity to play the football that we want to play and see where it goes.” (Reuters)