Allrounder bucking the trend
Perry the new cricket prototype
The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars keep stamping their authority on Pakistan, the world's eighth-ranked team. It was hoped that the move to the shorter T20 format might bring the teams closer together, as was displayed in the second one-day international, but the experience and skill of the Australians has proved too much for the visiting team.
Wednesday's win by the Southern Stars was clinical, which saw them secure the T20 series 3-0 with today's match left. Due to the length of the series against Pakistan, it has allowed the selectors to see a number of players perform across both formats. This is an opportunity that hasn't necessarily been available in the past.
Before my time, Australia used to play New Zealand annually in a three-match ODI series. The story goes that Avril Fahey, an Australian selector now, was selected for a number of series before actually making her debut. Therefore, with the expanded number of matches in a series now, this no doubt gives more players more opportunities to showcase their skills at the international level.
Two players that have come into the T20 side that didn't feature in the ODI series are Elyse Villani and Ellyse Perry. Villani has backed up her performances at the back end of the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh a few months ago by scoring an unbeaten 58 in the first T20 and then another half-century on Wednesday.
Villani seems to have unlocked the key to success at the moment and will be pleased with her early form in the season. Since 2010 she hasn’t quite been able to cement her spot in the Southern Stars T20 team. Hopefully now, with such a strong a series against Pakistan, her position in the side will not be challenged for some time.
Perry has come into the side and, for the first time in her career, solely as a batter. This is largely due to ongoing issues with a knee injury. While Perry's preparation for the series has been disrupted it doesn't seem to have affected her performance at the international level.
Having a modified preparation is something that Perry has been accustomed to since her debut for the Southern Stars in 2008, mainly due to balancing soccer and cricket commitments.
In July this year, I attended the biannual High Performance Conference that Cricket Australia ran for all State and Territory high performance staff.
During the conference Belinda Clark, Senior Manager, National Cricket Centre, commented that Perry has challenged their thinking on how much cricket an elite player should play in order to prepare well at an international level.
With injuries and soccer commitments, I calculated that Perry missed at least 11 official games at a club and domestic level last season. The actual number may be higher as it doesn't include the intra-squad matches that are organised by Cricket NSW for the Lend Lease Breakers squad.
Yet in the home Ashes series last season, Perry’s performances were outstanding, culminating in her winning the coveted Peden-Archdale medal as the Player of the Series. Based on Perry’s statistical output agasint her reduced appearances, she certainly does challenge the experts’ thinking on training practices.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s cricket coaches focused on a theory written by Anders Ericsson where he discussed the role of deliberate practice. Ericsson surmised, in order to master a skill you need to practice around 10,000 hours.
Perry certainly can tick that box, and I can attest that she is in the Cricket NSW Indoor Centre more than any other player. Her father, Mark, a decent cricketer himself, spends hours throwing balls to her and picking up the balls that she bowls. From a young age Perry has been fortunate enough to get the vital one-on-one coaching that I believe is essential for a player to develop in the game. Her father's love for the game and his knowledge has certainly rubbed off.
While training is certainly a key component to improve your skill level, it isn't the only key. There are players that look amazing in the nets, but once in the middle on game day they struggle for whatever reason.
Therefore, many high performance coaches now have moved away from the 10,000-hour theory and are concentrating on providing more matches for their players. The art of cricket isn't just taught by drills but more the ability to adapt your plan to the situation that continually changes and being able to execute your skill accordingly.
It isn't a simple formula that should be applied to all cricketers, the individual approach seems to be the best way, as environmental influences can have such a huge impact.
I wonder if Perry’s father wasn't such a great cricketer who made the time to throw hundreds of balls to her, would she be as successful? Is Perry a once in a lifetime player that makes everything look so easy and the prevalent training theories of the day are thrown out when it comes to her approach compared to others?
I don’t know the answers, but what I do know is that whatever she is doing, she needs to continue doing and hopefully do it for a long time. In full flight, she is a joy to watch.