Promotion no lock for peerless Perry

There are no guarantees Ellyse Perry will be shifted to the top of Australia’s T20I order despite her record-breaking antics in this summer’s Rebel WBBL, coach Matthew Mott says.

Perry has smashed 744 runs at 93 in 15 innings in WBBL|04, easily surpassing the previous mark for most runs in a single edition of the tournament, the 560 runs produced by national skipper Meg Lanning in WBBL|01.

The volume of runs is staggering, but it’s the rate at which they’ve been scored that’s marked the biggest change for Perry, whose strike rate of 123.17 is well above the 98.57 she scored her 522 runs at last Big Bash season.

The 28-year-old allrounder batted at No.7 during Australia’s successful T20 World Cup campaign in the West Indies in November, with Australia instead stacking their top order with their hardest hitting batters – Beth Mooney, Alyssa Healy, Ashleigh Gardner, Elyse Villani and Lanning.

Those players have continued to score rapidly – and in high volume – on home soil in WBBL|04, too. Healy is third on the runs table with 427 runs (SR 141.86); Mooney fifth (421 runs, SR 126.04); Villani sixth (403 runs, SR 112.88) and Lanning seventh (389 runs, SR 137.45).

Australia don’t play a T20I until the Ashes in England in late July, with plenty of water to pass under the bridge between now and then.

Mott told cricket.com.au that Perry’s stunning form in WBBL|04 would mean her place in the 20-over batting order would be up for discussion but admitted it would also be hard to change a winning formula.

“There’s got to be a vacancy (at the top of the order), it’s a pretty tough line-up to break into and everyone who’s been given an opportunity has taken it,” Mott said.

“There definitely will be discussion about it as there is every series, she can’t have done much more in terms of putting her name up there and she’s showed what she’s capable of at the top of the order.

“There’s always discussions about our order and what’s the best fit and how we’ll match up against teams … but we were pretty comfortable with the way it works in west dines but when someone puts their hands up like that as well you do need to consider it, that’s for sure.”

The power game Perry appears to have unlocked this Big Bash season is the latest evolution from the allrounder, who debuted for Australia as a teenage tearaway, and Mott believes the work she’d put into finding new areas to score in is paying off.

“She’s practiced really hard across the last 12 months just to get access to more parts of the ground and you can see that, she’s just become a lot better at manipulating the fields,” he said.

“She’s been a great player but quite a traditional player but her ability to (now) access different parts of the ground has put opposition captains under a lot more pressure.

“Just by accessing a few different areas she pulls players away from her strength areas and she’s been ruthless when she’s gotten the gaps she likes and taken full toll.”

Australia will meet New Zealand in a three-match ODI series next month, with games in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne, and Mott is looking forward to seeing what Perry – who typically bats at No.4 in Australia’s one-day XI – can produce against the White Ferns.

“She’s in amazing form, she’s been the most consistent run scorer throughout the tournament,” Mott added.

“All our batters are in great form at the moment and that augers well for a good series.

“We’ll need to be (in form) against the Kiwis because their players are in pretty good form in the WBBL as well.”