Eight months after being forced to choose between her two sporting loves, dual international Ellyse Perry has again arrived at the crossroads.
Perry thought her days of tough decisions were behind her when she responded to W-League club Canberra United’s May ultimatum by switching to football rivals Sydney FC while continuing to juggle cricket.
But Perry must make the ultimate call between her twin passions after the W-League announced on Monday that Sydney FC would contest their semi-final against Brisbane on Saturday – the same day her NSW Breakers clash with Western Fury for the Twenty20 cricket title.
“We only found out today so our coaching staff will sit down with her and work which way to go,” a NSW cricket spokesman said.
“No decision has been made yet.”
Perry’s decision may be swayed by her selection in the Australian cricket squad for the Women’s World Cup starting in India on January 31.
She will be one of six players who will contest back-to-back cricket World Cups.
Perry has successfully split her time between cricket and football since first selected at age 16 to represent her country in both sports.
She is the first Australian woman to represent her country at a senior World Cup in two different sports.
But the Ashes-winning quick and Matildas World Cup defender was surprisingly told by Canberra United CEO Heather Reid last May that she must commit to their W-League club or move on.
Perry appeared to gain the last laugh when Sydney FC moved into the W-League top four with a 3-2 victory over Western Sydney last weekend while defending champions Canberra missed out on the finals for the first time.
Sydney FC were guaranteed a W-League playoff berth when Brisbane thrashed Canberra 5-1 in the regular season finale.
But Perry’s loyalties will be tested thanks to NSW Breakers’ stunning WT20 run.
The Breakers went on a 12-game unbeaten streak to cruise into the final which will be the curtain raiser for the men’s Big Bash League decider.
Both NSW and Western Fury will vie for a maiden WT20 crown after the Vic Spirit claimed all three titles since the competition’s inception in 2009-10.
Rod
Guest
Depending on how good he was or could have been at cricket, it probably would have been a longer, less injured ,more financially rewarding career playing cricket though!
Red Kev
Guest
One of my old school teachers used to love telling the story of how he once taught former Wallaby centre Jason Little at high school; and when the young man came to him for advice over which sport to pursue he told him “go into cricket, there’s no money or future in rugby union”.
Andy_Roo
Roar Guru
Changing W-League clubs to continue playing cricket made Perry's coice pretty clear. I think she will and should choose cricket. Lots of sportspeople have to choose one sport at the elite level. For Perry to have played two sports for so long is the exception to the rule.