Ellyse Perry says her marriage with rugby player Matt To’omua has seen her evolve as sportsperson

Australia woman cricketer Ellyse Perry, who turned 29 on Sunday, recently spoke about her marriage to compatriot Matt To’omua who plays rugby and how the partnership has helped her evolve as a sportsperson. Perry, who made her international debut in 2007 and is the youngest player to do so, is also the first Australian to have taken part in cricket and football World Cups.

Perry made her international debut in both sports as a teenager and is the first player — male or female — to reach 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20Is. Speaking to News Corp, Australia, in an interview, the superstar of Australian women’s cricket said it is her husband To’omua who has helped her to become a public figure and ‘role model’.

“Sometimes I need people around me to remind me, to keep enjoying the small things,” the cricketer, who has over 4,700 runs and 280 wickets in international cricket, said. The two sportspersons got hitched in 2015 and according to Perry, it is no coincidence that she has become more successful since meeting her better half.

‘There’s a lovely shared sense of what want to achieve together’ – Ellyse Perry

“He has had these incredible experiences in his own career. And I feel more settled … there’s this lovely shared sense of what we want to achieve together,” Perry said, speaking about To’omua, who is a Wallabies player. “Ironic isn’t it, that caring a little less, and being more relaxed and trusting of my ability, has helped me improve.”

The humble cricketer, however, left the task of judging her talent to others. She was more comfortable in ruminating over the growth of women’s sport and other sporting role models who she admires. While she saw former Australian Olympian Susie O’Neill as a sporting idol while growing up, she called another compatriot Tia Clair-Toomey as “phenomenal”.

Perry, who broke a number of records during the Ashes in June, has also praised Cricket Australia for improving the conditions of the women cricketers, reported Daily Mail. Women’s cricket is under focus at the moment with the next T20 World Cup for the women scheduled to be played Down Under in February-March 2020.

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