Ellyse Perry has 24 hours to prove she has overcome back spasms and regained her place in the team for Australia’s Women’s World Cup semi-final against the West Indies.
The star all-rounder has been receiving treatment for a week but must show she is fit by Tuesday at training to play in Wednesday’s knockout match at Wellington’s Basin Reserve.
“I haven’t done anything cricket wise in the last week so batting at training in the next couple of days, moving around in the field and potentially bowling,” Perry said on Monday.
Ellyse Perry could feature in the World Cup semi-final as a batter only.Credit:Getty Images
“We’ve got a couple of days, which is cool, and we’ve deliberately held off doing anything just to give it a chance to settle as best as it possibly can.”
Perry, 31 and a veteran of 15 years, has never suffered this type of injury before.
“It just came on really quickly so because of that there’s no long-standing issue with back injuries or anything chronic I’ve been battling with,” she said.
The added bonus for Perry is that Australia has been based in Wellington for most of the tournament where their semi-final will be played. The second semi-final between England and South Africa is in Christchurch on Thursday.
“We obviously don’t have to travel, staying in Wellington, so that makes it a bit simpler,” said Perry, who suffered the injury against South Africa last Tuesday and missed Friday’s match against lowly Bangladesh.
Perry may play as a batter only. Her skill and experience in the middle order were missed against Bangladesh, when Australia collapsed to 5-70 needing just 136 to win, before scrambling to a five-wicket victory.
