Matthew Mott: The players have become heroes for a whole new audience

The head coach added that Ellyse Perry was making progress after undergoing surgery on the hamstring injury that curtailed her T20 World Cup campaign

Australia women’s coach Matthew Mott has confirmed that Ellyse Perry’s recovery from hamstring surgery is “going well” after the star allrounder was ruled out of the final stages of the T20 World Cup.

The 29-year-old suffered a high-grade tear to her right hamstring while fielding during her side’s winner-takes-all group game against New Zealand, forcing her to miss Australia’s semi-final win against South Africa and their subsequent victory in the final at a packed MCG against India.

Despite the injury, Perry remained part of the squad for the final two games, with Mott opting against calling up a replacement.

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The global coronavirus outbreak ultimately meant that she did not miss Australia’s tour of South Africa, which was cancelled as a result.

“Ellyse had a surgery on her hamstring and it's been going well,” Mott said. “She is Sydney at the moment recuperating. The recovery is looking good and our medical staff is happy with it.”

Tayla Vlaeminck, meanwhile, suffered a stress fracture to her right foot shortly before the tournament began.

^{Australia beat India in front a record crowd for a women's sporting event in Australia}

“It's important she takes time to recover,” Mott added. “Her prognosis hasn't changed much from the original one. She will obviously take a bit of time. It eases their mind a bit that they are not missing much at the moment as they would have if the team was in South Africa.”

He praised the wider Australian public for their support in growing the women’s game in the country, culminating in the scenes in Melbourne; the showpiece game began and ended with a performance by Katy Perry, with 86,174 spectators turning up to watch the host nation secure a fourth title in the last five editions of the competition.

“There's been a real drive from cricket community in women's cricket,” he added. “There are a lot of people who should take credit for that – Belinda Clark, James Sutherland, Pat Howard. All the former players, who set the foundation for what has been a real celebration. The legacy will live on.

“The players have become heroes for a whole new audience. It's a male audience as well not just female. The next generation will be so much better for that experience we went through.”

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