Perry the greatest female player we're ever going to see: Charlotte Edwards

Ellyse Perry averaged a staggering 94.5 and 12.86 in the recently-concluded multi-format Ashes © Getty

Charlotte Edwards, the former England captain, has heaped praise on Australia's star all-rounder Ellyse Perry by calling her the "greatest" player the women's game is "ever going to see". Perry, who was the Player of the Women's Ashes, averaged a staggering 94.5 and 12.86 with the bat and ball respectively across formats in the multi-format Ashes, as Australia emerged triumphant by a comfortable 12-4 margin.

Perry has been in stupendous form for a long period of time. She cracked a double ton in the 2017-18 Ashes Test in Sydney and also crunched a ton in the recently-concluded Taunton Test versus England. She is also an incisive swing bowler, with a rich haul of 14 scalps at an average of just 14 in ODIs this year.

"I loved playing against her, and she's definitely improved a lot since I stopped playing. You knew then she'd become an unbelievable batter. She was mainly a bowler in my career, and now we see what an unbelievable all-rounder she is, and the greatest female player we're ever going to see.

"In one skill alone, in terms of bowling or batting, she'd be a great. And she's getting better and better with age. She's only 28, it's quite scary, really, to think what she can achieve in the next few years," Edwards added.

Perry has also won plenty of accolades and awards for her achievements. In 2017, she received the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year. She was also the recipient of the Belinda Clark award in 2016 and 2018 respectively. She also became the first player - male or female - to achieve the rare double of 100 scalps and 1000 T20I runs in Hove in the Ashes this year. Perry is also the first Australian to play for the country in both football and cricket World Cups.

Edwards noted that Perry's greatest strength is her competitive spirit and self belief. "One thing all the great players share is that competitiveness, the desire to want to be better," said Edwards. "That just strikes me every single time I watch her warm up, and she treats the last game of the series like the first game of the series.

"She wants to win, and it's something, sometimes you can't coach. That's something very special about her. She's so competitive and hates getting out and that's a good thing. She values her wicket, but, equally, she knows her game very well."