Patient Perry working through the gears: Mott

Matthew Mott is backing Ellyse Perry to rediscover her best with the bat in 2021 as Australia switch their primary focus to the one-day format ahead of the next World Cup.

Perry made a long-awaited return from a serious hamstring injury during the Rebel WBBL, and while she proved typically difficult to dislodge at the top of the order, averaging 48.75, her 390 runs came at a sluggish strike rate of 96.53, well below WBBL|05, during which she struck at 112.47, or the 121.21 from her record-breaking campaign in WBBL|04.

It prompted suggestions from some former players and commentators – including Australia great Belinda Clark – that 30-year-old Perry might need to reinvent herself as a T20 batter, but Mott believes that explanation lay more in rust after seven months on the sidelines than anything more potentially career-altering.

"Any time you come off a serious injury, you've got to walk before you can run," Mott told cricket.com.au. 

"I think she should be absolutely stoked she got through (the WBBL). 

"We spent so many hours talking about how she was going to come back and how she was going to look – she's come back from a major injury as an allrounder in a tough competition (and played every game).

"For me it wasn't necessarily about her dominating, it was about her getting consistent game time and starting to turn the engine over again.

"The fact she got through the tournament is just a credit to her professionalism after what she had been through and after the break she'd had."

The technically correct Perry has been working for some years to add more shots to her armoury and open new scoring areas, and a return to the 50-over format – beginning with next month's domestic competition where she will again line up with Victoria – could prove the tonic she needs, particularly given her status as the world's top-ranked ODI allrounder.

Perry thrives with the bat in the longer formats of the game, averaging 52.10 in ODIs and 78 in Tests, and with Australia to focus more on the 50-over format ahead of next summer's multi-format Ashes and ODI World Cup in New Zealand, Mott expects that dominance to continue.

While Australia's next international engagement is up in the air, Perry may have a chance to return to ODI colours early in 2021, with CA in discussions with New Zealand Cricket around a trans-Tasman tour to fill the gap left by the postponed World Cup.

A three-game ODI series against India had also been pencilled in for January, but with the ICC tournament pushed back, it remains to be seen if that contest will go ahead.

"Her batting will get better with more time in the middle," Mott said. "It's tough to come into a T20 tournament off a massive break and find rhythm in the middle.

"The other batters who had the benefit of playing that NZ series (in September and October) and getting some balls in the middle, it makes such a difference. 

"She knows it's a long haul and there's a lot of cricket (coming up in the next couple of years) … so building up to that is going to be critical and doing it at her pace will make a big difference to her longevity."