ElyseVillani

Top-order bat Elyse Villani’s clean hitting and impeccable timing saw her grow into one of the most damaging batters in international cricket.

Villani enjoyed great success early on in her tenure with the Australian women's team, helping them to lift the T20 World Cup in the West Indies in 2010. 

A hamstring injury saw the Victorian spend the majority of the 2011-12 season on the sidelines, making the path back to national selection all the more difficult. 

In a bid to add more variety to her game, Villani travelled to the UK during the off-season to play for Staffordshire.

Upon her return to Australia, Villani’s dedication and hard work paid off as she recorded one of her most dominant domestic seasons. Her standout performances for the Commonwealth Bank VicSpirit led to a return to the national side in 2013.

Villani was recalled to the Australian Women's cricket team for the 2013 ICC Women’s World Cup in India, a title which the team claimed. She was rewarded for her consistent performances throughout the season with a national contract for the following international season.

After missing out on the ODI series against Pakistan in 2014, Villani returned for the T20I with a bang, leading the series run-scorers with 181 runs at an average of 60.33 and a strike rate of 126.57 across four matches.

She helped Australia win back the Ashes from England in 2015, before a move to the Western Fury and Perth Scorchers for 2015-16.

In 2018, Villani helped Australia claim the T20 World Cup in the West Indies, but the final against England would prove to be her T20 game in the green and gold.

She fell out of favour with selectors in 2019, and the disappointment sparked a revival in Villani's game as she went on to produce career-best form for Victoria and Melbourne Stars.

While a national recall did not eventuate, Villani continued to thrive at domestic level.

She moved to Tasmania in 2021 and then Hobart Hurricanes a season later, and has steered her adopted state to three WNCL titles.