Perry refreshed in new Melbourne home

Ellyse Perry is relishing the feeling of being the new kid on the block at Junction Oval as she settles into life as a Melburnian.

The star Australia allrounder will play for Victoria in this summer’s Women’s National Cricket League; a major change after more than a decade playing for the NSW Breakers, but one Perry is embracing.

Perry was officially unveiled on Victoria’s contracted players list on Tuesday, confirming the move that was first announced last year after the allrounder made the tough decision to move from her native NSW to be closer to husband, rugby union player Matt Toomua, who signed with Melbourne Rebels.

“I’ve been here for the best part of a month now and I feel incredibly spoilt coming into the Junction (Oval) every day to train, it’s a brilliant facility,” Perry told cricket.com.au.

“Everyone here has been incredibly welcoming which I'm really grateful for.

“It’s always nice when something's new and refreshing and getting to know a different city has been really enjoyable.”

Toomua has only just arrived in Melbourne after wrapping up his contract with Leicester Tigers in the United Kingdom, while Perry has been loaning her spare room to Australian teammate Sophie Molineux.

Feeling fresh after a six-week break following the end of the Australian summer, Perry said has she spent her time off getting to know her new city, and while she’s been as active as ever, the 28-year-old is enjoying taking a chance to swap bat and ball for a few different activities.

“It was a full-on 12 months of cricket leading into the break, so it was nice to just have a little break from playing, really,” she said.

“We had a lot of matches, more than we normally do, so having a chance to wind down from that was really nice.

“I enjoy going to the gym and going for a ride and those kind of things, and having the chance to train with different people, have a hit of tennis or go on a few hikes and bike rides and that kind of stuff.

“Just the general activity things that maybe you don't have a chance to do when you're training a lot.”

Perry was one of five Cricket Australia contracted players named in the star-studded Victoria squad on Tuesday, alongside national captain Meg Lanning, Elyse Villani, Georgia Wareham and Molineux.

“The five of us have all been in for the last couple of weeks training together pretty much every day,” she said.

“It’s been really cool to have some familiar faces as well as getting to meet new teammates at different stages when they're popped in.

“It’s always enjoyable when you're training as a group and we’ve got a really nice group of people down here.”

Perry will join her fellow CA-contracted players in Brisbane next week for a pre-Ashes training camp at the Bupa National Cricket Centre.

With the Ashes squad to be named next month, the camp is a chance for the Australians to blow out any cobwebs and begin to plan for the multi-format series against England, which will feature three ODIs, one Test and three T20Is.

“It’s really nice just to get together as a whole group, we haven't seen each other for quite a while now,” Perry said.

“Considering towards the back end of last year we saw so much of each other, it’s been weird not seeing each other.

“Then just focusing in on what we want to achieve in the next 12 months and starting that process with the crew, as well as being outdoors on the turf wickets in some nice sunshine, will be really beneficial as well.”

Victoria made two other additions to their playing group for 2019-20, adding 16-year-old Tess Flintoff and 17-year-old Lucy Cripps, while Emma Inglis was delisted.

Victoria squad: Kristen Beams, Makinley Blows, Lucy Cripps, Elly Donald, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Alana King, Meg Lanning (c)(CA contracted), Sophie Molineux (CA contracted), Courtney Neale, Rhiann O’Donnell, Ellyse Perry (CA contracted), Chloe Rafferty, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Elyse Villani (CA contracted), Amy Vine, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham (CA contracted)

CommBank Ashes Tour of England

First ODI Grace Road, Leicester, July 2

Second ODI Grace Road, Leicester, July 4

Third ODI St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, July 7

Test The County Ground, Taunton, July 18-21

First T20 County Ground, Chelmsford, July 26

Second T20 The County Ground, Hove, July 28

Third T20 Bristol County Ground, Bristol, July 31