Australia star set on 2028 Olympics if form warrants selection
The Australian is keen to be a part of the Olympics in four years time should her form warrant it.
Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry is excited by the prospect of cricket returning to the Olympics at Los Angeles in 2028 and desperately wants to be a part of it.
Cricket will return to the Olympics for the first time since 1900 at the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad and Perry remains hopeful that she will still be at the peak of her powers and be selected by Australia.
A host of stars reveal their excitement at cricket formally being added to the Olympic Games programme at LA28 and the prospect of competing for a gold medal
Perry will be 37 by the time the Los Angeles Olympics arrive in 2028 and the Australia veteran is keen to be involved.
“I don’t think I’m the kind of person that wants to pin a date on a retirement. I’ve never looked at it like that,” Perry told BBC Sport.
“If I’m still there and available and good enough, I’d like to be there.”
Perry already has a long and impressive cricket resume to her name, having won six ICC Women's T20 World Cups, two ICC Women's Cricket World Cups and was part of Australia's squad that claimed gold at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2022.
She has also held the No.1 spot on various ICC Women's Player Ranking categories throughout her distinguished career and is keen to add Olympic gold into the mix should she win selection for the Los Angeles Games.
“I haven’t set a target on playing at the Olympics, but if I’m still around and good enough, I’d absolutely love to be there,” she said.
“It’s an awesome thing for the game, and an amazing opportunity to continue to grow it.”
Australian captain Meg Lanning and her team celebrated in style as they lifted the trophy at Newlands in Cape Town after beating South Africa in the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Perry is currently in England preparing for this year's T20 World Cup with a stint in T20 franchise cricket for the Birmingham Phoenix ahead of this year's 20-over showcase in Bangladesh from the start of October.
Australia will be gunning for an unprecedented seventh T20 World Cup title at this year's event, but the reigning champions face some stiff opposition from the likes of long-time rival England, recent Women's Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka, Caribbean side West Indies and the always strong India.
England just completed an unbeaten summer at home against New Zealand with a sweep of both the ODI and T20I series and expects the European side to be one of Australia's toughest opponents at the T20 World Cup.
“England have been in tremendous form and are playing some great cricket,” Perry said.
“Really excitingly there are a great number of younger players coming through on the domestic scene here.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a huge gap between England and Australia. The Australian team have had the knack of winning the big moments. All sides are playing really consistently now and have a really good handle of the way they want to play.”