Test Match Special - No Balls: Ellyse Perry enters the chat

Episode Date: August 15, 2025

Alex Hartley & Kate Cross are joined by legendary Australia allrounder Ellyse Perry. She discusses getting up-to-speed as captain of Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, as well as her journey into cricket - which included the decision to stop playing football for Australia’s women's team. Plus, did she get sent a bill for breaking a car window during a WPL game?

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souvenirs with pesos in Puerto Vallata or sending euros to a loved one in Paris, you know you're getting a fair exchange rate with no extra markups. Be smart. Join the 15 million customers who choose Wise. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com. T's and Cs and Cs apply. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Al, we've got to issue a swear warning because you, are an absolute potty mouth. Not another one. And you need to remember that your grandma listens to this.

She does. She also abuses me on social media. But don't worry, we beep it out. See, your kids can listen. And Grandma Jean. Cross. I'm doing round the wicked. Boulder. Lover, leaving a ball alone, Litchfield.

I think it's the wobble ball. And it just nips back. It jags back. It's the nipbacker. That is a beauty from Kate Cross. An absolute seed. That is a beauty from Cross. Hello and welcome back to No Balls of Cricket podcast with me, Kate Cross,

you Alex Hartley, and Hartley, we've got some news. Crossing, our guest today has won eight World Cups, five ashes. Three Belinda Clark medals, two ICC Cricketer of the Year awards. Anything else? Yep, she's won ODI Player of the Year 2019 and just the T20 and ODI Cricketer of the decade. I think we've got a little intro, haven't we? Can anyone guess who we've got?

I think I'm in love for the Lee's Perry. She's everything I want a sports person to be. This Pez, welcome to know of all the Greek podcast. Elise Perry, everybody. That was a real standard Kate Cross me. filled you up just to bring you right down. I thought I showed you that in strict confidence during the WPL last year, Prussie.

That was, we won the tournament, but my favourite moment was we got on the coach and at least was like, do you know what I've actually got a song written about me? It's on YouTube, and then we all played the song. It's stuck in your head for a few days, wasn't it? Think I'm in love. It's a banging tune, actually.

How did you know you've had this song written after you? Are you in the video or something? I haven't met the guys actually. Band called Brandish from memory, I'm pretty sure. I don't know if they're still together, but lovely group of guys from Tazzy. Went down for a few days and yeah. Of course they're from Tazzy.

Do you get any royalties for those, like for the views on YouTube? I'm not sure, Crossy. I haven't, um, invest for dead and bats. Should we talk about it? Should we talk about the eight wall cups, the five ashes, the three Belinda Clark medals, and every other thing that you could win under the sun? I'm sure we can find something else to talk about.

Have you got any songs named after you? No. No. Not one. I played cricket for about four minutes. I think it's a work on for us. It's a commissioner of lovely song for the start of this podcast, actually. That's the best intro we've had, sorry.

It is, it is. And Pez, why on earth you on our podcast? Of course, you got a hold of my number in a great chat. And then I couldn't leave her on red. That is factually correct, actually. I messaged Pez about week ago and I said, Hi, hi, Elise, please don't feel obliged because I'm a fan girl, but please would you come on our podcast and she said it would be her honour?

There we go. Very, very true. So thanks for having me on guys. No, thank you, Elise. Long time, listener, first-time caller. Are you the one that keeps emailing us? Is that you? Is that no balls fan at Hotmail.com?

That's the one, yeah. That's name, yeah. We, I had to intro you like that because your CV is actually crazy. So me and I want to know, why you're just so good at everything? Well, because you've, you've, person, you see me dance, and that is, that's a horror film in itself. And I don't think you can consider WPL appearance dancing as dancing. Well, there was choreography involved, and trying to pick up steps of choreography, let alone just free-flowing,

um, is, yeah, is a proper car crash. So, um, yeah, I'm, there's some gigantic flaws. My singing voice is also up there as one of the most horrific things to have braced the planet. So there's lots of things. So just singing and dancing, that's the only two things. But in terms of cricket, like you debuted in 2007. We're in 2025 and you're still just dominating women's cricket. Like, how have you stayed relevant, I guess?

No, that sounds really rude. I mean, like, how have you... I've not much else to do. because it's too early in the morning for me to be serious how have you managed to keep yourself at the top of your game for as long as you have that's a better question um i love the challenge um i think especially the era that we've played in um the way that the game has just like continued to progress and evolve and and the standard of play that's kind of come as a result of that has just been like amazing and and i think the challenge

just to try and keep up with that and continue to kind of get better and, you know, I'm a bit of a maniacic, like I love training, probably more than playing, which isn't really, it's not really a great virtue for, you know, a professional athlete, but to me, like, training is just, is awesome. And I think, like, that's kind of, when I wake up in the morning, I just really look forward to going and doing that and, yeah, figuring out something new and trying something new. And then, like, the people you get to work with all the way to do that, you know, the knowledge that you learn and the things that they share. It's such a pleasure.

So I guess from that perspective, I've loved it. And then I've just been really lucky to, like, timing-wise and the way things are panned out, there's definitely an element of kind of life involved in that. No, no, I'm not having that. You've played in the best team for 12 years now. Australia's dominated women's cricket. Like, that's not lucky that you've been part of that and stayed at the top of that game. I guess I mean, like, in terms of the timing of that, like, you know, the era I was born in, you know,

the opportunity I got originally to debut was kind of off the back of some weird circumstances transpiring where Catherine Fitzpatrick retired. There was a couple of injuries in the existing squad with the Australian team and they needed a fast bowler and I was like a kid still at school and they'd just seen something in me, I suppose, that I'd done in pathway cricket, and so that someone decided to take a risk on me. So all those kinds of things, I guess, is like, there's luck involved in that, or just, like, you know, I guess things transpiring in your favour.

But then, yeah, getting the chance to make the most of that luck, I guess. And, yeah, being in a team that, I guess, continually pushes each other to get better and keep achieving things. It's been really cool. Has there been any part of you that's found it hard going from, like, not a professional era and now it being your, like, full-time job? I actually think it's been, like, a huge, huge positive. But, like, certainly an advantage in the sense of, like, I guess, being able to maintain

a bit of sense of perspective, like, having experienced that initial era where it wasn't full-time professional. Yeah, when I first started in the team, everything one of the girls had a job. job, either full-time or part-time. Karen Rawton was a captain of Australia. She was working for Australia Post. That's mad, isn't it? It's crazy.

It is mad to think about it now. But, yeah, she was a full-time posty, basically. And had to get time off work, of delivering posts to Australia's people. I bet. I've been a few about that. Imagine, like, looking on the news, well, it would have been teletext back then, wouldn't it because we wanted to play it on the telly but imagine like oh no wonder if not had my post for three weeks Karen's away I don't know Karen from Australia Post is away yeah just doing

amazing things for a country um but yeah I I do think like that sense of perspective and kind of knowing that like in that era I guess like um you know I was still at school um and then went to uni for a little bit after that but you can still do both and there was still time if you really wanted to to fit that in um you know certainly like it didn't didn't give players the opportunity to develop their game to the same level that it is at now but um yeah i don't know just kind of like you made it work did you ever have a job uh uh yeah no um i'll actually count delivering my brother's paper run when he couldn't be bothered but um yeah that counts that's a job No, I didn't actually.

I just went to uni for a little bit and played sport, which again, very lucky. At what point was it? So for anyone that lives under a rock, you played soccer for Australia as well. At what point was it that you, did you have to decide or did cricket just take over? Like where did it go from not being football anymore to be in cricket? Yeah, I think it's probably that inflection point of cricket in, particularly in Australia, going full-time professional for the nationally contracted players. So I think it was around, I can't quite remember, it was 2014 or 2015,

similar time to when we bought in the WBBL. And it sort of went from, I guess, a part-time, you know, training still a lot of the time after hours or, you know, sporadically during the week, playing mostly on weekends. And then going away on tours, it kind of almost flipped overnight with essential full-time contracts to be training during the day. a lot more kind of commitment and those kinds of things. And it just sort of became less and less feasible to play both sports,

which was obviously an awesome thing in terms of progress. Probably really good for me too because I was not that good at soccer and I was getting slower and slower by the week. I was about to say, do you miss it? I definitely miss components of it. I loved, again, the training and just the intensity of the match. Like, it was 90 minutes and it was over. Like, you just never know when credit's going to be over.

That's so true. It goes on forever. There has never ever been, or maybe like for a year or two, a part of me that's gone, yes, I've got a run, a gym, and I'm going to throw some balls today. And I think that's probably why your career has been so long and you've been so good for so long, surely. I'm a bit of a sicker, probably, yeah. I do, yeah, I do love training. I think, like, initially, like, for me, a lot of it's kind of rooted in the fact that that's what I did, like, as a kid growing up with my family.

Like, we used to always go down to the park or, you know, the beach or the local nets, whatever it was, even in the backyard, like, you know, after school on the weekends, with mum and dad and my older brother. And we'd just always be, like, moving and doing stuff. So it's a big part of my childhood, you know, and like all the Nets sessions that I did with dad at the local Nets, like, I don't know. I feel like they've kind of like stayed with me and even when I go to the Nets, you know, with the team and training, like I could sort of still feel that part of it for me.

So yeah, I don't know. I just, I love it. Love that I get paid to do it as well because, yeah, it's just crazy like that I get to spend my day doing that. do you think the day that you don't want to go to train and is the day that you think or maybe I need to start thinking about something else? Yeah, possibly, Chrissy, actually.

Yeah, that or just, you know, I just start looking ridiculous because all these amazing young players coming through and just laughing at me. How annoying are they all, by the way? Not like personality-wise, but like why are they so good? Yeah, we don't have a complex at all.

How do you, you might understand this, Pez, but we've got Dav Perrin in our team. And I can't communicate with her because she speaks a completely different language to me. I don't know how to speak to her. She says words that I don't understand. Yeah, she says like Riz and stuff, don't she? What was that?

Don't get it. Yeah. Do you have TikTok? No, I did, and then I deleted it. Okay. Yeah, I feel like there's a whole piece there that, yeah. It's just like, you know, like when you wind about your parents and technology. Yeah.

I'm really, I'm really afraid that that's me and not understanding my... Well, to be fair, setting this up, you weren't far off. Ouch. So that was off record. Pairs, you're obviously over here playing in the 100. How many years have you come over for it now since the start? well yeah i've been contracted since the start by lonely actually managed to get here this is my third season um there's a couple interruptions to the other seasons but yeah there's a bit of COVID and stuff

yeah just yeah you know just just just the world pandemic um how do you how do you find it like obviously being in the UK is fantastic when we get the weather we've had but like the hundred is a completely different format to anywhere else and your captain is it hard to keep up with Definitely the first, like, the first game or two, thank God for warm-up matches. Last year we got washed out, actually, with our warm-up match. We had one warm-up match. I hadn't played cricket for four months and came over on the way to the games. Now it was bus trip.

We were 55 minutes into it, and they said the game's been caught off, so we turned around. And we were playing the first proper game like two days later, and I was absolutely packing it like there's just little nuances to the format like that I think unless you've just just had a trial around with it again to refresh yourself um and I don't know if you guys feel the same but I you're just like oh yeah I forgot there's two sets from one end or yeah yeah um yeah the timeouts and things like that um so I um but I love it it's so cool um once you get into it it's just such a like the game flows really quickly I think and and that's quite quite cool, but obviously

that crickets can be a bit stop-star or be long. So I think the way that the 100, sort of the energy of it and the way it flows, it's really cool. I found when I captained, I was surprised at how reactive you have to be to the game.

Like you couldn't, I feel like in T20, you can have sort of a formula of who bowls were, but I feel like in the 100, you have to be like, right, there's one ball left of this set. She's going to be on strike. The wind's going this way.

I need to get my off the honor, whatever it is. But it's almost like you've got like a second to make a decision rather than having that kind of formula. Yeah, I totally agree. And then as well on the flip side with batting, it's like even just one set, if you kind of let that go by,

it completely changes the complexion of the game. Like you've gone from being ahead to, okay, far out, like really got to catch up again. So, yeah, I really like that about it. I think, as you say, cross, you're going to be so reactive to things on the spot and make decisions without, second guessing them like you don't have another

it's trying to go oh we'll just see how this plays out it's like no we've got to choose something and go with it now as a batter as well you can literally go 15 balls 16 balls of out facing a delivery like it's wild

yeah it is and I was actually thinking about that the other day like it can be good and bad like if you're on a roll and a set of five finishes and then you just get the next set to face because it's at that same end And it's great. Conversely, you've just had a mare.

And then your next least favorite bowler comes on. You're like, oh, I'm not even up the other end. Like, I'm going through this all again. Yeah, it's funny. How do you actually enjoy Captain-in-in? Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I think especially as I've got older and probably less self-centered, hopefully. It is really cool.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun. and I don't know just like a different different way thinking about the game certainly takes the focus off yourself I know what it is it's the sicker when you want in the challenge you wanting everyone to train every day I bet Birmingham Phoenix is really knackard

we've got 2K time trial today in pads in pads helmet carrying the drinks in each hand as well yeah do you not find it hard captain in as a fast bowler though um that's that's a very complimentary term for my bowling crossy fast bowling um no i don't actually i think i'd probably had a little bit of practice with it with um captaining the sixes in

in the big bash um but i don't i don't mind it actually it's kind of cool even like again like just if you're bowling a set of five um it helps you kind of think ahead or kind of like keep thinking through the game as opposed to just be right yeah i'm going to try to and swing this one away and hit the top of the off because that never happens. You're actually thinking a lot more about like what's going, what's going to keep happening in the game, which is really helpful for me anyway.

I'll tell you when you kept swinging the ball and hitting the top of off, when you got seven for against England at Canterbury in the ashes. Ow! I had to bring it up. What, God's sake. We call that a Canterbury massacre.

Oh, sorry. It's probably the last. Tom it took any wickets, to be fair. Do you remember you bowled in Lydia Greenway with a bouncer? Oh, is that the test match? No, that was the test match. Well, let's take that back down because, like, bounces are not supposed to hit the stamps, as we all know.

So that's how poor a bouncer was. I was there as a fan, and because it was way before I play, it was like, Lydia sat on the floor. Oh, she's been bold. She ducked to bouncer and got bold. Wild. That would probably sum that series up, actually. but yeah, the massacre.

I actually hit my first boundary in that game for international, in international cricket. Was it off me? No, it was off shooter. Where'd we do? But you did hit your first runs in international cricket off pairs, didn't you? Test runs, yeah, you bowl me a bouncer, you b***. And I was like, if you won't bowl me a bouncer, no way.

Like this little kid playing test cricket, and then it's up here, and I was like, oh, so I just punched it to square leg and ran. I'm a bully like that. You were so mean. So I saw fresh mate and I just thought. Don't be fooled everyone. This beautiful blonde sports person that everyone sings songs about.

She's mean. Right. I'm just going to say it again. Eight World Cups, five ashes, three Belinda Clark medals, two cricketers of the year. Do you ever get sick of winning? Oh, do you know. Literally it becomes a habit. Yeah, I mean, I think certainly from a team perspective.

it does and yeah I think I've just been really lucky to play in an amazing era with a very cool team which is again luck because I just happen to be born in Australia but I think

a lot of the time winning is a bit of a byproduct of so many other things and I suppose like yeah the broad goal is to win in professional sport and particularly when you go to World Cups and big series but I think if you're like focusing on that

I don't know, it doesn't bring much enjoyment or kind of fulfillment, you know, day to day. So I think, yeah, having kind of just that kind of real investment in what you're doing as a group and as player to get better and to keep performing and enjoying that, like, that part of it is far more fulfilling than winning. And I think you can walk away when you don't win and not be disappointed about it, if that makes it. So when you, Australia, got knocked out of the World Cup in Dubai, was that a shock to your wall in the dressing room? Was it almost like sit there and go, what just happened?

Yeah. Shock, I don't know if it's a shock, but it's certainly like a, oh, we really let ourselves down there. But it is amazing, like, particularly the sport, because, you know, you're not playing sheep stations. It's crazy how quickly you can switch that energy or that disappointment into opportunity. Yeah.

And like there's some really glaring holes in our game, I think, in that in that semifinal, that now like we're so willing to address and talk about and try and, you know, improve because there's sort of proof there and everyone's not hiding from it. You can't. So, yeah, I mean, But it's sort of funny.

I don't know how you guys feel about it, but I always feel like the minute you've played a game, it's completely irrelevant, like, regardless of the enormity of it. Like, because people move on. Like, you've watched that game and that's it. Like, there's no going back. So, yeah, it's really nice when you have those moments where you can be like, yeah, we did well.

We were successful. But then there's the next thing anyway. So it doesn't matter that much. The next thing happened to be the issues. yeah i'm i don't want to bring it out you just you're well done you turned it around you won't well done okay we can't have you on without without talking about the wPL because you've made a name for yourself now with one of the biggest franchises in the world in rcb first let's start with the with the question everyone wants the answer to did you have to pay for the car window

that you smashed in the wPL I haven't gotten bill yet. I'm not sure. I'm sure I don't turn up at some play. Or I was just kind of automatically withdrawn from any of my salary. I'm not sure. Did I see that they framed it? Oh my gosh, yes.

Yeah. I got this gigantic, like, mounted piece of window. What did you do? Where is it? Where have you hung it? In the battle. room, toilet, downstairs loo. It's in the downstairs loo. It's transparent

where it is. It's, wherever it is, you can say throw it. I'm just, yeah, I'm not going to nicely tinted though, to be fair. It was a lovely, lovely gesture. Yeah, great cars, it would have been better to have the car, I think. Yeah, but then every time you go back to India, you go back to Bangalore, oh my God. You've got the parking fine. Yeah. I haven't seen many parking garages.

Imagine the least Perry driving in the streets of Bangor. She wouldn't be able to. She'd be famous over that. Exactly. That would actually be really fun to have a crack at that. I'm not sure I'd get further than 100 metres without having a prang. I think I'm a tuck-tuck girl. I think if I was having to drive anything, it would be a tuck-tuck.

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I very kindly made drinks for Elise Perry. You kept her hydrated so she could smack car windows. Good teammate, top teammate. One of the best. Remember the game you had to deliver me lollies? Oh my God, yeah, you've been poorly, hadn't you? Pez, like, rise from the dead. She's been in a bedroom for three days to play this game.

And I'm thinking, if she doesn't play, I'm playing here. So I'm like, almost like, I hope she's not okay. And then she turns off. I was like, God's sake, I've got to make sure she's all right now. And she was like, green. And then was that probably the game that you got that six for? Oh, no, I think this one was in, we were still in Bangalore. He scored some running.

I can't remember. I don't know what Danes. I don't know what day. But yeah, good teammate. I want to know, Peas, from your point of view, what Crossies like as a team mate. Crocy's unreal as a teammate. And I'm not just saying that. Everyone says that.

It's on your podcast. But I think we had a really great time. We had a really awesome group of girls and a lot of fun. I became really jealous of your friendship. I was like, I'm going to get replaced here. I'll tell you why I'm a good teammate because I'm a net bowler. I was the highest paid net bowler of that tournament and I bowled Elise into the greatest form of her life.

I think you just bowled me full stop. I didn't. I don't even ever, I'm not sure I've ever got you out. Maybe stumped one time by Sarah Taylor with a ridiculous piece of leg side wide stumping or something. Oh my gosh, yes. That was at Lester. I remember that. I can't even claim that. It wasn't me bowling. God's sake. Anyway, yeah. It was fun. We did have a little. good time.

We did have a good time. And Crossy, yeah, I mean, you didn't quite get a chance to play a game. Sorry, that sounds really demeaning. I didn't mean like that. But just... Lucky. The energy and vibes. It was very, very cool.

And the fact that, like, literally, I was the biggest princess one game was like, can you please bring me lollies on the boundary? And you just did it with an absolute smile on your face. Yeah, he didn't have. No, no, did you? It's probably why I was so crook. While we're on the RCB chart, what about your friendship with Smitty

and lifting the WPL trophy? What was that like? It's been awesome to get to know Frumitty. I think, honestly, across all the franchise comps now, that's been, like, easily my biggest highlight is just to getting to play with people that you normally are on the other side of the fence with in matches and actually knowing them as people.

And, yeah, it's surprising, like, I guess you just form the perceptions in your mind of what someone's like because you play them on the field, but then actually getting to know them off the ground is so cool. So, yeah, Schmitty has been great. The three years that I've been at RCB. I had lots of great chats. Yeah, she's a super interesting person, so I've really enjoyed that.

I think those friendships make international cricket so much more fun and also then when you come and play in like the 100 and stuff like that, it makes the whole thing better, I think. Totally. You know, even like just the real awkward, like, elevator rides in the same hotel with people, like, when a familiar face pops in, it's actually really cool. Whereas, like, I think back in the day when we just used to be so separate all the time, you just dread going to breaky and having to, like, yeah, all those things.

So, yeah, it's been awesome. Right, Pears, we often, when we've got guests on, we make sure the public get the opportunity to ask their questions to you. So let's just go on our Instagram. We've got some goodies. Okay. And we've got some terrible ones. I'm open for both.

We're going to get really, really serious for one second. This is from Sam. If someone were to fire an animal out of a cannon at you, what's the biggest animal you reckon you could catch? Oh, Christ. Great. One of the best with hard, I'd say.

Right. I reckon you barrel a wombat at me and I'll have a crack. You'd have to, yeah. You'd have to, like, rugby catch it. You'd have to make it go high so you could, like, catch it. Yeah. They're solid, too. Like, I'd have to switch the core on, I think, otherwise.

You'd have catching a med ball. Yes. Can we set this up, Jack? Is there any way we can get this sorted? you've got a spare wombat flying around we'll have to do it in odds we'll have to take a trip al we'll come out there one bat catching right fine podcast purposes i'm interested in what you two are getting i'll can't catch cricket ball did you see a play

maybe a bigger option yeah you'd need something big al you'd need something sticky that's stuck to you maybe a sloth like a sloth stick insect stick insect what about a sloth it just grabs you or a koala it's not you over the state you're in at the minute I tell you what, when I woke up this morning and thought what am I doing this morning talking to Alan Crossley I never thought I'd be talking about catching animals out of a canon.

There you go. This is the podcast people don't know they need. Sam could be your new creative direct days. On last week's pod, Elise, Al was speaking about if she was to open a pub, she'd call it the slug and mullet. So like, look, she was basically thinking about Riley Meredith running into balls slug and mullet um so would you be up for opening a branch in australia on behalf of al yeah and uh like a franchise yeah it'd be like a pub but do you was it would it be

brachial or is it more like drinks no no it's me drinks okay it's pub proper pub english pub yeah i'd invest i think the slug and mullet has a real good name to it would you run into any um any issues with a particular chain over here possibly i never thought about that actually never thought about that sorry i have to put a damn around that on saturdays we do live one back catching so you know it'd be great i mean i'm in i'm number one investor so i'm yeah when you slice your bread do you wash your bread knife or just wipe it and put it back oh okay actually judgment by the way no no no I reckon I would say one in five I wash the other times I just get it and like shake the crumbs off of it oh wow so we've never heard

that one before wow we ask everyone this because I just wipe mine on my sleeve on my leg and put it back crossy fully washes it and we live together and I was mortified that she doesn't wash it. Well, yeah, because of the breadknife, like, serrated. It, like, grates up your sponge. So that's why I go one in five to extend sponge life. Wow. Otherwise, it just looks like it's been chopped up.

I wonder how many sponges you could actually buy with your yearly earnings that you're having to not watch the bread knife every five. She's opening the slug and lettuce, slug and bullet. Time is money, crossy, going to the shops, stab, to buy it. But also, I also go for the fancies funders, the ones that, like, connected to that. The best invention in the world. The detergent. Best invention in the world.

Yeah, so. Okay, Hannah's asked you, what's your go-to excuse when you drop a catch? She's asking for a friend. Normally, you've just got to go with, like, the sky or, like, the hazy, hazy, hazy air. Or the floodlights. If you do that one where you like protect your eyes because it's too glary from the floodlight, that's a good one. Or if you just don't move off the spot. Sorry, Matt, I didn't think that up.

Yeah, yeah. It's not a chance. I couldn't say it. If you could relive one match from your career, what would it be? Oh. You can end up picking one way you could have been better because you're a lunatic. Oh, no, she picked her training session that she didn't quite enjoy as much. No, do you know what I would.

pick actually the under 13s final with o'kill college cricket club we played against dundas valley um and they were like our arch rivals like we had some real ding-dogs with them um they had this fast bowl i think his name was peter and he was just anyway got through peter's opening spell um with nath naith my friend at the other end and um and we won that final so i was pretty really stoked about that and that was a great day. I actually got an arm and magnum from dad after that all the way home. So that was pretty cool. Yeah, instead of just a clipper like I normally do.

This is where we've gone wrong. We didn't get ice cream as a reward. Eight World Cups, five ashes, but you'd play the under 13s. I love that. Short the answer is on the offside. Smart. Pete, shout out to Pete. I wonder what he's doing that?

Yeah. That's a good question, actually. I've been stolen on Facebook. might put you on the spot a little bit, Pesso, think fast. But we've got a little section on the podcast that's the LBW section, and it's things that are a little bit weird. So it's something you do or your mate does that you don't realize is weird until you talk it out loud.

And then everyone's like, oh, that's odd. Have you got any that you can think of? The example that Steph's given here is mine's seeing tissue boxes placed in the backseat of cars. You know, I'm copying a lot of stick for at the moment from a bus shooter in Bali here at Birmingham Phoenix. is I'm really into kifir. Oh, that awful tangy yogurt? Basically off milk, yeah.

Curdled milk? Yeah, and I, like, I'm a bit guilty of adding that to, like, yeah, fruit and yoghut or... Do you have to buy it in... Why can you get that? Why'd be available, Al, you do this practice? Alex doesn't go down any sort of yoga aisle. She got out of beer, she doesn't bother with that.

Don't you try it, Alex. Yeah, I wouldn't advise it. I wouldn't try that. That would make me violently off milk. Milk makes me poorly enough as it is, let alone when it's got bacteria coming out of his heart. Crying for you got, though. Maybe it would improve it.

Watch everyone start eating Kaffir now. Kaffir, really randomly. I've not heard that word for ages, and it was word all yesterday. And now it's, you've talked to me today about it, so that's odd. Okay, last one, Pez. Why do you wear number eight on your back?

Because my favourite number is number six, and when I... It looks a little bit like it. I know, right? So my first ever tour, they asked me what number I'd like. And I said, oh, if six is available, that'd be really cool. Yeah, no worries, it gave me six. We went and played... Hey, we played in Darwin, actually, against New Zealand on a tour.

And then I got home from that tour, and I think the next tour wasn't for a few months. and I got a call just before the tour, and they're like, I'm really sorry. You're actually giving you Leah Poulton's number who hadn't retired. She just wasn't on that tour. So they're like, could you, could you reach? Yeah. And fortunately, like, that's probably the best person to have that avenue because Leah is just the ultimate teammate and very gracious.

But yeah, they're like, could you please pick a new number? and I don't like odd numbers at all. So I was just like, whatever's closest to six. And they said eight and, yeah. You couldn't work that one out. It could have been four, Al. It could have been four. You know, they're equally distance apart.

Oh, it wouldn't have looked right, Perry, four. Do you know what's embarrassing about that? My dad's a mass teacher. It's one of my worst suits. But anyway, say. Well. You don't need to be good at Matthew. You're good at everything else.

Yeah, you can throw and catch. Yeah, unless you do darts. True. Which I would love to have a go out. You're not played darts? That looks like, well, I've played it, but gosh, that looks like a fun time. Yeah. The ultimate non-sport sport.

Yes, it is. I agree. If you're ever here, for whatever reason over Christmas time, we'll go to the darts. It's also a great night out. Okay. All right. I'm going to hold you to that. Yeah.

Yeah. But I don't know why you'd be here at Christmas, but me and Crossie'll take you to the dark. I'll bring my kifir I'll bring the wombat we'll make a day of it we can be half-time entertainment Peas thank you so much for good on

thank you for being an absolute belter thank you for being an absolute belter yeah it's coffee and a pastry thanks gross and some kaffir now I'll get you some fresh kaffir a doll up on the side right you're probably going to the gym See you, mate.

It's annoying that someone can be so good at their job and also just the loveliest person in the world. Really charismatic, really funny, just lovely. And so humble. I said to you before and I was like, she's not going to give us much because she'll hate having to talk about herself. And we wrote, look at this.

Look at that, look at that list. of all the things she's achieved. I know. We wrote her down on a piece of paper because there's that many. And she actually thought she spoke really well about the, like the Aussie team and how successful they are and why they've been so successful, especially after that World Cup loss. Yeah.

But do you think it was a cry for help that she loves training? Crossie. Have you ever woken up and gone, oh, here we go, fitness testing? I've never spoke to anyone. that's an elite sports person that loves training? No, I used to enjoy training, but I didn't love it. I mean, it sounds like she loves it.

And to be fair, in India, any optional training she would be there. And I kind of put it down to like, you're not really allowed to leave your hotel, so it's a good way of getting out. But actually, she loves it. She really loves it. And that makes a lot of sense in as to why she's been able to not reinvent herself, because I think that's always a bit harsh on Pez, because she's always been a phenomenal player.

But she's always kept up with how. the game's moved, which is I think obviously the mark of an exceptional sports person. But yeah, just annoying that she's just so lovely at the same time. Like you want to hate her, but you can't. Oh, no, you can't. She's literally just an amazing human, isn't she? And I need to get her a cinnamon swirl. You do need to get her a cinnamon swirl.

We are at, let's have a look, table of the 100 crossy. Yeah. Some teams are halfway through. Yeah. How mad is that? I feel like we've been playing for a minute. And when I say some teams, Manchester originally. The originals are halfway through, but Trent Rockets have only played two.

Okay, so that must mean Trent Rockets are playing today. But we play our fourth game tomorrow, I think. So it's crazy, crazy how quickly this tournament goes. And I said it at the beginning, if you get on the winning streak, it's amazing. If you can't win a game, it's well hard. Fire have lost three from three now. And then now, you need five wins to get to the final. So if they slip up once more, they're done.

The problem with the women's table this year so far is that you've got two teams on beating at the top so that you almost need teams now to start beating them for anyone else to have a chance of qualifying because otherwise only that third slot becomes available to fight it for so it is a strange table this year I think I know it still feels early. Yeah, yeah, it does feel early.

You guys obviously didn't win yesterday against the Southern Brave but you've had your one bad game. Every team has a bad game. I would hope so. Yeah, I'd hope so. It was a game where we just didn't play good cricket in any part, like we batted under par, bowled under par and fielded under par. So I think, you know, I said to Holly, like sometimes it's good to have that game

relatively early. You don't want it to be your first game because then you're like, oh gosh, are we any good? But if we've had a couple of great, great games and then have one like that. So we know it's not an anomaly because I don't want that to come back and bite me, but it did feel like we were just off the pace yesterday. So hopefully. And it's so hard to beat Southern Brave at home. I'm like they're so good at the utilitarian ball.

But it's been, we've had some signs of some, like, really good cricket, which is exciting. How are you finding the tournament? Good, just quick. Like, we're three games in already, and I feel like we had five days away from Leeds, and I came back. And I was like, God, it feels like I've been not at home for ages. Yeah. But now we play at home tomorrow, then we're straight on the road again. We go to Manchester, then we're in London for a week.

So it's, it is thick and fast. But it's been great. I think the crowd seemed to be won up again this year. They seem to have got better. Every year we seem to keep seeing records broken with attendance numbers and stuff. And there's been some good games in the men's tournament as well, which Supercharges being one of them yesterday. Graham Clark! Shout out Graham Clark.

Graham Clark. A man. And then Birmingham Phoenix beating Overvincibles at Birmingham was absolutely mental. William Livingston was unreal. How are you finding it? You've been doing your presenting now. Good, good, good. I had one day of presenting.

It's been good fun. It is really good fun. The day's going really quick, but also they're really hard work as well because you've got so much to think about. Me getting us off air is not my strength. It's all right. Better to be on air than off air.

Yeah, we'll get better at that. But no, it's good. I just feel like, you know, I'm just on like the gravy train. Yeah, the treadmill, the 100 treadmill. Yeah. Nothing feels real Like I'm waking up late I'm going to bed late

Because I finish work late But that's actually My normal life probably actually Jack has sent us Something to say So do you want to say it Oh yeah It's about where you can watch

And listen to the game So you can watch both Overly Invincibles Against the Welsh Fire Live from Lords on Saturday Oh this is so telly Should I try and not do it telly Just try and do it in your normal voice

Right crossy You can watch The Overly Invincibles against the Welsh Fire live from Lords on Saturday on the eye player. And then the men's game is also on BBC 2 at 545. Every game of the 100 you can listen to on BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport app and website. So you can't. You did it in a little presenter voice as well.

Did I? Well, you can email and text us on. Oh, throwback. You can text us on 8-1-1-1. Start your message with no balls, all one word, so that you don't get lost in the ether. And we've got a WhatsApp number crossy. It is 0-3-0-1.1. one, two, three, one eight, two, six.

Send us a little WhatsApp. And also start that message with nobles, all one word. Or you can email us on. Nobles podcast at BBC, too many ways now. Noblespodcast at BBC.co.com. dot UK. Nobles podcast at BBC.com.com. It's so good.

They've said it twice. Thanks, everyone for getting in touch. Perry was amazing. You're amazing. Good luck tomorrow. You're amazing. We'll look tomorrow. I've got work today.

Well, good luck. Have fun. Don't press the big red button. And I'll probably text you in two minutes. Yeah, perfect. All right. Bye. Bye, everybody.

We are back with the Fantasy 606 podcast. Whoa, well, Chris, I've got to stop you there. We have changed our name this season to the FPL podcast from BBC Sports. All you need to do is search for FPL, and if you already subscribe to our podcast, you don't need to do anything at all. Chris, have a guess what the code to join the BBC Sport League is. Was it 5E? It's BBC FPL. Oh, yeah.

Come and play the game with us as we continue to teach Chris about Fantasy Premier League. The FPL podcast from BBC Sports. Listen on BBC Sounds.