Ellyse Perry has placed New Zealand captain Amelia Kerr above herself and four other elite cricketers in a blind-ranking challenge posted by Star Sports on X, sparking genuine debate about where the women's game's finest all-rounders stand heading into the business end of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026. The challenge, simple in format but revealing in outcome, asked Perry to slot each name into a ranked list as they appeared one by one, without advance knowledge of who would follow. The result was a five-name list that reflects both Perry's humility and her sharp assessment of the modern game's best multi-dimensional players.
How the Ranking Unfolded
Perry's own name appeared first on the screen. Rather than anchor herself at the top and adjust downward, she placed herself straight into fifth position - a decision that drew as much attention as the ranking itself, given that Perry remains one of the most accomplished cricketers the women's game has produced. The exercise unfolded across disciplines not unlike how fans browse biathlon odds before a major event - methodically weighing performance, form, and reliability before committing to a position. England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt was next to appear, and Perry moved her immediately into second place, a nod to the consistency and captaincy burden Sciver-Brunt carries for her side in the ongoing tournament.
India's Deepti Sharma arrived third in the reveal sequence. Perry ranked her fourth, acknowledging the off-spinner's value as a bowler who concedes very little in the middle overs while remaining a handy contributor down the order with the bat. New Zealand's Sophie Devine followed, and Perry positioned her third - a reflection of Devine's capacity to dismantle bowling attacks in the powerplay and offer her side seam-bowling options when conditions assist. Finally, Amelia Kerr's name appeared, and with only the top slot remaining, Perry awarded it willingly. The Australian added a revealing aside: she had anticipated her compatriot Annabel Sutherland's name to close out the list. "I thought you'd put someone else in there, Annabel Sutherland. But I'm pretty happy with that," Perry said.
Perry's Final List and What It Tells Us
The completed ranking read as follows:
- 1. Amelia Kerr
- 2. Nat Sciver-Brunt
- 3. Sophie Devine
- 4. Deepti Sharma
- 5. Ellyse Perry
That Perry placed herself last is notable but not entirely surprising given the nature of the exercise - she was working blind, building space for names she knew might outrank her in the current landscape. What carries more weight is the consensus the list reflects. Kerr's rise to the summit of women's all-round cricket has been steady and, by now, broadly accepted. Her leg-spin has the ability to undo top-order batters on almost any surface, and her batting has matured to the point where New Zealand can genuinely rely on her to rescue or accelerate an innings. Sciver-Brunt in second feels right: the burden of captaincy has not diminished her output, and England will need her to deliver in both departments if they are to advance deep into the tournament. Devine as a pure all-rounder is a slightly unconventional inclusion - her batting is the headline act - but Perry's assessment accounts for the full package a player brings to a side in T20 cricket.
Kerr, Deepti and the All-Rounder Premium at This World Cup
The broader context of the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 gives Perry's rankings immediate relevance. T20 cricket has accelerated the premium placed on players who contribute meaningfully in both innings, and this tournament has already underscored how a single all-rounder can shift a team's balance from vulnerable to formidable. Kerr enters the competition as arguably the most dangerous spinner in the field, with her wrist-spin presenting problems that few batters at this level have fully solved. Deepti Sharma's role for India is different in character but equally important: she holds the middle overs together, rarely conceding loose deliveries, and her lower-order batting has rescued India from precarious positions on multiple occasions. For a team that sometimes struggles with depth in high-pressure knockout cricket, Deepti's dual contribution is not a luxury - it is a structural necessity. Perry herself, for all her self-deprecating placing, brings a quality to Australia's setup that the raw numbers alone do not capture: the ability to remain calm and purposeful when a game hangs in the balance. The absence of Annabel Sutherland from the challenge only highlights how deep Australia's all-round resources currently run - a challenge that opposing captains will need to account for match by match as the competition intensifies.
