Elyse Jayne Villani (born 6 October 1989) is an Australian

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

who played for the Australia national women's team from 2009 to 2019. She has also played domestic cricket for various teams in both the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) and the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).

Cricket career

Villani began playing domestic cricket for Victoria. She played for the Australia under-21 side in 2008. This team beat the senior Australian team in January 2008 in a match where Villani scored 85 runs from 78 balls, then came within 6 runs of defeating them again in October 2008. She was one of six members of the under-21 team to be named in Australia's 30-player preliminary squad for the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup, but she was not in the final squad for the tournament. Villani made her international cricket debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 2009 in a

Women's Twenty20 International Women's Twenty20 international (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 international is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The very firs ...

against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. She was part of the Victorian team that won the inaugural Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup and part of Australia's team for the 2010 ICC Women's World Twenty20, but she lost her place in the national team after the tournament. She didn't return to international cricket until 2013. In the 2013–14 Women's Ashes series, she played for Australia in all three formats, making her

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

and ODI debuts. Villani played for Australia in the 2014 ICC Women's World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. She helped Australia win their final group match, scoring 90 runs from 54 balls against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. She was one of the biggest boundary-hitters of the Australian team, who made it to the final against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, which they won. In June 2015, she was named as one of Australia's touring party for the 2015 Women's Ashes in England. In April 2018, she was one of the fourteen players to be awarded a national contract for the 2018–19 season by

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

. In October 2018, she was named in Australia's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. In November 2018, she was named in the Perth Scorchers' squad for the 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season. In April 2019,

awarded her with a contract ahead of the 2019–20 season. In June 2019, Cricket Australia named her in Australia's team for their tour to England to contest the Women's Ashes. In January 2022, Villani was named in Australia's A squad for their series against England A, with the matches being played alongside the Women's Ashes.

Personal life

Villani was a student at Eltham College in Melbourne. She came out as lesbian in 2015, the second member of the Australian team to do so after Alex Blackwell. Villani's

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

is "Junior". She is an ambassador for Gray-Nicolls.

References

External links

*
Elyse Villani
at Cricket Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Villani, Elyse 1989 births Living people Cricketers from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state) LGBTQ cricketers Australian lesbian sportswomen Australia women Test cricketers Australia women One Day International cricketers Australia women Twenty20 International cricketers Victoria women cricketers Staffordshire women cricketers Northern Districts women cricketers Western Australia women cricketers Perth Scorchers (WBBL) cricketers Loughborough Lightning cricketers Melbourne Stars (WBBL) cricketers Tasmanian Tigers (women's cricket) cricketers Trent Rockets cricketers Australian expatriate cricketers in England Hobart Hurricanes (WBBL) cricketers