Ellyse Perry is loving Melbourne as she looks ahead of the new season

After representing New South Wales for more than a decade, Ellyse Perry announced that she will leave NSW after clinching the WNCL title. Ellyse Perry's move to Melbourne from Sydney came for personal reasons as her  husband, rugby union player Matt Toomua signed with Melbourne Rebels.



Perry will represent Victoria in this summer’s Women’s National Cricket League as she was officially announced as a Victoria contracted player. Perry has been in Melbourne over a month now as she tries to get acclimatised to the new environment.



Talking to cricket.com.au she said, "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. 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.”



Australia had a full non-stop cricket calendar over the summer and they barely will enjoy a six-week break before they commence three-week training camp later this week as a preparation for The Ashes. Perry was determined to make full use of the break to get used to the new city by choosing 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.”



With The Ashes squad to be announced next month, the preparation camp will give perfect opportunities for the contracted players to regain fitness whereas players from the National Performance Squad will be push for the place in the Senior or the 'A' squad.



Australia played the last competitive match back in March when they beat New Zealand in the ODI series. Perry said, “It’s really nice just to get together as a whole group, we haven't seen each other for quite a while now. Considering towards the back end of last year we saw so much of each other, it’s been weird not seeing each other.



She added, “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.”



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. Perry further added, "The five of us have all been in for the last couple of weeks training together pretty much every day.



“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.”



2019-20 Victoria Squad:



Cricket Australia Contracted Players

Meg Lanning (c), Sophie Molineux, Ellyse Perry, Elyse Villani, Georgia Wareham



State Contracted

Kristen Beams, Makinley Blows, Lucy Cripps, Elly Donald, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Alana King, Courtney Neale, Rhiann O’Donnell, Chloe Rafferty, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Amy Vine, Tayla Vlaeminck.