Ellyse Perry's Humorous Reason for Missing Jude Bellingham at Edgbaston
Jude Bellingham’s appearance at Edgbaston this summer was supposed to be one of those glossy crossover moments The Hundred loves. Global football superstar. Local boy made good. Now a part-owner of Birmingham Phoenix, turning up to press the flesh and pose for photos.
Only one problem. The captain of his own women’s side never made it to the meet-and-greet.
Ellyse Perry, the most decorated allrounder of her generation and the face of the Phoenix women’s team, has finally revealed why. And it had nothing to do with snubbing the new investor or a clash in the schedule.
She just desperately needed the toilet.
Speaking on No Balls: The Cricket Podcast, Perry was asked directly by Alexandra Hartley whether she’d met the England midfielder. Her reply was as blunt as it was surprising.
“I didn’t,” she said, leaving Hartley and co-host Kate Cross briefly stunned before they pushed her on what could possibly have kept her away.
The story that followed stripped all the glamour from the occasion.
“I have a feeling; I came off the field, and I was absolutely busting to go to the toilet,” Perry explained, painting a picture that anyone who’s come off a long stint in the field can recognise. While Bellingham was being ushered around Edgbaston, shaking hands and charming sponsors, Phoenix’s on-field leader was making a beeline for the nearest bathroom.
The irony wasn’t lost on her. Perry pointed out how these events usually unfold behind the scenes. Players are often asked to volunteer for media or sponsor duties, and enthusiasm can be in short supply.
“Normally you know it’s sort of like you need a few volunteers to go and do something particular, and sometimes that can be like pulling teeth, but does anyone fancy Jude?” she said, laughing at the missed opportunity.
Cross summed up the wider reaction in the dressing room with a single line: “I think she disappointed most girls that day.”
Bellingham’s presence at Edgbaston was more than a celebrity cameo. The Real Madrid and England midfielder, who grew up in Stourbridge and came through Birmingham City’s academy, bought a 1.2 per cent equity stake in Birmingham Phoenix in January. The holding, split evenly between Warwickshire County Cricket Club and Knighthead Capital Management, was valued by Warwickshire at around one million pounds.
The 22-year-old’s investment arrived with the ECB’s approval despite a five-year lock-in period for new investors in The Hundred franchises. Phoenix chief executive Stuart Cain has said Bellingham loved cricket as a youngster and had wanted in since the competition first opened itself to outside money.
His arrival shifted the numbers off the field. Warwickshire retained 50.4 per cent control of the Phoenix, with Knighthead on 48.4 per cent and the county valuing its own majority share at 48 million pounds. More importantly, the club suddenly had a global figurehead that few franchise teams in world cricket can match.
On the field, the partnership is still waiting for its defining moment. Birmingham Phoenix remain without a title in either the men’s or women’s Hundred. Perry leads the women, while Jacob Bethell captains the men in 2026, both chasing the piece of silverware that would finally anchor the franchise’s profile to on-field success rather than celebrity association.
For now, the most talked-about crossover between Bellingham and his cricket team is the one that never happened in a corridor at Edgbaston, thanks to a full bladder and unfortunate timing.
Perry may yet get her photo with the owner. Whether it comes with a trophy in the background is the question that really matters to Birmingham Phoenix.
