Ellyse Perry Explains Why She Missed Meeting Jude Bellingham
Jude Bellingham’s brief walk onto the Edgbaston turf this summer was supposed to be one of those gleaming crossover moments modern sport loves. Real Madrid’s midfield star, back in the Midlands, fronting up as a new part-owner of Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred. Cameras ready, social feeds primed, sponsors delighted.
Except the captain of his own women’s side wasn’t there.
Ellyse Perry, the face of the Phoenix and one of the game’s modern greats, has now explained why she missed the chance to meet the club’s most famous investor. It was not a clash of schedules. It was not a quiet snub. It was biology.
Speaking on No Balls: The Cricket Podcast, Perry was asked directly by Alexandra Hartley whether she had met the England international. The answer landed with a thud.
“I didn’t,” she replied.
Hartley and co-host Kate Cross pushed for the story. Perry’s explanation stripped all the glamour out of the moment.
“I have a feeling; I came off the field, and I was absolutely busting to go to the toilet,” she said.
While Bellingham posed, shook hands and did the rounds, the Phoenix captain was in the one place no PR team can rescue you from. The timing could hardly have been worse.
Perry laughed at the absurdity of it all, pointing out how different the scramble usually is when players are asked to front up for off-field duties.
“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 joked.
Cross cut in with the line that summed up the mood in the dressing room that day.
“I think she disappointed most girls that day,” she said.
While the story has the feel of a dressing-room anecdote, Bellingham’s involvement with Birmingham Phoenix is anything but trivial.
The 22-year-old, who grew up in Stourbridge and came through Birmingham City’s academy, took a 1.2 per cent equity stake in the franchise in January. The holding, split evenly between Warwickshire County Cricket Club and Knighthead Capital Management, has been valued by Warwickshire at around one million pounds.
The deal went through with ECB approval despite a five-year lock-in period for new investors in The Hundred franchises. Phoenix chief executive Stuart Cain has previously said Bellingham loved cricket as a youngster and had wanted in from the moment the competition opened itself up to outside backers.
His arrival reshaped the club’s profile overnight. Warwickshire now hold 50.4 per cent of the Phoenix, Knighthead 48.4 per cent, with the county valuing its own majority stake at 48 million pounds. Bellingham’s slice may be small on paper, but his name drags the Phoenix into conversations few franchise teams can touch.
On the field, the glamour has not yet translated into silverware. Birmingham Phoenix remain one of the sides still waiting for a first men’s or women’s Hundred title. Perry leads the women, while Jacob Bethell will captain the men in 2026, both chasing the breakthrough that has eluded the club.
The image of Bellingham on the outfield and Perry sprinting for the nearest restroom is a reminder that even in the era of star investors and global brands, sport still turns on tiny, human moments.
If the Phoenix finally catch fire next season and make a deep run, there is every chance owner and captain will be brought together again. This time, Perry will know better than to wait until after the final ball to take a break.
