Ellyse Perry Misses Jude Bellingham at Edgbaston for a Mundane Reason

When Jude Bellingham swept into Edgbaston during The Hundred this summer, the cameras followed, the crowd buzzed and Birmingham Phoenix suddenly had a global football superstar as their most glamorous part-owner on site.

Everyone wanted a piece of him. Almost everyone got one.

Ellyse Perry, the captain of his own Phoenix women’s side, did not.

The Australia great has now explained why, and the story could hardly be less Hollywood.

Speaking on No Balls: The Cricket Podcast, Perry was asked by Alexandra Hartley if she had met the Real Madrid and England midfielder, who bought into the Phoenix in January.

“I didn’t,” she replied, flatly.

Hartley and co-host Kate Cross pushed for the reason. The answer was wonderfully mundane.

“I have a feeling; I came off the field, and I was absolutely busting to go to the toilet,” Perry said.

While Bellingham posed for photos and shook hands as the new face of the Phoenix project, his captain was in a rush to the facilities, missing the moment entirely.

Perry then pointed out the irony. On most days, teams struggle to find volunteers for commercial duties or sponsor events. This was different.

“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 summed up the mood in the dressing room. “I think she disappointed most girls that day,” she said, noting Perry wasn’t the only one who had hoped for an introduction.

Behind the light-hearted tale sits a serious piece of business for English cricket. Bellingham, who grew up in Stourbridge and came through Birmingham City’s academy, took a 1.2 per cent equity stake in Birmingham Phoenix, split evenly between Warwickshire County Cricket Club and Knighthead Capital Management. Warwickshire valued that slice 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 said Bellingham loved cricket as a youngster and had wanted to be involved since the competition first opened up to outside backers.

His arrival changed the numbers on the balance sheet and the profile of the club. Warwickshire now hold 50.4 per cent of the Phoenix, Knighthead 48.4 per cent, with the county valuing its majority stake at 48 million pounds. More importantly, Birmingham Phoenix suddenly have a link to one of the most marketable footballers on the planet.

Trophies, though, have not followed the headlines. Phoenix remain among the franchises yet to win either the men’s or women’s Hundred. Perry leads the women, Jacob Bethell captains the men in 2026, and the club still searches for a first title to match its new-found global reach.

Bellingham’s stake has given Phoenix a louder voice and a brighter spotlight. The cricket now has to catch up with the branding.

As for Perry, the missed handshake with her club’s most famous investor has become a dressing-room punchline. Whether she finally gets to meet him may come down to something far more familiar than a dash to the bathroom: how deep Phoenix go in next season’s tournament.