Australian women's cricket star Ellyse Perry ends four-year-long marriage with husband Matt Toomua

Melbourne, July 26: Australia's star woman cricketer Ellyse Perry has announced to her four-year-long marriage with husband Matt Toomua. Perry tied the knot with Toomua, the Australian rugby player, in December 2015. Toomua plays for professional rugby side Melbourne Rebels which won over NSW Waratahs on Friday (July 24).

The news of their decision has stunned the sports fraternity. However, rumours of their separation were doing the rounds since February this year when Perry was spotted without her wedding ring at the Australian Cricket Awards in Melbourne.

Perry received her third Belinda Clark Award after a stellar year with the Australian women's team. The all-rounder during her speech made no mention of Toomua in her speech, which further triggered the rumours that all wasn't well with the couple.

The pair released a joint statement on Saturday, which read: "It's with the greatest of respect for one another that we decided to separate earlier this year."

"We felt this was the right course of action and is in the best interests of each other and our current lives. This is something that has evolved and is a mutual decision. Throughout our relationship, we have remained private and we ask that our space and privacy continue to be respected during this difficult time for both of us," the statement read further.

Perry and Toomua had made their first public appearance as a couple during an award show in 2013 before getting married later that year. The couple, earlier this year, denied the reports of their separation.

Perry who has played 8 Tests, 112 ODIs and 120 T20Is for Australia hs picked up 297 wickets across formats. She has aggregated 624 runs in Tests, 3022 runs in ODIs and 1218 runs in the T20Is. She's one of the biggest female cricketers in the world.