Sporting couple Ellyse Perry, Matt Toomua part ways

Sydney: Talismanic Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry has announced that she and Australian rugby union player Matt Toomua have decided to end their marriage.

"It's with the greatest of respect for one another that we decided to separate earlier this year," the pair said in a joint statement as per Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday.

"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."

Perry and Toomua got engaged in August, 2014, and tied the knot in December, 2015.

Rumours about the couple began in February when Perry arrived at the Australian Cricket Awards in Melbourne, where she won the Belinda Clarke award for the third time, without her wedding ring on.

The award capped off a dominant year for the all-rounder in her career which she also won the International Cricket Council's Cricketer of the Year award.

Perry was then part of the Australian team that won the Women's T20 World Cup in March for the fifth time.