Playing a sport takes skill, athleticism and expertise to perform at the highest level. Playing two is a different ball game altogether. How about playing in different sports at the World Cup level? Sounds crazy, right?
But there are a few cricketers who have played World Cups in other sports too. Here we take a look at three of them.
1 - Ellyse Perry: Australia icon Perry is one of the rare athletes to have played World Cups in two different sports, representing Australia at the highest level in both cricket and football. She is a two-time ODI World Cup winner with the Australian team, having played a key role in Australia’s title-winning campaigns. She also represented the Matildas (Australia's women's football national team) at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, showcasing her exceptional versatility and athleticism.
Perry made her international debut in both sports as a teenager and balanced dual careers before eventually committing full-time to cricket. Her achievements across the World Cups underline her status as one of Australia’s most gifted multi-sport athletes and set her apart as a unique figure in modern women’s sport.
2 - Wayne Madsen: South Africa-born Wayne Madsen is leading Italy in their first-ever Cricket World Cup in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. Cricket is not the first sport that he played as he represented South Africa in field hockey, having played in the 2006 Commonwealth Games and in the Hockey World Cup.
He turned for Italy and qualified to play for them through his Italian heritage. Madsen, who is now 42, made his T20I debut for the Azzurri in 2023 and is an experienced right-handed batter and occasional off-break bowler who has also played extensive domestic cricket in English county cricket with Derbyshire and in global T20 leagues.
However, the Italian skipper suffered a shoulder dislocation in Italy's opening game of the T20 World Cup 2026 against Scotland. He picked up the blow after making a dive to stop a boundary off George Munsey in the first innings of the clash and was ruled out for the match.
3 - Rudie van Vuuren: Rudie van Vuuren is a former Namibian international cricketer and footballer, best known for representing Namibia in two different World Cups in the same year. In 2003, he made history by playing in the ICC Cricket World Cup and then featuring as a goalkeeper for Namibia in the FIFA Football World Cup in Germany.
A qualified medical doctor, Van Vuuren captained Namibia’s cricket team and was also a key figure for the national football side. His rare dual-sport World Cup appearance has made him one of the most unique athletes in global sports history, combining elite-level performance with a professional career outside sport.
