Taylor sees plenty of similarities between the two - although only one of them will be playing a key role for Australia in the final match of the women's Ashes at Manuka Oval on Tuesday night.

"[Perry is] a really great talent, very good soccer player, I'm sure Ellyse is a very good tennis player as Mark was," Taylor said.

And certainly, a brilliant cricketer.

"I was standing down there at the nets over the last hour just watching her bat, and she's last to leave as well," Taylor said.

"The work ethic is there, the talent is obviously there, I think Ellyse is only going to get better and better in whatever she wants to put her hand at."

It made Perry the ideal candidate to become a patron of the Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation, chaired by former Australian captain Taylor.

Taylor says the women's game has clearly gone from strength to strength in the past few seasons and he hopes that growth spills into the Channel Nine commentary box, which has come under fire for a perceived lack of diversity.

The boom of women's cricket is due in no small part to the star power of Perry - who former Australian skipper Michael Clarke says could have been the all-rounder in the first Ashes Test.

It was in Canberra that Perry forged part of a double life as a dual-international in cricket and soccer before she had to elect one that ultimately launched her career to another level.

"I didn't really have to make a choice, I think it was just an evolution of both my career but also women's sport," Perry said.

"Both sports are pretty much full-time professional now - cricket certainly is, soccer is heading that way. In the scheme of things, I think that's a very wonderful thing for the landscape of women's sport in this country.

"For me, it's just provided me with more opportunities to play cricket and I absolutely love playing cricket. I honestly miss soccer a little bit but I think that's being incredibly selfish and greedy if I worry too much about that.

"It's been really special to be a part of what has been occurring. This series has been by far and away is the biggest series that I've ever played in at home with the support, the broadcast, the interest.

"It's been a fantastic opportunity and it's just how it's panned out for me and I think it's gone well."

The first women's day-night Test will forever be remembered as Perry's Test, with her memorable 213 not out under lights at North Sydney Oval the highest score by an Australian woman in a Test match.

But the bulk of the Australian team failed to fire in the second Twenty20 which left England in with a chance of levelling the series' multi-format points system at eight-apiece.

Australia's women's side has not won a Twenty20 series since 2015, meaning they've got plenty to play for even with the Ashes locked away - something not lost on Perry with those less fortunate on her mind.

"I was very, very privileged to have such a wonderful childhood and I think that shaped a huge part of the opportunities that I've had in my adult life, to do things I love doing and have always wanted to do," Perry said.

"From that point of view, for a family when a child is diagnosed with cancer, that's incredibly traumatic and challenging.

"But with programs like the Sporting Chance I think it gives them a great opportunity to firstly hopefully fully recover and then go on to do wonderful things in their lives and still achieve their dreams and aspirations."

WOMEN'S ASHES

November 21: Third Twenty20 - Australia v England at Manuka Oval, 7.10pm. Tickets from Ticketek.