Villani began playing domestic cricket for
Victoria. She played for the Australia under-21 side in 2008. This team beat the senior Australian team in January 2008 in a match where Villani scored 85 runs from 78 balls, then came within 6 runs of defeating them again in October 2008. She was one of six members of the under-21 team to be named in Australia's 30-player preliminary squad for the
2009 Women's Cricket World Cup, but she was not in the final squad for the tournament. Villani made her international cricket debut for
Australia in 2009 in a
Women's Twenty20 International against
New Zealand. She was part of the Victorian team that won the
inaugural Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup and part of Australia's team for the
2010 ICC Women's World Twenty20, but she lost her place in the national team after the tournament. She didn't return to international cricket until 2013. She was one of the biggest boundary-hitters of the Australian team, who made it to the final against
England, which they won. In June 2015, she was named as one of Australia's touring party for the 2015 Women's Ashes in England. In October 2018, she was named in Australia's squad for the
2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. In November 2018, she was named in the
Perth Scorchers' squad for the
2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season. In April 2019,
Cricket Australia awarded her with a contract ahead of the 2019–20 season. In June 2019, Cricket Australia named her in Australia's team for their
tour to England to contest the
Women's Ashes. In January 2022, Villani was named in Australia's A squad for their
series against England A, with the matches being played alongside the
Women's Ashes. Elyse Villani captained the Tasmanian Tigers to three consecutive
Women's National Cricket League titles, winning in the 2021–22, 2022–23, and 2023–24 seasons. Her strong leadership and consistent batting performance, including a century in the 2023 Grand Final, were pivotal to the team's dominant run. ==Personal life==