It was business as usual for Ellyse Perry in an Ashes Test match as she dominated the opening day at Trent Bridge with a 99-run knock to extend her dominance over England in these red-ball contests. Following a career-best 213 in 2017 and scores of 116 and 76* in 2019, Perry was in her element in Nottingham before narrowly missing out on her third Test century, an occurrence she described as “disappointing.”
As a result of Perry’s batting brilliance, Australia posted 328/7 after electing to bat, but perhaps the day’s accolades were shared given that the visitors had been reduced to 202/2 at one point before England fought back.
“It was just a great tussle,” Perry said at the end of day’s play. “Importantly, it was a nice way for us to finish at the end there, after a pretty tricky session after the rain delay.
“If both teams look at it, I think they’d be pretty happy with today in different areas, and then there’s probably other areas where one team got the upper hand over the other. So yeah, I think that’s a great day of Test cricket, if it looks like that.”
The veteran all-rounder was profuse in her praise for England debutante Lauren Filer, who remained at the crease for 153 balls. Filer bowled at brisk velocities throughout the day and earned an LBW decision against Perry early in the match when the batsman was only on 10 before the DRS system identified an inside edge.
In Test cricket, it took Filer only three overs to record her first wicket when she sent Beth Mooney slashing to gully. Perry hit to gully on a delivery that soared slightly higher than the batter had anticipated when attempting to propel the ball. The Australian stated that the lack of concentration was not caused by the impending milestone.
“Like every other ball, it’s just an opportunity at a particular moment in time, and I’d had a really great tussle with Filer the whole time. I thought she was extremely impressive today on debut and brought the game alive at different points.
“So that ball just had my measure, which is totally fine. It’s [The Hundred] a number, and one that we talk about a lot in cricket, but the whole experience out there today was so much fun. I’ve loved every opportunity. Sometimes things just go that way. It’s hard to be disappointed.”
“It was nice to contribute. It was nice to be a part of a few really good partnerships, particularly that one with TMac. It’s just like any other time to get out. It’s a bit of a bummer, but gosh, the game definitely goes on, and life goes on for sure.”
