Lord’s, 25 July 2021: a little-known 16‑year‑old walks to the crease and over the course of an hour, in front of a crowd of more than 10,000, hits the half-century which announces her as a future superstar. Her name? Alice Capsey.
That was the women’s Hundred, year one. The fourth edition gets under way on Tuesday at the Oval, and this time a new kid on the block is hoping to replicate Capsey’s feat: the 17-year-old power hitter Davina Perrin.
Newish, anyway. Perrin was part of Birmingham Phoenix’s squad in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. When she signed for them at the age of 15, she superseded Capsey as the youngest player in the competition – but didn’t play a game. This time, she has moved 100 miles north to the Leeds-based Northern Superchargers, and is hopeful the time has come to showcase her talent on what has rapidly become one of women’s cricket’s biggest global stages.
A record 310,751 fans attended the women’s Hundred in 2023, up from 267,000 in year one. So far, every edition has smashed its own global record for total attendance at a women’s cricket competition. While there are concerns about the future ownership model – the England and Wales Cricket Board apparently remains intent on selling its stake in the eight franchises to private investors – the powers that be hope another blockbuster year will distract from all that.
Perrin, too, is hoping for big crowds – but her motivations go deeper than just personal ambition. She is one of only three non‑overseas Black cricketers in the women’s competition. “There’s so much more to me than just being a cricketer,” she says. “When I step on to that pitch, I’m representing girls of ethnic minorities who are underrepresented across the game, particularly the professional game.”
It’s a lot to put on the shoulders of a 17-year-old, but Perrin is well aware that Black role models are still few and far between in women’s cricket. In 2023, the report of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket found that racism was “widespread and deep-rooted” within English cricket, and concluded that Black cricket had been “failed” by the ECB. When Perrin was awarded her first contract at the end of the 2022 season by Central Sparks, she became only the third Black female professional cricketer in the country.
Perrin grew up with a cricket‑loving dad (the former Staffordshire player David), and speaks warmly of her club, Fordhouses in Wolverhampton. But her recent involvement with Ebony Rainford‑Brent’s ACE (African Caribbean Engagement) programme – which provides mentoring support to elite Black cricketers, in response to concerns that they were prematurely leaving the system – has helped her to understand the bigger picture.
“People like Ebony served as role models for me. And I’d like to think that as my cricket grows, I can put myself in more of a place to be a role model for so many more Black girls to follow. I want them to fall in love with cricket the same way that I did, and not have to be concerned about the politics surrounding that.”
Since receiving a surprise call-up to the Central Sparks just before her 15th birthday – “it wasn’t until maybe halfway through the game that I found out it was an actual competitive match!” – Perrin has juggled cricket with a sport BTec based at Edgbaston. But having recently graduated, she is experiencing being a full-time cricketer for the first time, and is clearly loving life. This season, she was promoted to open the Sparks batting in 20-over cricket, helping them to reach finals day in the Charlotte Edwards Cup. “Not too shabby,” she says of her 32 from 19 balls in the semi-final against Blaze.
Just like Capsey, Perrin has England ambitions – but she is also one step ahead, having represented her country in the first Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in January 2023. “We went into it not knowing what to expect, and it definitely exceeded our expectations. For many of us, it was our first time playing abroad.
“I never thought I’d be sat alongside girls from Rwanda and be able to see what their lives are about, see how their cricketing journeys have gone, and how that differs from myself. And we beat the Aussies in the semis – you can’t ask for much more!”
She is likely to be a firm feature of the next one, scheduled for January 2025 in Malaysia and Thailand. Beyond that? “I’m recognising that I have a voice. I don’t just speak with the bat. I also can use my mouth to spread awareness of the situation. I want to just be the best that I can be, at the highest level possible, and help the game grow.”
