Davina Perrin is at peace with her Women’s T20 World Cup snub, not least because she will be sidelined for the next few weeks.
There was no room for Perrin in England’s 15-strong squad as they went with the tried and trusted, despite the 19-year-old’s 42-ball century in The Hundred last year highlighting her enormous potential.
Perrin, though, saw the writing on the wall after following up a modest debut season in Australia’s Big Bash League with just 37 runs in three innings in England’s intra-squad contests in South Africa in March.
“I didn’t get a phone call, I got a message just as they were about to announce selection,” Perrin told the Press Association. “It was more just ‘keep scoring runs’, pretty short and sweet.
“It’s part and parcel of the journey. I had opportunities over the winter in the Big Bash but I didn’t quite take those. You want to be involved in (World Cups) but it was more of a glimmer of hope than anything.
“I sort of saw it coming. They’ve got a really, really strong squad; the girls are really looking really strong. That bowling attack, especially the spinners, it’s lethal. I just wish them all the best more than anything.”
Any thoughts of being on standby were dashed as days after her omission, Perrin tore her hamstring while jogging to prevent a boundary on Warwickshire duty on May 6 and will be out of action until the end of June at the earliest.
“I was running at 60 per cent and as I was decelerating, my hammy just went,” she said. “I tried to play on because I thought it might have just been really, really bad cramp and about an over and a half later I had to go off.”
Perrin is instead looking ahead to her comeback in time for The Hundred, with the Wolverhampton-born-and-bred teenager returning to Birmingham Phoenix, who have paid £50,000 for the opener’s services.
“I’ve still got youth on my side so I’ll keep using that,” she added. “I’ve still got so many more experiences ahead of me to learn from and I just look forward to those, more than anything.
“Even after having such a successful season last year, I still wanted to go back to my coach at Warwickshire and change my technique a bit and tinker with a few little things.
“I think the most important thing for me right now is keep growing, keep setting the bar high and keep trying my best.”
