England fought back on day one of The Ashes after Ellyse Perry’s 99 threatened to take the match away from the home team, only for a triple-strike from Sophie Ecclestone turned the day on its head.
England were losing for most of today. But as they walked off in the bright June evening sun, they’ll be content. And deservedly so.
At 202 for two, with Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry at the crease, signs were ominous in the extreme for England. Neither batter had given a chance, and neither looked likely to, as the pair found the boundary with the regularity reserved for players in control of their game, but also playing within it. There was no need for Australia to force the game along, their natural tempo was plenty fast enough.
Ecclestone, however, had other ideas. The pick of England’s bowlers, she delivered a beauty to remove McGrath (61) which opened the door for a dramatic Australian collapse.
Jess Jonassen, batting at number five, reached 11 before she was caught at short-leg attempting to sweep, which then brought Australia captain Alyssa Healy to the crease. Healy has mixed fortunes against England. In the 2022 World Cup Final she smashed a match-winning 170, whilst in the last Ashes Test she bagged herself a pair.
Here, facing just her second delivery, her feet remained rooted to the crease and an innocuous Ecclestone delivery crashed into off-stump. A third Test duck in a row for Healy, and England, who had looked finished an hour earlier, were now showing signs of life at 226 for five.
The home team’s heart rate increased further three overs later, as Perry, by this point with 95 of the calmest and most assured runs next to her name, slashed at a wide ball from the debutant Lauren Filer which flew just above gully’s head and for four. Perry now onto 99. One ball later, the same ball later - and it was a carbon copy- except this time it flew a foot lower and into the hands of Nat Sciver-Brunt. The immovable Perry had succumbed. And England were all of a sudden on top, after 202 for two had turned into 315 for seven.
The problem with this Australia team from an English point of view, however, is that they are extraordinarily good. Out at No8 for them walked Annabel Sutherland, who last week scored a century against England ‘A’ as an opener. Between her and Ashleigh Gardner, Australia set about their own rescue mission and shared a 77-run partnership that took Australia past 300 and back into a position of strength.
With five overs of the day remaining, England opted to take the new ball, and were rewarded immediately as Lauren Bell struck with her first delivery with the new pill and edged the door open once more. At No9, Alana King came to the crease and the Aussies made it to the close without further loss at 328 for seven.
Heading into this fixture, Heather Knight’s England had promise to attack, and they have been true to their word. The fields set have been hyper-aggressive throughout, with seamers Kate Cross and Lauren Filer regularly having five catchers in place and Ecclestone bowling permanently with a short-leg and a silly point.
Ellyse Perry gone...on 99... 😶💔 pic.twitter.com/KUjhTrIuRH
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 22, 2023
Life is about risk-and-reward, and although England picked up the wickets of both openers Phoebe Litchfield and Beth Mooney in the morning session and McGrath in the afternoon, the gaps in the field have also allowed Australia to canter along at more than four runs-an-over.
In the morning, debutant Filer was the inside edge of a bat away from the dream start to life in Test cricket, as with her very first ball she had Aussie legend Ellyse Perry given LBW only for it to be overturned on review.
The morning session had threatened to end with England rueing their own missteps. They had dropped Mooney twice, first as Cross put down an exceptionally difficult caught and bowled chance, before Danni Wyatt failed to hold on to a sharp, but definitely catchable chance in the gully.
But Mooney’s luck wouldn’t last forever, and neither would Filer’s misfortune. Captain Knight has described Filer as potentially the quickest bowler in the country, and that added pace did for Mooney as Filer skidded one across the left-hander that took the outside edge and flew into the hands of Cross at gully. England have a player on their hands in Filer, and with three tail-end wickets to pick up tomorrow, she’ll no doubt have the ball in her hands again soon.
