Ellyse Perry revels in team success after hundred leaves Australia on brink of Women's Ashes glory

NICK FRIEND: Before her dismissal on Friday, she had gone 329 runs and 655 deliveries in Test cricket without being dismissed

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Ellyse Perry was in reflective mood after reaching a second successive Test century on the second day at Taunton.

Her 281-ball knock of 116 was an exercise in patience as she anchored Australia’s first innings on a rain-ruined day that should go some way to ensuring that Meg Lanning’s side retains the Women’s Ashes.

After entering the fray at 91 for two shortly before lunch on the first day, she departed 231 runs later, having reached a third international hundred.

Before her dismissal – she flicked a Laura Marsh full-toss to Heather Knight at mid-wicket, she had gone 329 runs and 655 deliveries in Test cricket without being dismissed, a run that dates back to the Ashes Test of 2015, when she made scores of five and 13 at Canterbury.

“It’s the most amazing period of women’s cricket and women’s sport that we’ve ever had, so I think I’ve just really wanted to make the most of it and enjoy it for what it is,” she said.

“I suppose it’s always really nice in an Ashes series, particularly in a one-off Test match when the team is doing well and is in a good position,” she added of the context of her contribution.

 

“It has been really nice to start the way that we have. I don’t think the conditions have been particularly easy, so we have been quite gritty in the way that we’ve batted – I thought yesterday Alyssa Healy played really well and so did Meg, which gave us a great platform.”

Her 162-run partnership with vice-captain Rachael Haynes was an almost chanceless stand, one which deflated England’s willful efforts in a game that the hosts know they must win if they are to stand any chance of winning the series.

“Rach is one of the best teammates I’ve ever played with,” Perry said of her teammate, who helped her to the century mark by scurrying through for an overthrow after a wayward shy at the stumps. “I think she’s a consummate professional, she’s a wonderful leader, she knows how to get the most out of everyone.”

The Australian camp, Perry admitted, had been buoyed before the start of the Test by the handing out of three baggy greens – to debutantes Sophie Molineux, Tayla Vlaeminck and Ashleigh Gardner.

Australia men’s stars Mitchell Starc and Dan Christian were on hand to present two of the caps, while Australian women’s great Belinda Clark passed over the third.

“I think it’s just an absolute pleasure to be out there,” she explained. “You want to make the most of it. We don’t play a lot of Test matches and they always feel like big occasions.

“Yesterday was, for me, the most spine-tingling cap presentation I’ve ever witnessed. That just brought such a sense of occasion to it. To see another three girls get baggy greens – there has only been 176 of them.”

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