NICK FRIEND: Last time Australia were in England for the Women’s Ashes, Perry took a six-wicket haul at Canterbury in the Test match. This time, she left Kent with seven in just 10 overs as she reinforced her status as the world’s best cricketer
From the very start of Sunday, England’s selection hinted at an inferiority complex, a lack of trust in their own batting, a decision that screamed of hope rather than expectation. Faced with the absence of Katherine Brunt, England opted for the extra batting option rather than an additional bowler.
What followed, especially as Kate Cross and Anya Shrubsole leaked runs early on, was a deeply chastening day for England. The pressure was placed on England’s extended batting line-up as Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning got their side off to an absolute flyer.
While England felt as though they had dragged the visitors back from a fast start, a final score of 269 for seven gave credence to the worst fears of a team selection that relied on Heather Knight’s four frontline bowlers producing their best.
Only Shrubsole would go at less than five runs per over, while the combination of Nat Sciver and Knight herself – England’s fifth bowling option on the day – cost 67 runs from 11 overs. Of course, it was all a far cry from what Brunt would and could have offered. However, in her absence, she was not adequately replaced.
Given the travails of the home side’s batting lineup thus far, the emphasis should surely have been on minimising any potential run-chase rather than relying on an extra batting body plugging an increasingly leaky hole.
As it happened, England were left chasing 270 – a target that, had they chased it down, would have exceeded their ODI run-chase record by more than 20 runs. Given the strength of Australia’s top eight, it was a move that must rank – on some levels – as both cavalier and defensive.
And as England’s top order folded at an almost absurd rate, it was hard not to think that England had gambled on the balance of their side and lost.
Ellyse Perry finished with figures of 10-4-22-7 - the best ever by an Australian woman in ODI cricket
In amongst England’s doom and gloom, to ignore Ellyse Perry would be to drastically misunderstand the key cog behind this rampant Australian outfit. As well as she batted in the second ODI, she is still to fully fire with the bat in this series as she truly can. With the ball, however, she has put on a ruthless clinic. Her seven wickets constituted the best bowling figures by an Australian woman in ODI history.
If Shrubsole swings it further, then Perry’s subtle variations have made her both brilliantly watchable and nightmarish to face. Predominantly moving the ball away from the right-hander, she has tied England up in knots. When England’s batters appeared to get the measure of her out-swinger, they were undone by the in-swinger. Sarah Taylor was the victim of a super delivery that left her, while Tammy Beaumont was trapped on the crease by the ball that jagged back in. If one doesn't get you, the other will.
The damage has been as mental as it has been tangible. She has dominated through her sheer presence. Last time Australia were in England for the Women’s Ashes, Perry took six wickets at Canterbury in the Test match. This time, she left Kent with an even greater haul, but in a 10-over spell that merely reinforced her status as the world’s top pound-for-pound cricketer.
England could certainly have played her better, mind. Only Taylor could truly claim to have been fault-free. While Healy and Lanning provided an exhibition in how to bat against the swinging ball – playing it late while showing the full face of the bat, England were quick to look square of the wicket, playing Perry often with just half a bat.
Quite how easy batting looked for Laura Marsh - England's number nine - merely highlighted both how well Perry had bowled, but also the runs that England had left out there as their batting order subsided to Perry's brilliance.
Having picked that side and then having subsequently elected to bowl, there was – needless to say – a certain pressure to back that up with early wickets. In short, England had the opportunity to set their stall out, to remind the Australians that this was the format in which they have emerged as the world’s dominant outfit.
Yet with the ball, England began sloppily. Especially at Alyssa Healy, who has been found wanting when the ball has been hidden outside her off-stump in the first two games of this series, England were far too straight. She helped herself, both through mid-wicket and mid-on.
But more than with the ball, where Shrubsole was finding prodigious and sometimes excessive movement, it was in the field where England let themselves down early on. It was an effort that would set the tone. Fielders dived over balls in the inner ring, boundary-riders fumbled balls over the rope. Quite simply, there was always a pressure-relieving opportunity for the tourists – whether through a misfield or a poor delivery.
When the comeback came – and it was aided by a marked improvement both with the ball and in the field, it too little, too late. Of course, no side becomes a poor team overnight. This England side had won 14 games in a row across various formats coming into this series. They must rediscover that edge. Confidence, though, disappears as quickly as it arrives.
Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning had earlier helped themselves to scores of 68 and 69
For Amy Jones, this series has been nothing if not a reminder of the brutal reality of international cricket. Coming into the Women’s Ashes in prime form, with scores since March of 54, 76, 79, 80 and 91 in international cricket alone, she would have hoped to turn on the style as the partner that Tammy Beaumont would need at the top of England’s order.
However, what has followed has been a titanic struggle for the 26-year-old. Just five runs have come, with two ducks either side of that solitary score in the second ODI. Ellyse Perry is the world’s best female cricketer and falling under her spell is in no way anything to regret.
That said, the manner of her dismissals will be concerning Mark Robinson. Perry has dismissed her in all three games at a cost of just four runs from eight deliveries. It is quite some hold that the allrounder has grasped over one of world cricket’s in-form batters.
The worry, though, will be that each failure has been increasingly tame – a mistimed pull, a misplaced clip, a mixture of both. With a must-win Test match coming up, England might have a decision to make.
Jones has never played a Test for England, while Georgia Elwiss has a decent four-day record against Australia. Her inclusion would constitute a reshuffle, but England need to find a solid foundation at the top. Jones is a fabulous player - she has displayed as much in recent times. She has found an unfortunate time to lose that form.
A chase that would have been England’s biggest in ODI history ended up falling only narrowly ahead of their worst ever effort. That performance – when England were rolled for 50 – came in 2005 in India.
Only Jenny Gunn of the current squad played that day. She will remember it all too well. This England side will do well to forget today. England's lowest ever total against Australia, their second-biggest defeat against Australia and their second-largest defeat of all time. A day to move on from for England.
They have 11 days before the Test match begins at Taunton. It is now a must-win game. Quite how they recover from this, however, will be mightily interesting.
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