The much-anticipated Women’s Ashes five-day test match has finally begun. Australia winning the toss chose to bat. A quick first wicket brought Ellyse Perry to the crease in the first session of day 1. Perry looked in great touch and her wonderful innings ended when she got out on a heartbreaking 99. She missed her well-deserved third century by just one run. She became the fourth woman to miss a test century by a single run.
Perry played an anchoring inning for Australia as she saw four batters depart while batting. After Mooney’s wicket, Perry and vice-captain McGrath built an outstanding partnership of 119 runs stabilizing Australia’s inning. Perry in her 153-ball play scored fifteen boundaries to amass 99 runs. The heartbreaking dismissal came on the last ball of the 60th over thanks to the amazing catch by all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt in the gully off debutant Lauren Filer’s bowling.
Perry stated that she had been thinking about “nothing in particular” when asked if the landmark had been on her mind.
“Like every other ball, it’s just an opportunity at a particular moment in time, and I’d had a really great tussle with Filer the whole time. I thought she was extremely impressive today on debut and brought the game alive at different points.
“So that ball just had my measure, which is totally fine. It’s a number, and one that we talk about a lot in cricket, but the whole experience out there today was so much fun. I’ve loved every opportunity. Sometimes things just go that way. It’s hard to be disappointed.”
Ellyse Perry opens up about her unfortunate dismissal on 99 in the first innings of the Ashes Test. #CricketTwitter #Ashes2023 pic.twitter.com/n1THSoANtT
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 23, 2023
“It was nice to contribute,” she added. “It was nice to be a part of a few really good partnerships, particularly that one with TMac [McGrath]. It’s just like any other time to get out. It’s a bit of a bummer, but gosh, the game definitely goes on, and life goes on for sure.”
Other women who got out on 99 in the history of women’s Tests are the following:
Betty Snowball
On July 13, 1937, during the third Ashes Test, which was drawn, Betty Snowball was run out for 99 by a direct hit at The Oval. She had started the third and final day on 96 but had trouble scoring, and she ultimately perished as she took a risky tight single. She became the first-ever woman to get out on a 99 in a test match.
Jill Kennare
The second instance was more than 46 years later. Australia was touring India for a bilateral series consisting of four One Days and as many tests. This inning came in the fourth and last test match of the series that ended in a draw. Former Australia captain Jill Kennare got out caught and bowled to India’s Shubhangi Kulkarni in the 1984 Test at Wankhede Stadium.
Jess Jonassen
Jonassen’s maiden Test innings ended heartbreakingly short of a century when she was bowled by quick Katherine Brunt on 99. It was a match where, on Test debut, Jonassen struck match-winning knocks of 99 and 54 – the only player in the match to pass fifty – as Australia claimed a 161-run win, placing one hand firmly on the Ashes trophy in the process.
