Ellyse Perry’s prognosis is “looking promising” but Australia will leave it late to see if their star allrounder can get up for the Test match
Ellyse Perry is looking promising for the day-night Test at the WACA, captain Alyssa Healy says, revealing the quadriceps injury that’s threatening to keep the veteran out of the pink-ball encounter “wasn’t exactly straightforward”.
The balance of the Australia XI to take on India will rest on Perry’s availability, but signs were positive as the 35-year-old got through a second training session in Perth on Thursday afternoon.
“We’ve got a very rough idea about what it’s going to look like,” Healy told reporters in Perth of Australia’s likely XI.
“Obviously, Ellyse Perry is the key one, and we’ll just assess her as we go.
“She trained really well yesterday, so it’s looking really promising.
“For her to be able to take part in this series again (would be) huge – from all reports, it wasn’t exactly a straightforward niggle that she had, so her ability to get back up for this game is pretty remarkable.
“Playing Test cricket for us girls is few and far between at times. So I think she’ll be champing at the bit to get out there.”
If Perry does not get up, Australia could bring in uncapped Tasmania top-order batter Rachel Trenaman or reshuffle their deep batting line-up to fit in an extra bowling option.
If Perry gets the go ahead, Healy said she expected Australia to line up similarly to their last Test, against England at the MCG last January.
That would see Healy slot into the middle-order with Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll opening the batting, a deep batting line-up that could see Tahlia McGrath batting as low as No.8, two frontline quicks and two spinners in Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King.
If that was the case, the only change would likely see left-arm quick Lucy Hamilton come into the side to replace the injured Kim Garth, with Darcie Brown retaining her spot in the attack.
If Perry plays, it will be as a specialist batter, but Healy said she was not concerned about a lack of options with the ball, with allrounders McGrath and Annabel Sutherland also in the line-up.
“I daresay there’ll be a debutant, so we’ll have to wait and see who that will be,” Healy said.
“I think the line-up will look pretty similar to what the Ashes Test was last year, so I’ll probably slot down in the middle-order, but (that depends) on balance, and probably Pez’s is availability.
“Trenno’s has made a bulk of runs in domestic cricket and would be a perfect slide in for Ellyse Perry if she doesn’t get up.”
“We’ve got so many options with ball in hand that fill a role there, and then people asking for more opportunities with the ball, so we won’t struggle in that department.”
A day out from the match, the WACA pitch had a tinge of green to it, and temperatures are tipped to hit 37 degrees Celsius across the first two days of the match.
Asked if there was any potential that Australia would go for three specialist quicks in their line-up – which would see incumbent Brown joined by both Hamilton and Maitlan Brown – Healy admitted it was tempting, but less likely to eventuate.
“(The pitch) has got a thick coverage of grass, so no doubt it might be a little bit spongy on day one, and probably get quite dry and flat as the days go on,” Healy said.
“I would love to see that unfold, (three quicks) ripping in with a new ball … but we’ll wait and see what conditions present.
“We talk about the pace and bounce, but I think someone like Alana King is going to be a real tricky prospect out here
“We’ll have a better look at the wicket today, just knowing the heat and probably what it’s going to be like over the next four days … I think spin might actually come into play at this ground, in particular, in the women’s game.”
NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series
Australia lead the multi-format series 8-4
February 15: First T20: India won by 21 runs (DLS)
February 19: Second T20: Australia won by 19 runs
February 21: Third T20: India won by 17 runs
February 24: First ODI: Australia won by six wickets
February 27: Second ODI: Australia won by five wickets
March 1: Third ODI: Australia won by 185 runs
Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Rachel Trenaman, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare
March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)
