The opening day of the first Test of the Women Ashes turned out to be (hilariously) eventful for Sydney girl Ellyse Perry. In the 92nd over of Day 1, Perry bowled a loose delivery to England batswoman Sarah Taylor outside off stump. Taylor could not time the ball as she was deceived by the pace of the delivery. She could not drive the ball well and ended up playing it back to Perry. The Australian all-rounder was trying to move away from the ball but it hit her left arm, shoulder and somehow landed in both her hands, in short, it turned out to be quite a marvellous, weird catch for Perry.
As soon as Perry realised she had got the wicket, she was in fits of laughter! Her teammates rushed towards her to celebrate the unpredictable yet crucial wicket of Taylor but Perry, could still not believe she had managed a remarkable wicket of an ordinary delivery.
Here’s the video of the incident:
Ellyse Perry just couldn’t stop laughing! #WomensAshes pic.twitter.com/tcu2K19fYA
— Australia Women (@SouthernStars) November 9, 2017
Even in the post-Day 2 press conference, Perry who still could not wipe off the grin, believed that it was a stroke of luck. When asked about her return catch in the press conference, she had a funny reply. She said,
Essentially I just slipped a little in some foot holes on that delivery and my head went down and I kinda lost sight of it. I think it was a pretty hideous delivery, I didn’t even see it. I kinda looked up and the lights were a little bit in my eyes. And, I think the first time I spotted the ball was pretty much just before it hit my arm. Rather embarrassingly I managed to catch it. I think I provided a lot of entertainment for everyone and I lost all composure and I’m glad Rachael (Haynes) took me off after that. Yeah, that’s all I have got for you.
Amused by her ‘reaction’ (uncontrollable laughter), one of the journalists couldn’t help asking, ‘why was it so funny?’, to which she once again burst into laughter. She said,
I don’t know. I’m not sure, I think because it was just so embarrassing I’m just laughing instead. Look I suppose in cricket everyone bowls some good balls and you don’t get wickets and every now and then you bowl some bad ones and you have a bit of luck and something obscure happens and that’s what makes the game so fun and entertaining. And it was nice being Sarah Taylor as well, to dismiss her. I think you’d happily get her out any way possible. I don’t think it had anything to do with or ability that wicket. It was pure luck.
Perry took two more wickets in the first innings including Georgia Elwiss and Laura Marsh. Her bowling figures were 3 for 59 helping her team bundle out England for 280 runs in 116 overs.
