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Ellyse Perry’s long wait for a Test hundred lasted nine years and seven Tests. If you don’t get too many opportunities, you might as well make any hundred a double – she finished on 213 not out.
The first women’s Test match was between Australia and England in December 1934. This is Test number 139. VVS Laxman got to play in 134 Tests; Alastair Cook has played 147.
The record holder for most Test caps in the women’s game is Janette Brittin, who died in September. She played 27 matches.
Ben Hilfenhaus played 27 Tests. So did Roger Binny. Jason Holder has already played 28.
Scarcity cuts both ways. It means this innings – the seventh Test double by a woman – is really special. It is also likely to leave England mathematically challenged.
Australia were 4-2 up on points before the Test match and will earn four more if they win. There are only six points available for the T20s that follow, so England need to bat out the final day.
Ah well, there’s always that other Ashes…
…oh.
A question for those more adept with StatsGuru or similar.
If you added up every Test innings by a woman batting at, say, No. 1, how does the aggregate number of runs compared to top individual run-scorers in men’s Tests? With such few matches, there must be some daft stats along these lines.
In fact would even be interesting to know for the men, what the aggregate of all scores at. say, No. 11 is.
Okay, time for some dubious adding up, since Statsguru eludes my grasp. There have been 7 women’s Tests since 2010.
Aus vs Eng 2017, match aggregate 934 runs.
Eng vs Aus 2015, match aggregate 699 runs.
Eng vs India 2014, match aggregate 591 runs.
Aus vs Eng 2014, match aggregate 721 runs.
Ind vs SA 2014, match aggregate 766 runs.
Eng vs Aus 2013, match aggregate 969 runs.
Aus vs Eng 2011, match aggregate 713 runs.
All women’s Tests since 2010: total 5393 runs.
Steven Peter Devereux Smith, debut (men’s Tests) Australia v Pakistan at Lord’s, Jul 13-16, 2010.
Career to date: 5370 runs.
So Smith hasn’t scored quite as many runs as all women Test cricketers put together since 2010, but is within 23 runs of doing so.
Cricinfo records that “in the 2010s”, only Amla (5991 runs) and Cook (7975 runs!!) have outscored Smith, and also, women. Though I’m sure we could have a wonderfully pedantic discussion about what “in the 2010s” really means. Should it start on 1 Jan 2010 or 1 Jan 2011?
(I believe Cricinfo actually goes with 1 Jan 2010. Either way, Tests that spew over from one year to the next must mess up a lot of their statistical compilations for earlier decades… I suppose for Test runs there are close of play scores available for most matches, but there must be problems allocating some Test wickets between years. I pity the poor statisticians involved. As for “taking a rare opportunity”, Mignon du Preez only ever had one chance to play Test cricket for South Africa. In their only Test since 2010, she made a century. 102. Three fewer runs and I would have felt even sorrier for her than I do for year-by-year statisticians.)
By all accounts you could hear that Saffer test match crowd encouraging Mignon du Preez to fill her pair of boots with runs…
…which she did…
…and that’s why she is known as…
…filet Mignon.
Have you ever considered taking up extreme stats as an avocation, Bail-out. You show rare talent.
The fat opera singer is not yet singing.
England merely need to win the T20 section of the tournament by three or more points (i.e. 3-0 or 2-0 with one tie/abandonment).
Simples.