Captain Alyssa Healy said Australia is still assessing Ellyse Perry’s fitness before deciding whether the all-rounder will feature in the pink-ball Test against India’s Harmanpreet Kaur starting on March 6 at the WACA in Perth. Perry played in the T20I series but missed the ODIs due to a quad strain.
Following the injury, Perry remained with the Australian team for rehabilitation. Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke previously confirmed Perry was making rapid progress. Healy added that Perry is a key member of the squad and Australia will wait to finalize his participation.
“We have a very rough idea of what it’s going to look like. Obviously Ellyse Perry is key and we’ll just assess her as we go along,” Healy told reporters in Perth.
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ELLYSE PERRY Trains hard
On Wednesday, Perry returned to practice and took part in heavy hitting in the nets along with running drills. Healy noted that Perry looked positive during training but cautioned that her quad injury was not “direct”.
“She trained really well yesterday so it’s looking really promising. For her to be in this series again (would be) massive – from all reports it hasn’t been straight forward so her ability to get back into this game is quite remarkable,” Healy said.
“Playing Test cricket for us girls is very rare at times. So I think she will be a champion to get there,” Healy added.
If Perry is unable to play, Australia could turn to Tasmania’s best uncapped batsman Rachel Trenaman. Also in the squad is fast bowler Maitlan Brown, who was drafted in after Kim Garth was ruled out with quad strain and returns to the national team for the first time since 2021.
Australia currently lead the multi-format series 8–4 having swept the ODI segment 3–0 while India earlier won the T20I series 2–1. With the series points system in play, a Test win would allow India to level the series at 8–8, so the final match is important for Harmanpreet Kaur’s team despite Australia having already clinched the overall title.
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Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
05 March 2026 17:54 IST
