Josh Hazlewood's mouth stayed open like a codfish, Tim Paine grinned.
They'd been playing for less than four overs at the new Optus Stadium, but already the wicket had some character.
Hazlewood had pitched the ball on a good length. He hadn't been looking to bounce Jason Roy. But the ball shot up, racing past the England opener, and catching Paine by surprise. The gloveman jumped and tried to stop the ball but it flew beyond his reach, bouncing once before reaching the rope. Four byes.
This was WACA bounce. Perth bounce.
Replacing an international venue with folklore as rich as the WACA left a 60,000-seat concrete jungle vulnerable to being a bit of a letdown. But early impressions suggest this won't be the case, with the fresh stadium comparing favourably to the dated WACA and Subiaco Oval.
The pitch had an odd look to it. It was grassy, but rather than a green tinge it had green lines,running down the pitch like veins.
It was a touch inconsistent, with the odd one jolting up like that stunner from Hazlewood. But extra bounce in Western Australia should be encouraged, and this was encouraging.
The new ground has a uniformity to it. There are no stands per se - the top deck of seats is one continuous oval - and there is little if anything to differentiate one end from the other. In this respect it is similar to Etihad Stadium.
There aren't light towers at Optus Stadium, with light instead coming from 15,000 LED lights atop the roof. They flashed impressively to mark boundaries and wickets, something like a strobe light at a disco, and that experience will be amplified come the AFL season, when games are regularly held there at night.
Inevitably there were going to be some slight teething problems. The odd lift wasn't working, while there was a somewhat frustrating lack of power points in the press box.
There were fears getting to the venue was going to be an issue, with the Matagarup Bridge, which connects East Perth to the venue, not yet ready. Parking is also limited, while - as this reporter found out the hard way - Ubers aren't allowed to drop off or pick up people at events at the stadium.
But the taxi drop-off area was very orderly on Sunday, while train and bus transport is extremely close to the stadium and seemed to work well first-up.
Melissa and Colm McHugh brought their children Seamus, 10, and Niamh, 8, to the ground on Sunday.
They have been regular WACA attendees, sitting on the grass at Perth Scorchers matches, and Melissa wondered whether the picnic-like feel of that venue would be missed at the new stadium. "I must admit, I was a bit concerned we would lose that feel of the WACA," she said.
"But just being in here now, it's pretty impressive."
Colm was also a fan. "I think the viewing points are fantastic," he said.
"We're only 15 rows back and yet you feel like you're way over the ground. If you had the same seats at Subiaco you wouldn't have anywhere near as good a view. From that perspective it's amazing."
Lisa and Phil Baker travelled from Bunbury to watch the match on Sunday, and as Phil noted, the improved facilities were much-needed. "That's what it's about. That's what the WACA and Subi don't have. After going to the MCG, and you see this here, this is great. This is better than the MCG," he said.
The wicket runs from wing to wing in football terms. It makes for very long square boundaries, and it didn't take long for the effect of this to be seen, as Roy ran four from the first ball of the match, bowled by Mitchell Starc.
Starc thought he had the first wicket at the ground too, with Paine taking a sharp catch following a Roy edge. But he lost his place in trivia within a couple of minutes, with Roy surviving after replays showed Starc had overstepped.
Ultimately it was local Andrew Tye who claimed the opening scalp, with Hazlewood taking a catch at long on after Roy skied one on 49.
