White Ferns Rose Bowl Reflections (With An Eye On The World Cup)
Still the GOAT.
Just as the Blackcaps have been building towards the Champions Trophy and must now wait to see how the next few months pan out before settling on their best ODI team, the White Ferns have a major tournament lurking on the horizon. The Women's World Cup awaits and with plenty of time before it gets underway in June, there are also a few questions regarding the best White Ferns ODI team.
The White Ferns managed to grab a win in the first Rose Bowl fixture against Australia and looked as thought they could finally snatch the Rose Bowl off of Australia before losing the remaining two fixtures. Amy Satterthwaite once again led the Ferns with the bat as she hit a century in the first game, followed by 85 in the second game giving her an average of 99 for the series.
Katey Martin was also consistent with her runs at No.4 as she hit back to back scores in the 40's and finished with a 77. Openers Suzie Bates and Rachel Priest also chipped in with a half-century each which means that the White Ferns' top-four batswomen all made a half-century at some stage of the series.
Holly Huddleston finished as the leading wicket-taker of either team with 7 wickets at an average of 18.57/4.87rpo as she took at least a wicket in all three games. One of a few concerns ahead of the World Cup must be Huddleston's senior seamer Lea Tahuhu who did the opposite as she took 4 wickets but then went wicket-less in the next two games. After the Blackcaps ODI series against South Africa, I highlighted that Trent Boult averaged over 40 and Tim Southee averaged over 50 which is far from ideal from your premier seam bowlers; Tahuhu finished with a 42.75avg/5.89rpo combo.
A strength of the White Ferns has been the balance offered by Bates and Satterthwaite, who are legit all-rounders. Unfortunately this also proved to be a weak spot for the Ferns as Bates almost bowled as much as Huddleston (26.2 overs vs 26.4 overs) but only took 2 wickets (75avg/5.69rpo) and Satterthwaite was effectively a non-factor with 12 overs for just a single wicket (76avg/6.33rpo).
The future of Satterthwaite's off-spin is intriguing thanks to depth of spin in this White Ferns group. Amelia Kerr was given another opportunity and the youngster was the Ferns' second-best bowler with her leggies taking 4 wickets @ 27.25avg/4.36rpo. Like Tahuhu, all of Kerr's 4 wickets came in one game but while Tahuhu proved to be expensive when she wasn't taking wickets (5rpo and 6.50rpo), Kerr conceded 4.80rpo and 3.10rpo in the two games she went wicket-less.
Erin Bermingham didn't take a wicket in her 12 overs of leg-spin and Anna Peterson took 2 wickets @ 34.50avg/4.81rpo in 14.2 overs.
Tahuhu is an experienced seamer who will be a near-certain selection in the World Cup and Huddleston is quickly establishing herself as a threat with her seamers. If I were selecting a team for the first World Cup game, they'd form the seam attack with Bates but it's important to note that Sophie Devine, Leigh Kasperek and Morna Nielsen weren't involved in the Rose Bowl.
Devine and Kasperek should waltz back into a full-strength White Ferns team. Devine would likely squeeze into the middle order, No.5 is ideal for her hitting ability and she adds another seam-bowling options; Bates and Devine are capable of bowling 10 overs of seam while batting in the top-five as well.
The prospect of Kasperek's offies working in conjunction with Kerr's leggies is incredibly exciting. Kerr has now played seven ODIs, taking 10 wickets @ 22.90avg/3.89rpo and Kasperek has played nine ODIs with 13 wickets @ 17.23avg/3.11rpo. Despite the small sample size, those are some impressive numbers for two young spinners and I reckon the chances of these two being rolled out on the biggest stage as an x-factor are high.
When you've got two spinners who aren't world-class only thanks to their small sample size along with names like Bates, Satterthwaite and Devine, you have a White Ferns team that has the potential to do something crazy at the World Cup. This would be my top White Ferns team: Bates, Priest (wk), Satterthwaite, Martin, Devine, Perkins, Peterson, Tahuhu, Kasperek, Kerr, Huddleston.