Two T20 squads have been named for Aotearoa's White Ferns as they head to Australia for three T20 games, in preparation for the World T20 in the Caribbean early in November. 13 players were named for the series in Australia, then Anna Peterson and Hannah Rowe will join the squad for the second major tournament for the White Ferns in just over a year.

The narrative around these two White Ferns squads has been the selection of a whopping five spinners for the Australia series, then Peterson's leggies are injected into the squad for the World T20. I found this a bit weird though, as this squad doesn't differ much from any recent White Ferns T20 squads or even the recent ODI squads and even though - as coach Hadie Tiffen highlighted - the Caribbean is friendly to spinners, this isn't neccessarily a squad designed strictly for such conditions.

It's kinda just the best 13/15 cricketers in Aotearoa.

Aotearoa got smoked by England in the final of the T20 tri-series also featuring South Africa a few months back, which was the last T20 outing for the Ferns. They handled South Africa fairly easily but were touched up by England, which flowed into the ODI series and is the crux of an overall, disappointing vibe lingering around the White Ferns.

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That final, the last T20 game Aotearoa has played, saw Jess Watkin, Anna Peterson, Leigh Kasperek and Amelia Kerr bowl. Amy Satterthwaite didn't bowl in that final and didn't bowl throughout the T20 tri-series, although she did churn out 10 overs in 10 games for Lancashire Thunder in the Women's T20 Blast (4w @ 18avg/7.20rpo).

Watkin, Peterson, Kasperek and Kerr were all used as spinner, in a T20 game in England. English conditions are rather different to those in the Caribbean, but four spinners were still used in that T20 final. Depending on Satterthwaite's willingness to bowl herself (she captained Lancashire as well) we could consistently see the same spinners used in the Caribbean as there were in England, meaning that there isn't anything new, weird, crazy or noteworthy about selecting so many spinners with regards to this White Ferns team.

Hence, I've found it weird that mainstream media and NZC have pumped up this spin spin spin narrative.

The foundation of this White Ferns bowling attack, is spin and it has been for the last few years. Kasperek is one of the best spinners in the world, linking up with Peterson to offer off-spin and leg-spin, then Kerr popped on to the scene and she's now a mandatory selection. The newbie is Watkin as she made her T20 and ODI debuts earlier this year and all four of these spinners offer enough with the bat to ensure that they can all be selected together.

With Sophie Devine finishing 2nd in wickets for the T20 Blast and Suzie Bates likely to take on a slightly bigger workload with the ball now she's not captain, the bulk of the White Ferns seam bowling could be done by these two. That's largely because Lea Tahuhu isn't quite the threat she once was; Tahuhu played four of the five tri-series games but didn't take a wicket an only bowled 7 overs.

Holly Huddleston is also in both squads, but she hasn't played a T20 International since November 14 last year. That suddenly means that Hayley Jensen could be viewed as the premier seamer after she finished as the leading wicket-taker of the kiwi bowlers in the tri-series - Devine's probably the best seamer, but Jensen is in the team/squad solely for her seam while Devine also opens the batting.

That, by nature reflects the Ferns predicament ... or fantastic position as they don't have the world-class seamers right now. Tahuhu and Huddleston haven't demanded T20 selection ahead of any of the spinners, while Jensen has shown promising signs but would struggle to make a compelling case for selection ahead of Kerr, Peterson or Kasperek. Hannah Rowe is the most exciting seamer coming through, yet she went wicket-less in two tri-series games and conceded 10.33rpo.

Devine, Bates and Satterthwaite are automatic selections as batswomen first and foremost. Then it becomes a question of selecting the best bowlers and as is the case in T20 cricket, the best bowlers who can also do a job with the bat. Not only has coach Tiffen relied heavily on spinners in all conditions because they just happen to be the best bowlers available, they are also the all-rounders.

We have already seen this play out for the White Ferns recently and this is simply a case of selecting the best cricketers. The series against Australia will be crucial for coach Tiffen to suss out whether any of the seamers (Tahuhu, Huddleston, Jensen, Rowe) are better options than the spinners, knowing that there are more than capable seamers in Devine and Bates who will lead the way.

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Peace and love 27.