2019/20 Women's Super Smash Preview
Fresh off a Women's Big Bash League campaign full of kiwi vibes, we now flow into Women's Super Smash here in Aotearoa. One would assume that the full crew of kiwis who played WBBL05 will get straight into Super Smash cricket and a week is plenty of time for Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Amelia Kerr, Maddy Green and Lea Tahuhu to get back with their teams in Aotearoa.
As we move away from WBBL05, here's some warm-fuzzies via Bates...
WBBL is one of, if not the leading female sports competition in this part of the world and stands alone as a cricketing product. To have plenty of kiwi wahine who have been key figures throughout the WBBL journey and now have the likes of Kerr and Green enjoying WBBL success, is a testament to the people these cricketers are and also pretty damn cool how supportive WBBL has been in incorporating kiwis and other players from around the world.
This should also serve as a reminder that while any move towards promoting female sporting competitions is celebrating, Aotearoa is a wee bit behind. Obviously Aotearoa doesn't quite have the resources of Australia or England who can roll out impressive tournaments, but while Aotearoa is just embracing a Super Smash concept involving men and women, WBBL was all alone as a entertainment package. Our wahine are still in need of a far more comprehensive contract structure in Aotearoa as well, so while any progress should be noted, as fans we should always be commanding more moves in a positive direction be made.
Interestingly, the fact that WBBL05 was a stand-alone product now allows the best kiwi players to take part in the Super Smash. There might be some international players involved, but I doubt there will be a big contingent of imports and that is a completely realistic nek step to take in making the Super Smash a competition that internationals want to be involved in. Piggy back off of WBBL and I'm sure the world's best wouldn't mind a bit of T20 cricket in the glorious land of Aotearoa.
WSS is going to be a great opportunity to see some of the top-tier perhaps differentiate themselves from the domestic players, there is also an intriguing group of players who are coming through the domestic system who have already made strong impressions. Take Amelia Kerr for example, who will lace up for Wellington Blaze after winning a WBBL05 championship with Brisbane Heat. Kerr finished 5th in WSS runs last year and 1st in wickets, is already a dominant force in kiwi cricket and enjoyed a steady WBBL campaign that could lead to even further dominance in WSS.
Kerr has a Wellington comrade in Deanna Doughty though, who might offer just as much intrigue as to how she backs up an immense WSS last summer. Doughty's also a leggy and she finished 2nd to Kerr in wickets last season, but didn't quite carry that into recent one-day action where she took 3w @ 70.66avg. Alongside Kerr and in a format where batswomen will be on the attack, Doughty could another spinner to watch out for.
Wellington have also lured Leigh Kasperek to the Blaze, which is most likely to form the strongest spin gang in Aotearoa. Kasperek had been with Otago Spars for a few years and I've got Kasperek as the best spinner in Aotearoa, ahead of Kerr via what she has done over a longer period of time and definitely more under the radar given the logical hype around Kerr.
Kasperek is coming into WSS with 7w @ 18.85avg/4.71rpo in the one-dayers, while last summer's WSS saw Kasperek take 8w @ 18.87avg/5.39rpo. Maybe the fact that Kasperek averages under 20 in both ODI and T20I cricket might perk your antenna up, then yeah; Kasperek's going to be playing alongside Kerr and Doughty.
Auckland Hearts seamer Bella Armstrong has burst on to the scene in the one-day competition, adding herself to the growing group of young seamers. Armstrong leads all wicket-takers in the one-dayers, with 16w @ 13.31avg/3.73rpo and she is the only seamer who has taken 10+ wickets. The 20-year-old has also bowled the most overs of any bowler, with 57 overs in six games and that's impressive not only for maintaining a low average but as a young seamer, Armstrong is showing she can rack up the work.
Hannah Rowe (Central Districts Hinds) and Rosemary Mair (CD) have formed the young seamer crew in the White Ferns, although their one-day stuff hasn't matched that of Armstrong. Rowe and Mair are both averaging over 40 in the one-day competitions, having worked their way into the White Ferns in recent years and I'm going to be keeping a close eye on which of these three, or if anyone else can command further attention.
The leading run-scorer in the one-day competition is Caitlin Gurrey, who has scored 30+ in all six games ... or 50+ in five of those six games. This heats up when we take a look at last summer's WSS, where Gurrey was 2nd in runs and can obviously whack a boundary as she had a strike-rate of 121.13 in WSS last summer and 96.37sr in this season's one-day competition.
Gurrey played two T20I vs India earlier this year, batting #3 in both games behind the Devine/Bates opening duo. Playing for Northern Districts Spirit, Gurrey is only rivaled in this look through recent one-day cricket and last summer's WSS by Canterbury Magician's Frances Mackay who continues to put up rather excessive numbers.
Mackay was the leading run-scorer in last summer's WSS and is now 2nd behind Gurrey in one-day runs as these two do battle at the top of the run-scoring charts. In five games, Mackay has hit three centuries and a 75, while also taking 9w @ 17avg/3.06 with her offies and considering the form that Mackay and Gurrey are carrying into WSS, there is an almighty chance that they are among the best once again.
There is a steady flow of games, so I'll pop up sporadically to debrief what's gone down and do so with some White Ferns context sprinkled in. World T20 is in March next year and the White Ferns have a series against South Africa (ODI and T20I) in January, so there is a White Ferns T20I team and squad to suss out. Whether it's Aotearoa's best to stamp their authority on the domestic scene or fresh faces sprinkling themselves into the mix, WSS should be pretty damn fun to keep an eye on.
Hit an ad to support the Niche Cache, or jump on Patreon and join the whanau. Chur.
Peace and love 27.