The past few days have seen an Aotearoa White Ferns one-day squad named and Wellington Blaze snare an awkward wee win in the Women's Super Smash final. Awkward in the sense that rain restricted the final to a 7-over extravaganza and with such a short contest, Sophie Devine's 5 sixes were instrumental in setting up the win for Wellington.

Wellington finish with the top-four leading wicket-takers, while Devine finished 6th to give the Blaze five of the top-six. This is were the foundations of a championship run are set, yet in the context of a 7-over game, having Devine was a major difference between the two teams as Devine felt like the only player in that final who could smack multiple sixes; 54 off 23 ball from Devine and it felt as though Auckland Hearts had already lost.

Devine finished with 25 sixes.

No other batswoman in the Super Smash hit more than 10 sixes. Auckland's leading batters combined for 7 sixes.

Devine's Super Smash ends with 369 runs @ 52.71avg/184.50sr (obviously the highest strike-rate) and while that's bonkers, it wasn't 2019 Women's Big Bash League bonkers. This has Devine as Wellington's leading run-scorer in 4th overall, one spot ahead of fellow opener Rachel Priest (319 runs @ 39.87avg/134.03sr) and steady contributions from Brisbane Heat duo Maddy Green and Amelia Kerr helped out as well. The crux of the Blaze's Super Smash win though, comes from their bowlers who didn't get the chance to showcase their dominance in a shortened final.

Jess Kerr finishes as the leading wicket-taker, the only seamer in the top-five. Plenty of movement into right-handers appears to be how Kerr goes about her work, with variations mixed in and Kerr's rise low key points to a under-appreciated aspect of kiwi cricket. While Kerr's whanau has deep cricket roots, Kerr also grew up heavily involved in athletics as a runner and this flows into Kerr's bowling style which is fluid and powerful.

I'll touch on Kerr's White Ferns selection below. The work of Deanna Doughty also intrigues me, given that the Wellington leggy bowls alongside two of Aotearoa's best spinners in Amelia Kerr and Leigh Kasperek. Last season's Super Smash saw Doughty take 21 wickets @ 13.42avg/2.96rpo and this summer, Doughty took 17w @ 12.76avg/5.83rpo.

This puts Doughty in rare air, but not in the White Ferns. Doughty joins Northern Spirit batswoman Caitlin Gurrey as quite clearly dominating domestic cricket and while Gurrey did get a crack last summer, kiwi cricket fans should know that outside of this current White Ferns one-day squad, there's plenty of top-tier talent.

Here are some bowling stats...

Jess Kerr: 1st, 20w @ 10.30avg/5.15rpo.

Amelia Kerr: 2nd, 18w @ 12.61avg/5.40rpo.

Deanna Doughty: 3rd, 17w @ 12.76avg/5.83rpo.

Leigh Kasperek: 4th, 15w @ 14.13avg/5.53rpo.

Anna Peterson: 5th, 15w @ 18.60avg/6.34rpo.

The reason Doughty is not in the White Ferns squad, is because Amelia Kerr, Kasperek and Peterson are all there and should be there. Aotearoa's major strength are the spinners and their presence alongside the batting prowess of Devine and Suzie Bates forms the cornerstone of this White Ferns team.

Part of the reason that Jess Kerr is in the one-day squad is because of Lea Tahuhu's absence, with Tahuhu and Amy Satterthwaite both on mummy duties. The seam crew in this White Ferns squad isn't quite as exciting as other aspects, excluding Kerr who was notably better than Holly Huddleston and Rosemary Mair - who are also selected.

To be completely honest, this one-day squad is super meh because we have a token one-day series set among a forest of T20I cricket. South Africa are here for three one-dayers, then five T20I games prior to the World T20 kicking off in Australia later in February. I find this a bit strange and a diet of T20I cricket would be the ideal lead in to World T20, which leads me to suggest that everything in this one-day series vs South Africa is viewed through the T20 lens.

There are plenty of little notes to keep in mind as we roll through this one-day series...

Rachel Priest, Katey Martin and Bernadine Bezuidenhout have all been selected and all three are wicket-keepers. Priest has commanded another opportunity in the White Ferns and how Priest's role in this White Ferns team plays out, especially in the World T20 bubble will be interesting.

Maddy Green averages 20.27 in ODIs, 10.08 in T20Is.

Lauren Down averages 7.37 in ODIs.

I highlight Green and Down because their lacklustre performances last summer led me to question how young players were being prepared to step up to international cricket. Since then, Green (and Amelia Kerr) did the WBBL/Super Smash double and Green has made significant moves forward via both competitions in the past few months. Green's Super Smash finished with 266 runs @ 38avg/121.46sr, most importantly Green has contributed to two champion teams.

Down's Super Smash was a bit under-whelming with 205 runs @ 25.62avg/112.63. Across 15inns (9 in Super Smash, 6 in domestic one-dayers), Down has just one 50+ score and I find this notable because Down is clearly viewed as a talented batting prospect given how she's been given steady opportunities for Aotearoa.

To earn World T20 selection, Down has to perform for Aotearoa. I'm more confident in Green continuing her positive trend and there is plenty of competition for batting spots ahead of the World T20, which has me intrigued as to whether Down can command further selection.

This is amplified by the all-round abilities in the White Ferns one-day squad, which will apply to the World T20 squad. Devine's a world-class all-rounder, Amelia Kerr has proven herself as a more than capable batswoman and T20 whacker at numerous levels, while Anna Peterson, Hayley Jensen and even the likes of Rosemary Mair, Leigh Kasperek and Holly Huddleston are capable with bat and ball. Suzie Bates is known to roll the arm over fairly well also.

Players who I'd put in the batting ting only basket are Green, Perkins (1st in Super Smash runs) and Down. Factor in the wicket-keepers in Priest and Martin who I view as both being 1st 11 players, then Bezuidenhout. This leaves me pondering which batters will put themselves ahead of the pack in this one-day series and what ramifications that may have on World T20 selection.

First we need a T20I squad to face South Africa, which feels as though it will be fairly similar to the one-day squad. It doesn't feel overly logical to make changes between the one-day and T20I squad for this South African tour considering that the main goal is World T20; anyone in the World T20 mix needs as much White Ferns time as possible.

Sure, different formats and different skills. However, the scheduling here is already less than ideal and the White Ferns need to make the most of playing time as they look to finally crack into major tournament success.

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Peace and love 27.