Chillin' a few days removed from the White Ferns T20 World Cup exit, removed from the hot-takes and the frustration that always exists when coming so close to defeating Australia and I've found myself in the same space I was in prior to the World Cup. In terms of standings, Aotearoa is level with West Indies as both teams finished third in their respective pools and that puts the kiwis in the 5th spot, perhaps differentiating themselves from West Indies if like me, you view the White Ferns as the better team.

The spanner in the mix here is that South Africa had an excellent World Cup, finishing 1st in their pool and falling victim to the ICC's typically weird antics. Aotearoa smoked South Africa in the T20 series prior to the World Cup and other than finishing below South Africa, the kiwis started this World Cup in the tier below India, Australia and England - which is exactly where they finished it.

As with any debrief type of thing, assessing expectations is a key element. Having followed the White Ferns closely over the past three-four years, I have documented how the kiwis have fallen out of that top-tier and they are currently on an ODI series losing streak against the big donnies of women's cricket; 1-2 vs England, 1-2 vs India, 0-3 vs Australia and then the 0-3 sweep vs South Africa earlier this year.

The White Ferns always had potential to upset Australia and/or India in this World Cup, if the stars aligned they could have won the whole damn thing. However, status-quo continued and the entire journey of the past few years was evident throughout this World Cup as the White Ferns were competitive vs Australia and India, without the oomph to win those games.

Those who follow the White Ferns in a casual, basic sense and compare them to the Silver Ferns in any capacity, may have expected better from this team.

For those who have been tapped in, this T20 World Cup is simply a continuation of recent years.

I had to take my time in forming my perspective and opinion to debrief matters. In the lava of post-loss emotion, there was anger and that anger is nothing new because I've also documented the good, but not good enough investment into women's cricket in Aotearoa. For anyone new to the Niche Cache reading this: our vibe is to highlight that small moves towards equality should be celebrated to some extent, there is so much more work to do though. This leans into how many people around Aotearoa celebrate certain boosts in resources etc with a sense of complacency.

The Aotearoa we know, love and represent should be leading the world for investment in women's cricket. Not falling behind the pack, because the White Ferns recent decline is directly related to how NZC and the likes of South Africa, England, India and Australia have invested in women's cricket. The T20 World Cup perfectly reflects the state of investment in women's cricket.

That's the anger within me. People pretend as if they are doing a great service to women's cricket - do more!

This anger is fueled by seeing the Basin Reserve or Hagley Oval decorated with Indian sponsors, with games started at convenient times for Indian viewers. Seeing the respective Super Smash competitions change sponsorship every year or two, most recently an Indian fantasy game that surely no one actually plays. Anger fueled by hearing whispers of the Major Associations not quite aligning with NZC's financials and a whole lot of anger that NZC cut down Plunket Shield activities despite doing nothing to promote the Plunket Shield.

NZC could be well-resourced, creative in how they generate income and pushing the boundaries in terms of providing online content and streaming. NZC could be doing all sorts of things to generate the income, to invest in women's cricket even further. From the outside looking in, all I see is NZC selling itself to the highest bidder just to stay floating and then watching as other nations put serious investment into women's cricket.

While I'm on this tangent, NZC still do a horrible job of producing Youtube content and this is in direct contrast to the nations who finished above the White Ferns in this World Cup. South Africa produced an abundance of content while their women's team toured Aotearoa and NZC literally had none, let alone interviews and content from the World Cup. Let alone Plunket Shield highlights, streaming or any other cool content that brings us closer to our heroes.

All of this anger is present, because it is related to the White Ferns and their performances in international cricket. We seem to take for granted what the White Ferns do on the international stage, given the resources they have and it's actually rather laughable that the phrase 'punching above their weight' is used when discussing the Blackcaps performances in men's cricket.

The White Ferns came within 4 runs of defeating India and Australia at this World Cup.

Since the start of 2019, the White Ferns played two T20I series to prepare for the World Cup. The first was in February 2019 vs India, then February 2020 vs South Africa.

For a major tournament, the White Ferns barely had legit preparation together as a team and still came within 4 runs of defeating India and Australia.

Sure, six White Ferns played in Women's Big Bash League. Some have been doing the international circuit as well playing in the Women's Super League in England etc. As a team, the White Ferns were graced with limited T20I preparation, to go with any other resource disparities and somehow, those kiwis came within a whisker of booting Australia out of their own tournament.

That's what a few days offers as I dwell on the fact that this White Ferns team genuinely punches above its weight. Maybe less than half the total package of preparation, resource, investment that the big-three enjoy and it's Aotearoa who are the nightmare opponent capable of beating any of the big-three on their day.

This T20 World Cup played out exactly as they women's cricket landscape suggests it would; Australia, India and England make the semi-finals, while the team on the rise in South Africa moves closer to the big-three. That is the top half of women's cricket right now with Aotearoa and West Indies holding on, yet the kiwis have enough pure talent to keep pushing those more favoured teams.

As you may have guessed from the above, women's cricket deserve far more investment and resource from NZC in Aotearoa. If NZC can't do that, it only reflects poorly on them because it's so obvious that they aren't doing everything they can to boost women's cricket and all of domestic cricket; fire up plenty of Youtube content and sell advertising/sponsorship if your desperate for a dollar.

Until NZC get serious about investing in women's cricket at all levels (just like domestic cricket), this is what the White Ferns will be. They do their best and their best is amazing considering the disparity in resource between them and other women's teams. Credit to all involved with the White Ferns for being as competitive, crafty and skillful as they are.

If kiwis want the White Ferns to be better, win narrow games of major tournaments against the best, then the expectation has to be more support, more resources and more genuine investment. Otherwise, while NZC is slow to catch up to the trend of women's cricket around the world - let alone digital trends - all we can do is celebrate yet another kiwi sports team who represents Aotearoa beautifully on the world stage.

Remember that Aotearoa is the greatest sporting nation in the world, kg for kg. Whether it's Israel Adesanya and City Kickboxing, male and female footballers playing around the world or Steven Adams playing in the NBA, the White Ferns add to this in competing at a high level without the resources of their rivals.

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Peace and love 27.