Another round of Hallyburton Johnston Shield games means our first sighting of Wellington Blaze and Canterbury Magicians this summer. This wasn't quite as one-sided as Otago Sparks defeating Central Hinds last weekend, although Wellington did win both games and did so thanks to Amelia Kerr's leggies while a bunch of White Ferns were impressive in dropping down to HBJ Shield cricket.

Wellington started with 267/8 and Maddy Green hitting 87* @ 116sr. Opener Rebecca Burns and recent White Ferns call up Jessica McFadyen both scored 40s up the top. 21-year-old Jessica Simmons and Amy Satterthwaite took 2w each, before Satterthwaite scored the first of her two hefty knocks with 87. Jacinta Savage was the next best Cantab with 40 runs to go with her 1 wicket taken, as Canterbury reached 228/9 in reply.

The second game saw Satterthwaite crack 96 without much support and Canterbury put up 207 as a target. Frances Mackay didn't play the first game and opened in the second game with 22 runs, before taking 2w with the ball as Wellington churned out a team effort; top seven batters all reached double figures. Kerr led the way with 41 runs and Wellington hit their mark with an over to spare, 8 wickets down.

Let's start with Canterbury, who have lost Kate Ebrahim to Otago and thus lost a bit of starch in their team. Satterthwaite scored 183 runs @ 92sr and only one other Canterbury batter scored 50+ runs across both games with Kirsty Nation finishing on 71 runs. Canterbury will need Mackay playing as much as possible to support Satterthwaite and Lea Tahuhu's involvement will also be crucial when she's fit.

Jacinta Savage will be a key player to watch. Ebrahim, Mackay and Sattertwhaite all averaged 50+ in last summer's HBJ Shield while most of the youngsters averaged below 20. Savage only played four games last summer but scored 109 runs @ 36.33avg with a half-century and also took 11w @ 9.54avg/3.6rpo, showcasing her all-round talents. Savage wasn't dominant vs Wellington but was solid and along with which young Cantabs step up to command attention, I'll be tracking Savage's mahi closely.

Canterbury feel like they are on a similar level as Otago. Wellington feel a smidge ahead of those two teams and Kerr is a major weapon to differentiate these teams. Kerr finished with 10w @ 3.80rpo via 5 wickets in each game and there is plenty of intrigue around Kerr's mahi this summer after a dip in form last summer, then a break from the game over the winter. Kerr started this year with 6w @ 40.83avg in ODI cricket as well as 2w @ 67.50avg in T20I, both of which are Kerr's worst periods of international cricket since her debut in 2016.

We can get into some White Ferns woes here as under Ferns coach Bob Carter, Kerr's ODI bowling has steadily fallen away after averaging below 22 and conceding less than 4.20rpo in each of her first three years...

2019: 29.87avg/5.15rpo.

2020: 33.85avg/4.74rpo.

2021: 40.83avg/5.21rpo.

That alone tells the White Ferns story and just like it's not ideal to have a losing White Ferns outfit entering their home World Cup - you don't want to enter a home World Cup with your best bowler in her worst patch of form. Kerr has started this HBJ Shield in fantastic form and one would expect Kerr to keep dominating, thus keeping the confidence and good vibes flowing.

Maddy Green scored runs which is also relevant to Fernies antics. Green hit a nice 70* in the England ODI series this winter, which apart from a century and half-century vs Ireland, is her only 50+ score in 42 games. All of which is reflected in Green's ODI batting average of 20.22 and Green has a List-A average of 26 which isn't fabulous, but there is at least a difference. A knock of 87* to start this summer is exactly what Green would have wanted.

One youngster to keep tabs on is 17-year-old Georgia Plimmer for Wellington. Plimmer has now played 15 LA games and averages 12.45, which doesn't suggest anything funky but there are notable improvements already on display. Plimmer had a top-score of 29 in her 10 games last season with 70 runs total @ 43.68sr, then this weekend Plimmer had scores of 26 and 29 with an overall strike-rate of 74.32.

Plimmer batted #5 in both games and all of this falls into the basket of Aotearoa's young wahine cricketers being the funkiest yarn of the summer. We've already had Otago Sparks youngsters shining, while Canterbury's youngsters will continue to develop over the summer and Wellington have youngsters like Plimmer stepping up with ample White Ferns power around them.

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Peace and love.