With a home World Cup lurking on the horizon, it's safe to say that this is a massive summer of Aotearoa women's cricket. Having covered the White Ferns closely over the last few years, two key themes have emerged as there is a monumental reliance on a group of world-class players and there aren't many others lending a helping hand consistently. The latter has been explored in most of the Niche Cache's White Ferns/domestic cricket content and there will be a checkpoint for this idea sometime soon, for now I'm most intrigued about how the best Fernies are tracking.

This group consists of Suzie Bates, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu, Amelia Kerr and Sophie Devine. Devine is staying in Australia after her Women's Big Bash League championship with Perth Scorchers, so there are no updates around her Hallyburton Johnston Shield and Super Smash mahi. This also introduces the important difference between White Ferns formats that gets explored near the end of this yarn; Devine and the WF are generally far better in T20 cricket than ODI cricket.

Devine's consistent WBBL excellence hasn't translated to WF ODI domination. This makes it tricky to expect Devine to be equally as dominant in an ODI World Cup and I'm low key fascinated by how Devine builds into World Cup mode upon her return. Devine and Kerr both took time to raise their mana this year, which came with severe dips in their ODI/T20I mahi earlier this year. It's not for us to breakdown their personal vibe, I am curious about how their performances look later this summer now that their mana is restored and sizzling.

Tahuhu is not bowling for Canterbury, which in theory is to ensure that Tahuhu is fit to bowl by the time the World Cup swings around. You'll see below that Tahuhu and wife Satterthwaite buck the trend of the production decline of this tier under coach Bob Carter. For Tahuhu this means that she is in her best year of ODI bowling since her debut in 2011 and that has unfortunately come with the Ferns losing nine of 11 ODI games this year.

While we all hope for the best Devine and Kerr, this is a wrinkle of uncertainty moving into the World Cup. Tahuhu isn't bowling yet in domestic cricket. Hardly the ideal preparation for a home World Cup and all the more reason to stay tuned into wahine domestic cricket. Meanwhile Bates is stacking up games for Otago and the lovely thing here is that Bates, Satterthwaite, Tahuhu and Kerr can all flex their leadership as well as dealing with the pressure of being relied upon. Domestic teams rely on these players just as much as the White Ferns do.

Domestic Summer So Far

Suzie Bates

HBJ Shield: 4inns, 80 runs @ 20avg/75.47sr, 1 x 50.

Super Smash: 1st - 3inns, 156 runs @ 78avg/126.82sr, 2 x 50.

Amy Satterthwaite

HBJ Shield: 1st - 4inns, 242 runs @ 60.50avg/92.72sr, 2 x 50 | 34ov, 8w @ 18.25avg/4.29rpo.

Super Smash: 2inns, 24 runs @ 12avg/88.88sr | 7ov, 2w @ 23.50avg/6.71rpo.

Lea Tahuhu

HBJ Shield: 2inns, 46 runs @ 23avg/124.32sr.

Super Smash: 2inns, 39 runs @ 39avg/216.66sr

Amelia Kerr

HBJ Shield: 2nd - 20ov, 10w @ 7.60avg/3.80rpo | 2inns, 56 runs @ 28avg/72.72sr.

Super Smash: 1st - 8ov, 5w @ 4.60avg/2.87rpo | 2nd - 2inns, 133 runs @ 66.50avg/127.88sr.

Kerr has been fantastic to start the summer and when watching Kerr lead Wellington against who ever, Kerr has an aura of being the best player on the field. This is reflected in her domestic stats so far, while Bates and Satterthwaite are doing the opposite with Satterthwaite shining in HBJ Shield and Bates shining in Super Smash. These stats don't include Bates' 138 from the weekend's HBJ Shield game vs Northern Brave that was washed out; Bates would be one of four players (Satterthwaite, Kate Ebrahim, Katey Martin) with 200+ HBJ Shield runs otherwise.

With that knock of 138, Bates had a streak of four consecutive 50+ scores.

Tahuhu is working on her lower order slugging for Canterbury while not bowling.

White Ferns Context (2021)

Suzie Bates

ODI Batting: 5inns, 57 runs @ 11.40avg/54.28sr.

T20I Batting: 3inns, 43 runs @ 14.33avg/84.31sr.

Amy Satterthwaite

ODI Batting: 11inns, 366 runs @ 40.66avg/71.06sr, 1 x 100, 2 x 50.

T20I Batting: 8inns, 189 runs @ 23.62avg/113.85sr.

Lea Tahuhu

ODI Bowling: 7inns, 12w @ 23.75avg/5.18rpo.

Amelia Kerr

ODI Batting: 6inns, 171 runs @ 34.20avg/68.95sr, 1 x 50.

ODI Bowling: 6inns, 6w @ 40.83avg/5.21rpo.

T20I Batting: 5inns, 113 runs @ 22.60avg/94.16sr.

T20I Bowling: 5inns, 2w @ 67.50avg/7.10rpo.

Sophie Devine

ODI Batting: 8inns, 146 runs @ 18.25avg/64.60sr.

ODI Bowling: 7inns, 9w @ 33avg/5.21rpo

T20I Batting: 7inns, 114 runs @ 16.28avg/94.21sr.

T20I Bowling: 7inns, 158 runs @ 26.33avg/7.18rrpo.

Wider White Ferns context throws niggle into the mixer. Kerr has a higher bowling average than batting average in both formats and after averaging less than 22 in ODI bowling for each of her first three years, Kerr's bowling averages have steadily been increasing in ODI cricket; 29.87 (2019), 33.85 (2020), 40.83 (2021).

Coach Carter took over in early 2019. This is a regular note in White Ferns yarns and the lack of wins, as well as declining performances of individuals is a staple of Coach Carter's tenure. Bates averaged 40+ with the bat for four consecutive years between 2015-18 and since then Bates has averaged 24.50 (2019), 39 (2020) and 11.40 (2021). Meanwhile Devine's ODI and T20I batting averages have dipped below 20 for the first time since 2008.

Forecasting The White Ferns Weather

ODI Since Jan 1 2019: 23 games, 3 wins, 20 losses.

T20I Since Jan 1 2019: 23 games, 11 wins, 11 losses.

That's the battle facing the White Ferns to win ... let alone perform well at a home World Cup. Satterthwaite, Devine and Bates are the only players to score 300+ runs since January 1st, 2019 while Kerr, Devine, Leigh Kasperek and Tahuhu are the only bowlers to take 15+ wickets. This tells the story of where the White Ferns mahi gets done and given how others in Ferns squads have performed, World Cup fortunes may be as simple as how well these best players perform.

This vibe will be far more enjoyable if this White Ferns top-tier are utterly dominant in domestic cricket over December and January. Carrying such form into a home World Cup will be crucial, although even if that happens there is a whole lot of recent history/trends that suggest this World Cup could be rather tricky. That's been the White Ferns issue during their ODI slump and improved performances from the top-tier could hep invigorate the supporting cast.

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Peace and love.