Two Super Smash Women's games went down prior to Christmas Day with Canterbury defeating Northern and then Wellington defended home turf against Auckland. Wellington are now top of the ladder and 4-0 along with Otago Sparks, while Canterbury are fourth but have a big gap between them and Northern. Canterbury are 2-2 while Northern and Central are 0-5 and 0-4 respectfully.

Canterbury were led vs Northern by Frances Mackcay who continues to put up a compelling case for White Ferns 1st 11 selection along with Kate Ebrahim (Otago). Mackay has the most run and wickets for Canterbury while also being third in runs and second in wickets overall…

153 runs @ 76.50avg/95sr | 7w @ 12.28avg/5.37rpo.

Amy Satterthwaite also put up her first decent score of the Super Smash with 37 (116sr) while Lea Tahuhu continues to chill as Aotearoa's best wahine slugger with Sophie Devine out of action. Tahuhu hit 22 runs @ 244sr vs Canterbury and now has an overall strike-rate of 181, while not other player has a strike-rate over 140.

Northern are struggling and this is most evident in their reliance on Brooke Halliday, Nensi Patel and Kate Anderson. All are good young players but when relying on young players to do the bulk of the mahi without much experience around them, winning is a stretch. Anderson is fourth overall in runs (127 runs @ 101sr) and Patel has 64 runs @ 87sr along with being third in wickets with 7w @ 5.50rpo/17.1sr.

Anderson and Patel definitely are good young players who will be part of a young White Ferns wave building in the coming years. Halliday is the skipper for Northern and has already been graced with consistent White Ferns selection after a nice start against England earlier this year. Unfortunately for Northern and Halliday, her T20 mahi simply isn't that good.

2021 Super Smash: 3inns, 27 runs @ 9avg/77sr.

T20I Career: 8inns, 66 runs @ 13.20avg/94sr.

T20 Career: 48inns, 545 runs @ 14.72avg/85sr.

Wellington skipper Maddy Green is in a similar hole to Halliday and both are competing for White Ferns middle order/supporting cast spots.

2021 Super Smash: 4inns, 16 runs @ 7avg/116sr.

T20I Career: 48inns, 495 runs @ 12.37avg/90sr.

T20 Career: 157inns, 2,410 runs @ 18.25avg.

Wellington still have Amelia Kerr and Leigh Kasperek dominating with bat and ball. Kerr leads all batters with runs (225 runs @ 120sr) and Kasperek leads all bowlers (8w @ 5rpo), cruising along in the top-10 for runs and wickets. This is precisely what the White Ferns need to be doing in the Super Smash and along with Mackay's all-round excellence, this is a fabulous sign.

17-year-old Georgia Plimmer is low key mandatory viewing for Wellington. I yarned about Tim Robinson looking slick for Wellington men and him joining a stable of other young talent, which also applies to Plimmer. Hitting 23 (96sr) vs Auckland, Plimmer showcased her panache through the off-side with footwork and drives that we rarely see from such a young player.

Don't expect big runs from Plimmer as she's in a nice pinch-hitting role where she has freedom to play strokes without pressure. The strokes Plimmer plays are lovely though and I reckon she is the best young batter in Aotearoa.

Jess Kerr hit 11* (157sr) and took 4w @ 3.25rpo for Wellington. I'm curious about the White Ferns seam slots alongside Tahuhu and J-Kerr is commanding selection with her seam skill, plus lower order hitting. Jess Kerr now has 6w @ 3.75rpo and that's a smidge better that Amelia's 5w @ 4rpo, while J-Kerr is also the best seamer in the Super Smash - Kate Ebrahim's got 6w @ 5.84rpo and they are the only seamers with 6+ wickets.

Holly Huddleston could be a factor in this mix and I view her skillset, plus experience as favourable. Huddleston's got two ducks after a nice knock of 54 and 4w from three games, so she will need to ramp up her mahi to make a move in the White Ferns seam mix. Hayley Jensen is in Australia at the moment and she will be a factor here as the White Ferns build out their ODI World Cups seam attack.

Keep in mind that a few young seamers are in a similar hole to Halliday and Green. Auckland's Molly Penfold isn't one of them and sits in an intriguing spot as her potential is blatant, yet there isn't the consistent dominance to command selection ahead of others. Penfold has 2w @ 4.55rpo in 9 overs and her bowling tempo, plus movement in the field and rocket-arm are clear indicators of nek level athletic ability.

The best thing about Super Smash and HBJ Shield is seeing how these players produce over a season, or how they perform in the domestic realm around their White Ferns promotions etc. While Penfold is obviously talented, she has just started playing domestic cricket and 6w in her last 10 games isn't setting the bar for higher honours very high. Penfold will be a hefty factor in the young wave of White Ferns cricketers post-World Cup though.

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Peace and love.