Canterbury Owns Aotearoa Cricket: Canterbury Women Debrief
If anyone had any questions or queries about Aotearoa's best cricketing province, then his summer has emphatically delivered answers with Canterbury stacking four trophies into their cabinet prior to the season officially coming to an end. The blokes wrapped up the Plunket Shield championship with two games to spare, after winning the Ford Trophy and the Canterbury women have been equally as dominant as they've snared Super Smash and Hallyburton-Johnstone Shield glory.
Having pondered the recipe for Wellington's Super Smash dynasty - which always starts with ogranisational culture vibes - Canterbury have gone a couple steps further with multi-format dominance. Both Canterbury teams have some of Aotearoa's best cricketers who help lead the way and this was evident recently as Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls and Matt Henry were excellent in the Ford Trophy, plus Canterbury enjoy consistent excellence from Frances Mackay, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu and Kate Ebrahim.
Both teams also have a group of strong domestic performers who sustain those high levels when international players come and go. From the outside looking in, the ease at which international players fit in and the lack of a notable void when they depart points to a hearty culture where internationals enjoy their work with Canterbury and others feel empowered to perform.
Further scene-setting:
This summer Canterbury has played 48 games across the men's and women's competitions, winning 34 of those games and losing 12. Chuck in a no-result and a game abandoned. There are those two Plunket Shield games to come, right now Canterbury have own 75 percent of all their game played this summer.
The women were too good for Auckland in the HBJ Shield final over the weekend, after proving too slick for Wellington in the Super Smash. The HBJ Shield final reflects the reliance on Canterbury's best players as Amy Satterthwaite took 4w @ 3.06rpo with Canterbury bowling first, then Satterthwaite scored 73 along with 94* from Mackay to cruise to victory.
Ebrahim finished 1st in HBJ Shield runs and Mackay finished 2nd. Satterthwaite only played half the games (5) so her run tally is a bit lower, however she still had three 50+ scores in five games to average 52.80 and be ranked 10th for total runs. As excellent as Satterthwaite is and will be, keen observers will note that Ebrahim and Mackay are highly influential to Canterbury's success.
Super Smash Runs
Kate Ebrahim: 5th in runs, 292 runs @ 73avg/101.38sr.
Frances Mackay: 11th, 208 runs @ 23.11avg/102.46sr.
Super Smash Wickets
Kate Ebrahim: 1w @ 73avg/9.13rpo.
Frances Mackay: 1st, 20w @ 9.55avg/4.81rpo.
HBJ Shield Runs
Kate Ebrahim: 1st, 480 runs @ 60avg/69.46sr.
Frances Mackay: 2nd, 455 runs @ 56.87avg/72.68sr.
HBJ Shield Wickets
Kate Ebrahim: 6w @ 25.33avg/4.32rpo.
Frances Mackay: 5th, 14w @ 19.07avg/3.50rpo.
Seeing these two dominate this season, after they've both dominated in the last few seasons for Canterbury has only made the White Ferns woes a bit weirder. Ebrahim and Mackay consistently bat in the top order for Canterbury and do their jobs, then in a struggling WF team they are pigeon-holed into lower order roles ... while a lower order all-rounder in Hayley Jensen opens. One team’s winning, the other isn’t.
Lea Tahuhu was solid when bowling in the Super Smash, taking 8w @ 16.25avg/4.64rpo and Tahuhu barely featured in the HBJ Shield. While Mackay and Satterthwaite are nifty spinners, this means that for Canterbury to win two competitions this summer they needed extra bowling spice to go with their top-tier batswomen.
Leading wicket-taker in the HBJ Shield?
Sarah Asmussen: 19w @ 18.84avg/4.11rpo.
Asmussen is one of many young spinners in the women's circuit and the 20-year-old was also solid in the Super Smash with 5w @ 23.20avg/6.82rpo. In the final stretch of five HBJ Shield games, Asmussen took a wicket in all five games with 2+ wickets three of those games and it was Asmussen who ripped through Auckland's middle order dismissing Holly Huddleston and Anna Peterson.
Canterbury's spinners took 6w in the final (Mackay, Asmussen, Satterthwaite).
Auckland's spinners took 1w in the final (Peterson, Fran Jonas).
Canterbury also enjoyed great service from 22-year-old seamer Gabby Sullivan, who took 14w @ 21.78avg/4.44rpo to be ranked a smidge behind Mackay in the HBJ Shield. Sullivan took 10w in her last five games and dismissed two of Auckland's top-order in Lauren Down and Arlene Kelly, which came after Sullivan chimed in with 9w @ 22avg/5.79rpo in the Super Smash.
Right now, it appears as though Canterbury has two of the best young bowlers in Aotearoa.
There is further funk in the absence of Jacinta Savage, who showcased her talent before suffering an injury during the Super Smash. Savage had taken 5w @ 32.20avg/8.05rpo in the Super Smash, although it was her work early in the HBJ Shield that catches the eye here from her four games as she took 11w @ 9.54avg/3.60rpo and hit a 50+ score.
Savage took 11w in four games and Canterbury won all four games.
Canterbury have a strong core of leaders with their best players, as well as Laura Hughes who is a steady presence at wicket-keeper. Then there is a crop of younger cricketers led by 26-year-old Natalie Cox and 25-year-old Savage where the winning vibes and culture are being established at a deeper level. The team that defeated Auckland in the HBJ Shield final had Cox and Savage, along with Emma Kench (21yrs), Kirsty Nation (25yrs), Melissa Banks (19yrs), Sullivan (22yrs), Jessica Simmons (20yrs) and Asmussen (20yrs).
Cox, Nation, Kench, Banks, Sullivan and Asmussen all played in the Super Smash final as well - defeating a far more fancied Wellington outfit. Savage has been out injured, while Kate Sims (19yrs) has also featured in both competitions this summer.
Every team in domestic cricket skews slightly younger at the moment across either gender as certain cycles take hold. I can't explain White Ferns selections as they aren't making much sense, I would suggest that one digs deeper than seeing which youngsters the White Ferns select and check out which young cricketers in Aotearoa are contributing to winning teams. Canterbury women have created an environment where their best players consistently perform and lead by example, fostering their production line of young talent who are given roles where are part of the success.
Peace and love.