White Ferns Tour of England: The Squad Is...
The strangest yarn in Aotearoa sport that no one really wants to acknowledge has been and still is the White Ferns dip in form from competing among the world's best to struggling for a win. Now we are entering a crucial phase as the Ferns tour of England is followed by a World Cup hosted entirely by Aotearoa and everything is delicately poised. The White Ferns squad to tour England in September doesn't fill one with oodles of confidence, although one could hope that a winter of hearty training in Aotearoa may lead to results.
Amelia Kerr has opted out of the England tour - all good.
Don't get caught up in political ideals when players pull out of games or series for mental health reasons. If the player wants to play, they can. If the player does not want to play, they don't have to. No dramas.
Last summer vs England, Kerr took 1w @ 75avg in three T20Is and 4w @ 28avg in three ODIs. Kerr definitely wasn't near her best and that opens up a massive chance for Leigh Kasperek to settle in as Aotearoa's lead spinner in England.
In come Claudia Green and Jess McFadyen. In these two fresh faces, we gain insights into the strange selections that have been present during the rather mediocre past few years. Nothing about Green's domestic work last summer suggests commanding international selection...
Super Smash: 26ov, 5w @ 30.80avg/5.92rpo.
HBJ Shield: 57ov, 9w @ 20.11avg/3.17rpo.
Those are solid stats, peaking with Green's work in the Hallyburton-Johnstone Shield. Green is one of three Central Districts Hinds seamers selected in this squad, with the Hinds finishing last in the Super Smash and a healthy third in the HBJ Shield. Auckland and Canterbury finished 1st and 2nd in both competitions, yet Lea Tahuhu is the only seamer from either team selected.
Green has been selected for her work against England for an Aotearoa 11 where she took 2w @ 5.16rpo and 5w @ 5.60rpo. This is the exact same recipe that led to Brooke Halliday earning her call up to the White Ferns after she had scores of 26 and 79 in the same games. White Ferns selectors prioritise performances in warm up games, while England used 15 players in the first game and 13 in the second game.
England were clearly in warm up mode via the conditions of the game, let alone the fact that they won the first and lost the second game before winning five of the six international fixtures that followed. After taking her 5 wickets in the second game vs England, Green then took 2w in four games of HBJ Shield.
If the selectors are placing a high value on those warm up performances, where does that leave CD Hinds seamer Hannah Rowe who took 1w in both warm up games before taking 0 wickets in three ODIs (16ov) vs England? No disrespect to Green or Rowe, this is just a case of me trying to understand selections and this comes after moves such as Hayley Jensen opening vs England for 25 runs in three T20I games and 61 runs in three ODIs, or veterans such as Frances Mackay, Kate Ebrahim and Natalie Dodd being quickly cut for any slither of under-performance let alone being selected in obtuse roles.
Jess McFadyen on the other hand has been part of a group of batswomen who have dominated consistently for multiple summers. Here's McFadyen's work in the HBJ Shield over the past three summers...
2018/19: 5inns, 129 runs @ 64.50avg/68.25sr.
2019/20: 9inns, 400 runs @ 66.66avg/72.72sr - 4th.
2020/21: 10inns, 397 runs @ 49.62avg/69.89sr - 3rd.
This puts McFadyen in a group of dominant batswomen alongside Ebrahim, Mackay, Dodd, Katie Perkins, Caitlin Gurrey and Felicity Leydon-Davis. All apart from McFadyen have been in and out of White Ferns teams over the past few years, often put in positions that aren't suited to them at all; Ebrahim batting #8 last summer in T20Is while not playing any ODI cricket despite being the best HBJ Shield batswoman is the most obvious.
McFadyen has been the second best wicket-keeper/batswomen in Aotearoa, yet she didn't receive the fast-track promotion that other young players got. The Blackcaps have had Tom Blundell in the pocket behind BJ Watling for a number of years and that's a seamless transition. Now McFadyen finally gets a crack and for both the possible debutants, previous White Ferns antics from last summer doesn't fill me with confidence that they will be deployed in positions where they are set up to succeed.
Suzie Bates returns and that's fantastic.
Will Bates help the White Ferns rectify their record of 12 games vs England (T20I and ODI combined) since the start of 2018 for one win and 11 losses? That's tricky, especially when the White Ferns are clearly skewing younger and the identity of this group seems a bit muddled; are they building their best possible ODI 1st 11 to win a World Cup in Aotearoa or are they developing a young crop to do something (?) at the World Cup and take Aotearoa wahine cricket forward?
The White Ferns have played 27 ODIs since January 1st 2018 with a 9-18 record. Three wins vs West Indies to start 2018, three wins against Ireland a few months later. Since then, the only White Ferns wins in ODI cricket have come after losing that specific series...
vs England in 2018 after losing first two games by 100+ runs.
vs India in 2019 after losing first two games by 8+ wickets.
vs England in 2021 after losing first two games by 7+ wickets.
27 games played in nine series with the Ferns being swept in four of those series.
Combine the simplicity of results with the complexities of squad selection and team direction for a fascinating period of White Ferns cricket. From the outside looking in, it appears as though they are trying to usher in a young wave at the last minute of a World Cup cycle which doesn't feel like a recipe for success - especially when the team is losing steadily to World Cup contenders. Let's see how this all plays out.
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