White Ferns in England: They Bowled England Out Twice!

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Same old, same old for Aotearoa’s White Ferns after losses in the first two ODIs vs England. There is a positive twist here as the kiwis managed to bowl England out in both games for 241 and 197 before struggling to gather enough runs and getting bowled out by England twice. Welcome to the White Ferns world where we're stretching to reach such positive nuggets.

The White Ferns are now 1-7 for 2021 ODIs. Slide back to the start of 2020 and the Ferns are 1-13, which then becomes 2-18 in ODIs since the start of 2019. The last ODI series win for Aotearoa was back in 2018 vs Ireland and since then, the Ferns have suffered 0-3 sweeps in four series while losing the other three series 1-2.

Any way, those are the facts and here are some notes on what's happening in England...

So the kiwis bowled England out twice and that's good. This is largely because Leigh Kasperek is really good and after finishing the T20I series vs England as the leading wicket-taker for either team (6w @ 16.50avg/8.25rpo), Kasperek has been the most efficient kiwi bowler in these two ODIs with 4w @ 19.75avg/4.51rpo.

Sophie Devine and Hannah Rowe also have 4w. Devine has averaged 30+ with the ball in ODIs for five consecutive years prior to 2021 (23.66avg this year) and Rowe didn't take any wickets in four games across 2019-20. Rowe has 4w in two games of this series, taking her record this year to 7inns, 5w @ 41.80avg/5.09rpo.

That means that Rowe had 1w in 5inns prior to the England series and despite her good start to this series, Rowe is still averaging 41.80. Devine and Rowe share an under-performing vibe in their ODI bowling but have started this series well which is encouraging, while Kasperek hasn't really budged from her standing as one of the best spinners in the world regardless of White Ferns woes.

The other positive to reach towards is Amy Satterthwaite's batting. Satterthwaite leads White Ferns batswomen with 80 runs @ 78.43sr and in typical White Ferns fashion, Satterthwaite is only joined by Devine as batswomen who have scored 30+ runs so far (England have five with 30+ runs). Satterthwaite is an interesting Ferns batswoman to track as she is the only notable kiwi who has sustained something close to her world-class form.

Since Bob Carter took over as coach, there has been some variation of 'massive drop off in form' for the senior White Ferns. That's why we have this losing record and the lack of development with youngsters and role-players in the coach Carter era has come alongside the best players falling away from their world-class production.

Satterthwaite averaged 69.20 in 2018, 37 in 2020 and is averaging 45.50 this year. Satterthwaite scored 119* vs England earlier this year and started this series with a knock of 79*. Satterthwaite is holding on to solid production and doing her best to drag the Ferns forward with her, however this positive note highlights a negative note that has plagued White Ferns cricket since their woes started.

Satterthwaite and Devine are the only kiwis with 30+ runs after two games, while Suzie Bates hasn't quite found form in returning to the team. We know these three can't be pressured to do all the White Ferns run-scoring and they need support, which has to come from Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Lauren Down and Katey Martin who have all played the first two games.

Green has scores of 19 and 9.

Green has 34inns of ODI cricket since 2014 and her only two 50+ scores both came vs Ireland.

Halliday has scores of 0 and 29.

Halliday started ODI cricket on fire with scores of 50 and 60 vs England, before a high score of 32 in her next 5inns of ODI cricket. In this tour of England, Halliday has batted in 6inns with five scores below 10.

Down has scores of 5 and 22.

Down is getting a crack at opener and impressed with a knock of 90 vs Australia earlier this year in the opening role. Down has played 16 games since 2018 with two scores over 20; that 90 and the 22 most recently.

Martin has scores of 9 and 6.

Martin last scored 50+ in March 2017. Martin has averaged below 20 for four consecutive years, averaging 10.28 in 7inns this year. Martin averages 14.35 in 22 games since the start of 2018.

White Ferns fortunes should not depend on three batswomen. This group has added a positive wrinkle of bowling England out twice and they have done so thanks to Kasperek, Devine, Rowe, Lea Tahuhu and Jess Kerr each taking 3+ wickets so far. That's five bowlers with 3+ wickets and that's a team effort, where everyone chip in to share the mahi load.

Someone else has to score runs for the White Ferns apart from Bates, Satterthwaite and Devine. No matter how much these three want to score the runs and lead their team, that's not sustainable nor is it a recipe for success. I'm curious to see if anyone else wants to step up and score runs, big runs. Nothing about this White Ferns set up suggests that will happen, but we hold out hope.

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