Aotearoa's White Ferns displayed improvements across their ODI series in England, although a 1-2 T20I series finish and losing 1-4 in the ODIs continue to tell the story of an under-performing group. Remember that we are in a heavy ODI cycle as there is a World Cup quickly emerging on the horizon which will be held in Aotearoa and the White Ferns are 2-9 this year heading into that home World Cup.

The improvements are mainly in bowling potency. Aotearoa bowled England out in each of the first three games and while that may not strike you as a notable highlight, the kiwis averaged 5 wickets per game when hosting England earlier this year and that was bumped up to 8.6 wickets per game for this ODI series. Dismissing England put Aotearoa in a solid position as they won the third game to sit 1-2 heading into the final two games and that's where regular transmission resumed; England hit 245/7 in a successful chase before jacking up 347/5 and rolling Aotearoa for 144.

Aotearoa had a sniff of being competitive and couldn't quite carry that into the crucial games. While there were wicket-taking improvements, Aotearoa's average score against England was 197.6 back earlier this year and dropped down 189.8 runs for this series. This is a White Ferns team that usually scores below 200 and won't bowl their opponent out. Not a recipe for successful ODI cricket.

The best bowlers for Aotearoa...

Hannah Rowe: 38ov, 10w @ 20avg/5.26rpo.

Lea Tahuhu: 39ov, 9w @ 20avg/4.61rpo.

Sophie Devine: 44ov, 7w @ 34.42avg/5.47rpo.

Typically solid production from Tahuhu and Devine, with the big leaper being Rowe. Sliding back to the series vs England in Aotearoa, Rowe took no wickets in 16 overs @ 4.50rpo while Jess Kerr finished as the third best bowler from either team. In this series Rowe finished as the second best bowler and Kerr was less productive as she took 3w @ 40avg/4.21rpo. Aotearoa need both firing in support of Tahuhu and while the rise of Rowe is lovely, Kerr's dip counters that.

There is a nugget in Tahuhu's return to consistent cricket as wife Amy Sattertwhaite was Aotearoa's best batter, finishing third for runs with 173 runs @ 43.25avg/67.31sr. Playing a combined five games last year, Tahuhu and Sattertwhaite are in glorious form as an all-round mum duo as Tahuhu is averaging 23.75 with the ball this year and Satterthwaite averaging 40.66 with the bat.

Suzie Bates is searching for form in her return from injury and Sophie Devine is averaging 18.25 with no 50+ score in her eight games this year, so the supporting cast at least did something in this series. Maddy Green hit a 70* and Katey Martin had a knock of 65* to chime in with much needed runs, although there wasn't much substance behind these knocks.

Apart from her nice knock, Green didn't pass 25 in this series and this was her first 50+ score since 2018. Same with Martin as her 65* came with four scores below 10 and this was her first 50+ score since 2017. There will need to be swift and hefty improvements for these two to play greater supporting roles for the World Cup.

Brooke Halliday is a bit more intriguing as she at least has consistency - not consistently struggling for runs. Halliday started with a duck before four consecutive knocks between 25-30 and in her 11 ODI games, that duck is her only score below 10. If young players like Halliday can step up their consistency, then there could be some awkward selection decisions to make moving forward.

That's just Halliday though and not a trend as Lauren Down and Hayley Jensen fell into the White Ferns norm. Down opened in all five games to score 72 runs @ 14.40avg and that's smack-bang in tune with her career ODI average of 14.05, while Jensen is in a strange predicament as she was promoted to open the batting in Bates' absence last summer and couldn't do anything of note in her best role as a genuine all-rounder in England. Jensen scored 21 runs @ 7avg/77.77sr and took 2w @ 67avg/4.54rpo.

The improvements feel somewhat legit. At the same time they do have a veil of illusion type of vibe as we are dealing with the same problems that have plagued this group since coach Bob Carter took over. Lots of losses, best players falling away from their world-class best and minimal support from the rest of the squad. Haere mai to White Ferns cricket in 2021.

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