Jess and Amelia Kerr Are Aotearoa Cricket's Best Double-Whammy
Jess and Amelia Kerr won't have any issues getting game time for the White Ferns when the World Cup in Aotearoa rolls around as they have built upon seasons of cricket mahi to form Aotearoa's best double-whammy. The younger sister Amelia has long been a cricketing phenom and has set up shop as one of a few world-class White Ferns, while Jess has quietly gone about her development to demand consistent selection ahead of other kiwi seamers.
While their presence in a possible World Cup 1st 11 isn't dramatic, the Kerr sisters are showcasing extra wrinkles added to their cricketing quivers and the timing is perfect ahead of the World Cup. Based on their domestic mahi this summer, the White Ferns will be graced with the pure all-round talent of Amelia and her competitive vibe where she genuinely looks like the best player on the park in any domestic game. Chuck in the efficient swing bowling from Jess and her growth as a slugger smacking boundaries, for two more White Ferns who can contribute alongside the likes of Suzie Bates, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu, Sophie Devine and Katey Martin.
Here's what they have been up to this summer...
HBJ Shield Bowling
Amelia: 1st - 14w @ 11.14avg/3.90rpo.
Jess: 27th - 2w @ 18.50avg/3.12rpo.
HBJ Shield Batting
Amelia: 7th - 178 runs @ 59.33avg/83.96sr.
Jess: 49th - 20 runs @ 153.84sr.
Super Smash Bowling
Amelia: 8th - 9w @ 14.33avg/4.96rpo.
Jess: 1st - 13w @ 6.46avg/4.66rpo.
Super Smash Batting
Amelia: 2nd - 317 runs @ 45.28avg/116.54sr.
Jess: 27th - 72 runs @ 36avg/138.46sr.
Let's start with what they do best and that's bowling. Amelia is first in one-day wickets while Jess has only played two HBJ Shield games (2w in 11.5ov) and Jess flips this around in the Super Smash, after a 4-wicket-haul at the batting paradise of Pukekura Park yesterday vs Central Districts. Nothing crazy here, just each sister sitting 1st for wickets in Aotearoa's two wahine cricket competitions.
The low key beauty here is their growth and development, which is most evident in their batting. Amelia is averaging 40+ in both competitions and is a classy stroke-player, graced with shots all around the park. Amelia showed promising batting signs early in her career such as averaging 52 across 16 List-A games in 2016/17, but her last two seasons of HBJ Shield and SS have seen Amelia find a nek level with her willow. Keep in mind that Amelia averaged below 30 in five of her first six LA seasons and below 35 in all of her first six SS campaigns...
Super Smash
2020/21: 474 runs @ 39.50avg.
2021/22: 291 runs @ 48.50avg.
HBJ Shield
2020/21: 251 runs @ 41.83avg.
2021/22: 178 runs @ 59.33avg.
Jess's batting is all about strike-rates as she sits lower down the order and well, her strike-rates are only matched by Aotearoa's best wahine slugger Lea Tahuhu. In her lone innings of HBJ Shield, Jess cracked 20 runs @ 153.84sr and while that's a teeny-weeny sample size, it's aligned with 72 runs @ 138.46sr in the SS. Jess is first for HBJ Shield batting strike-rates (min 20 runs) and second behind Tahuhu for SS strike-rates.
Jess has steadily improved in this regard and while there are signs of this in her White Fern mahi where she has 106.45sr in ODI and 92.59sr in T20I, these numbers will likely get a boost after the next cluster of internationals. More importantly, 29 players have batted for the White Ferns in ODI cricket since January 1st 2017 and Jess is the only player with a batting strike-rate over 100.
With the Kerr sisters operating at this level for Wellington, they are the only undefeated Super Smash wahine team (7-0) and despite being 2nd in HBJ Shield they are also the only undefeated team (4-0). Wellington obviously have others chiming in and I've touched on Maddy Green's form, Leigh Kasperek is an all-round monster and Wellington generally have the slickest development system in Aotearoa which has youngsters like Maneka Singh, Xara Jetly and Georgia Plimmer blossoming.
Ponder how the same applies for Wellington blokes and their pipeline of young talent. Wellington have got the best out of Finn Allen since his move down from Auckland and we are now seeing the likes of Ben Sears, Tim Robinson and Troy Johnson settle into domestic cricket. I've yarned plenty about Wellington's player development system and while these things tend to slide under the radar, it's smacking us all in the face with how Jess and Amelia Kerr have found extra wrinkles to their mahi.
For Wellington, Jess and Amelia are international cricketers dominating the lower level. How this looks for Aotearoa will be fascinating as Amelia is a capable top-six batter and world-class leggy, while Jess feels like the perfect joker to team up with Tahuhu as a frontline seamer who whacks runs quicker than 100sr. The White Ferns could roll with Tahuhu and J-Kerr as the frontline seamers with spin from A-Kerr and Kasperek, then extra overs from Devine, Satterthwaite and another bowling option like Hayley Jensen.
The batting power in the Devine/Tahuhu/J-Kerr trio is funky. With A-Kerr batting up the order, the White Ferns can roll out a top-six of A-Kerr, Bates, Satterthwaite, Devine, Martin and Maddy Green. However we want to slice this, the names mentioned here are the core of the White Ferns and while Amelia has slowly grown into this spot, Jess has now doubled-down on her presence as a key White Fern.
All of which serves as another nod to Wellington's player development, as well as a celebration of how the Kerr sisters have embraced their potential as cricketers. With a Women's World Cup in Aotearoa rounding off this summer, the flourishing Kerr sisters have also demanded crucial White Ferns roles and that's a lovely boost for Aotearoa's World Cup campaign.
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