Regular Programming Resumes For New Zealand's White Ferns After 2024 Rose Bowl
Outside of their T20 World Cup success, New Zealand's White Ferns went 3-21 this year across both formats and the Rose Bowl series loss offered a familiar feeling for kiwi cricket fans. White Fern lost both ODIs played vs Australia which takes them to a 2-9 record this year, which is aligned with their 1-12 record in T20Is leading into the T20 World Cup.
The T20 World Cup was amazing. It also seems to be a detour from the White Ferns status-quo and while it's easy to get whipped up in the local commentary's optimism about White Ferns during the losses vs Australia, the recipe of being in the contest without troubling the opposition was once again on display.
Regular viewers have seen White Ferns work themselves into competitive zones against better teams and the list of 'better teams' continues to grow considering White Ferns are sixth in the Women's Championship, clinging to automatic World Cup qualification. White Ferns again took just enough wickets to keep a lid on Australia's batters and they were able to build just enough batting partnerships to keep up with the run-chase, although White Ferns are usually the team who slip up with errors to give up advantageous positions.
This is not new and has added to the negative vibe that permeates through the telly when watching Aotearoa play. White Ferns took wickets throughout both Australian innings, almost taking at least one wicket every 10 overs to keep Australia below 300 runs. Australia cruised to 291/7 and 290 though, while Molly Penfold's 4w @ 4.2rpo in the first ODI made her the only kiwi bowler of the seven used to concede less than 5rpo and no White Ferns bowler went for less than 5rpo in the second game.
Not only did Australia score 290-ish in both games, Amelia Kerr was run-out in both games. Kerr was on 38 runs off 55 balls in the second ODI and 22 runs off 32 balls in the third ODI, which is the ideal scenario for White Ferns trying to chase down big targets. Kerr is the best batter in the team, was set at the crease and was at the non-strikers end for both run-outs.
Lots of little mishaps tell the White Ferns story when they lose. Sloppy fielding/wicket-keeping, dropped catches, dots stacking up to amplify pressure and batting collapses like what happened in the third ODI are a few of the basics that always hold White Ferns back. Nothing tells they White Ferns story like the best batter being run-out just as they are finding a groove and without Kerr scoring big runs, White Ferns do not have the class to chase hefty totals.
White Ferns were once again plagued by selections. Two of Aotearoa's leading wicket-takers in ODIs this year did not play against Australia. Hannah Rowe wasn't selected in the squad, despite taking twice as many wickets as Molly Penfold and Rosemary Mair prior to the Rose Bowl. J-Kerr was in the squad but didn't play, despite being the best seamer in ODIs this year for New Zealand and along with A-Kerr, they are the only bowlers with 10+ wickets this year.
J-Kerr's 12w @ 24.58avg/5rpo means she is the only bowler averaging below 25 in the group of seven who have 5 wickets. J-Kerr is also one of the most powerful batters in Aotearoa and along with Lea Tahuhu (who is out injured), they are the only kiwis who have scored 10+ runs with batting strike-rates over 100 this year.
Let's chill on the 100sr mark and lower the bar to 80sr. There are only four batters with strike-rates over 80 this year in ODIs with Sophie Devine's 90.4sr and Bella James' 82.2 joining the 100sr wahine. Leaving J-Kerr out was baffling purely based on her bowling ability and this was compounded by Lauren Down being selected to bat down the order, a role she only does in the toughest arena.
Down had scores of 0, 14, 26, 3 and 1 heading into this series. Most notably, Down has an ODI strike-rate of 62 and a T20I strike-rate of 86 which does not suggest she is a capable striker down the order. Leaving the Rose Bowl, Down has 44 runs @ 7.3avg/43sr in ODIs this year and unless she is batting in the top order, Down has done little to suggest that she is an automatic White Ferns 1st 11 player; Down averages less than 17 in both formats for New Zealand.
With Down struggling in a strange role and Izzy Gaze not doing much, the crucial role-playing zone of the middle/lower order is a weakness. Gaze has one knock over 30 runs in her 16 ODI innings and her 2024 mahi (14avg/63sr) is aligned with her ODI career (12avg/61sr). That batting mahi is alright if balanced with excellent wicket-keeping and as we end 2024, Gaze is yet to make a compelling case as New Zealand's best wicket-keeper.
No White Fern averaged 40+ in ODIs this year, Devine is the only batter averaging 35+. No bowler averaged less than 20 with the ball and while there were five of 17 batters with strike-rates over 80, White Ferns had one out of 11 bowlers who conceded less than 5rpo this year in Fran Jonas (3w @ 76avg/4.7rpo).
The best thing for women's cricket in Aotearoa right now is the rise of Bella James who had scores of 27 runs @ 82sr and 24 runs @ 83sr. James was the only White Fern to hit a six in this series and she was the only White Fern who looked confident, able to counter the Aussies with crisp attacking strokes.
James finished the Rose Bowl with a strike-rate of 82.2 and her seven boundaries was second behind A-Kerr's nine boundaries. Her two knocks against Australia and her fabulous start to HBJ Shield this summer, makes James one of the best batters in New Zealand right now and she had an immediate impact stepping in for Georgia Plimmer at the top of the order.
Super Smash now takes over and this is a lovely opportunity to see all wahine cricketers showcase their talents, with lots of White Ferns likely to be involved. Perhaps the selection of James suggests that performances in domestic cricket actually matter, but there are still White Ferns pockets were potential is preferred over performance. Another interesting wrinkle here is how the last two batters promoted from domestic cricket in Kate Anderson and Mikaela Greig got worse after being in the White Ferns, meaning James has to shake that curse in the Super Smash.
White Ferns are not in the upper echelon of women's ODI cricket. That's evident in them being behind Australia, England, India, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the women's championship. There is a small chance they are overtaken by Bangladesh in the coming months as the Women's Championship winds down.
White Ferns are T20 World Cup champions. Whether it's the T20I series loss vs Pakistan in New Zealand last summer before White Ferns went 1-12 in T20Is this year before the T20 World Cup, or the diminishing number of kiwis involved in WBBL/WPL, it's pretty clear that the T20 World Cup win is not the status-quo for White Ferns.
In a year that Aoteaora won the T20 World Cup, the other results were so mediocre that they take some of the shine off that glorious moment. There is a nice flow of domestic cricket to shuffle through the best teams and players, learning more about the exciting talent that New Zealand is producing as shown with the rise of James. As has been the case though, White Ferns tend not to care about domestic cricket so we can't be certain that Super Smash mahi will matter.
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