White Ferns vs England: Sneaky Player Stats & Trends
New Zealand's White Ferns start their series against England on Tuesday with the first of five T20Is which will be followed by three ODIs. This is a fabulous gauge of where White Ferns and the wahine cricketing pipeline sits early in 2024 with an 'A' series being played at the same time between these two nations. To set up this White Ferns vs England extravaganza a wee bit more, here are some key trends for kiwi players to learn about.
Maddy Green is one of the best batters in Aotearoa with a career record of 26.11avg/71sr in ODIs and 17.1avg/101sr in T20Is. Those stats are aligned with the generally underwhelming stats of White Ferns cricketers but Green has found a groove in recent years and enters this series after a dominant summer with Auckland.
2023 was the second year in a row in which Green averaged 30+ across both formats. For context, Green had only averaged 30+ in one other year of ODI batting (2018) and she didn't average 16+ in any years of T20I batting prior to 2022. Green's 2023 averages are the highest yearly averages of her career in both formats and she now has two years of solid mahi in both formats.
Green was one of four White Ferns batters to score 200+ runs in ODIs last year, as well as being one of four batters who scored 150+ T20I runs. No surprises in who the other three wahine are as Green joined Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates in a core batting unit. Last year, Green had the second highest ODI average of this quartet and while she had the third highest average in T20Is, Green had the highest strike-rate.
As skipper, Green was Auckland's leading run-scorer in HBJ Shield and Super Smash. She was the only Auckland batter to score 200+ runs in Super Smash as well as being the only Auckland batter to register three 50+ scores in HBJ Shield.
HBJ Shield: 274 runs @ 68.5avg/83sr
Super Smash: 283 runs @ 47.avg/111sr
2023 ODIs: 243 runs @ 48.6avg/84sr
2023 T20Is: 185 runs @ 30.8avg/118sr
Spin bowling is a strength of women's cricket in Aotearoa and the youngsters are going to be key figures against England. Eden Carson is only in the T20 squad even though her HBJ Shield mahi was excellent this season, with her and Fran Jonas showcasing their quality in both domestic competitions.
Carson was the second best T20I bowler for Aotearoa last year, snaring the same number of wickets as A-Kerr but with a slightly lower average. Carson's ODI performances weren't quite as slick and this is why she won't play ODIs vs England, although Carson has a better career record in a smaller sample size than Jonas.
Eden Carson: 39.8avg/4.9rpo (ODIs) | 15.3avg/5.8rpo (T20Is)
Fran Jonas: 41.5avg/4.5rpo (ODIs) | 23.9avg/5.1rpo (T20Is)
Both series against England will help sort through the spin equation even though White Ferns can have both Jonas and Carson in the 1st 11 with so much all-round talent. Most importantly these two were dominant in domestic cricket this summer and while the Leigh Kasperek sporadic-selection situation is niggly, Jonas and Carson are deserving of their spots.
Fran Jonas
HBJ Shield: 9w @ 23.2avg/3.6rpo
Super Smash: 9w @ 17.7avg/5.9rpo
2023 ODIs: 6w @ 37.6avg/4.5rpo
2023 T20Is: 3w @ 69.3avg/6.7rpo
Eden Carson
HBJ Shield: 15w @ 18.2avg/3.7rpo
Super Smash: 9w @ 21.7avg/5.7rpo
2023 ODIs: 3w @ 69.3avg/5.2rpo
2023 T20Is: 12w @ 18.6avg/6.2rpo
Rosemary Mair and Brooke Halliday grabbed the headlines for this squad announcement as players returning to the White Ferns mix. Halliday played 12 games for White Ferns last year so her return is less dramatic and she had one score over 50 in her eight innings across both formats in 2023.
With a T20I career record of 10.2avg/89sr and a ho-hum Super Smash campaign, Halliday probably won't be a consistent 1st 11 player in the T20 series vs England. Halliday had a century in HBJ Shield this summer and it will be interesting to see if that century propels Halliday towards ODI runs. HBJ Shield centuries for Jess McFadyen, Georgia Plimmer and Saffron Wilson didn't lead to a selection boost (maybe it hindered McFadyen's selection case?) so how Halliday performs will be a fascinating wrinkle for White Ferns.
Brooke Halliday
HBJ Shield: 141 runs @ 70.5avg/85sr
Super Smash: 48 runs @ 16avg/75sr
2023 ODIs: 117 runs @ 39avg/75sr
2023 T20Is: 10 runs @ 3.3avg/6sr
Mair was one of, if not the best seamer in domestic cricket this summer and she scored runs in both formats. The fact that Mair is returning to the White Ferns T20 team doesn't make much sense as she has an excellent T20I career record and was overlooked in the 'potential over performance' White Ferns storyline. Mair last played a T20I in August 2022 and her home record of 23.6avg/6.6rpo should have seen her grab opportunities in this format over the past year (why wasn't Mair playing in the T20I series loss vs Pakistan earlier in the summer?).
This summer is Mair's second averaging below 20 in one-day cricket. Her best season was 2018-19 in which she averaged 15.2 and her White Ferns averages are reflected in the tier below, averaging 30.7 in List-A and 21.9avg in T20. How Mair performs in her ODI opportunities will be crucial in forecasting her role in the White Ferns this year, but with five T20Is and a T20 World Cup on the radar, Mair can make the most waves in the shorter format.
Rosemary Mair
HBJ Shield: 122 runs @ 40.6avg/79sr | 8w @ 19.1avg/3.8rpo
Super Smash: 65 runs @ 21.6avg/103sr | 14w @ 15.4avg/5.8rpo
Career ODIs: 71.2avg/5.1rpo
Career T20Is: 23.8avg/6.6rpo
White Ferns have two wicket-keeping options in Bernadine Bezuidenhout and Izzy Gaze. Bezuidenhout seems like the best option while Gaze was listed as the wicket-keeper in both warm up games vs England A. Batting in the middle order, Gaze had scores of 17* @ 94sr and 26* @ 144sr which may signal that Gaze is finding form ahead of a massive phase of White Ferns cricket.
Gaze didn't through up those signals this summer in the domestic competitions though. T20 cricket seems like Gaze's best format and she offered 30 runs in seven Super Smash games with a strike-rate of 47. This improved in HBJ Shield but Gaze doesn't have a 50+ score in domestic cricket and this is reflected in her averages of 14.4 (LA) and 9.1 (T20s)
Not selecting McFadyen won't be an issue if Bezuidenhout and Gaze are scoring runs for Aotearoa. Bezuidenhout appears to be earning selection as a power hitter at the top of the order now, which narrows the focus on Gaze. White Ferns have funky hitters in Jess Kerr, Lea Tahuhu and Hannah Rowe who all have more confidence as international batters than Gaze, which clutters the middle-lower order.
The case for Gaze right now features runs against England A. Those games had a distinct warm-uppy vibe though and there is a hefty sample size brewing of Gaze not scoring runs. Intrigue starts with whether Bezuidenhout is the wicket-keeper, or if Bezuidenhout and Gaze are selected in the same team. From there, it's all about Gaze chiming in with quick runs and crisp wicket-keeping mahi.
Izzy Gaze
HBJ Shield: 168 runs @ 24avg/68sr
Super Smash: 30 runs @ 4.2avg/47sr
2023 ODIs: 42 runs @ 14avg/65sr
2023 T20Is: 16 runs @ 8avg/72sr
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