Assessing The State Of Women's Cricket In Aotearoa Ahead Of The White Ferns vs England Extravaganza
The next month will be an intriguing phase for White Ferns as Aotearoa's wahine play lots of cricket against a touring England crew. This weekend White Ferns play against England A in T20s which will be followed by three T20s and ODIs between the two ‘A’ teams, before White Ferns vs England in five T20s and three ODIs.
A T20 World Cup is looming on the horizon (September in Bangladesh) and the Women's Championship offers ODI context. Under coach Ben Sawyer, White Ferns are better at T20 cricket with a 7-5 record in ODIs improving to 15-9 in T20Is. White Ferns performances over the past year only clutter the vista though as ODI series defeats in Sri Lanka and South Africa were followed by a pesky T20 series loss to Pakistan earlier in the summer.
All the nitty gritty of these series has been covered in typical Niche Cache detail. White Ferns did snare a T20 series win in Sri Lanka and bounced back in ODIs vs Pakistan. Even the ODI series loss in Sri Lanka can be twisted like a spliff for a positive outlook as Aotearoa doesn't have much experience touring nations like Sri Lanka. This is why the T20 series loss to Pakistan was such a bummer as WF offered little resistance against a team they usually defeat, in home conditions.
Since the start of 2015, WF are 3-11 against England in T20s and 5-13 in ODIs. WF stink against England in both formats and Aotearoa is no fortress for WF. Since the start of 2019, WF have ODI series losses in Aotearoa to India, South Africa, England, Australia and three consecutive loss at the ODI World Cup. Aside from the painful World Cup experience, an 0-3 series sweep against South Africa is the niggliest ODI series performance in Aotearoa during this phase.
England won all three T20s when they toured Aotearoa in 2021 and Pakistan wrapped up a T20 series win late last year in the first two games. Just because WF are playing in Aotearoa does not mean they have an advantage. This is especially funky considering that nations on a similar tier to Aotearoa in wahine cricket like South Africa and Pakistan have both had series wins here - it's not just the three nations who rule over the cricketing world. New Zealand are underdogs in home conditions.
Aside from winning games and getting the WF waka moving in positive motion, there is funky context floating around both formats for this tour. WF are building towards the T20 World Cup and they are currently fourth in the Women's Championship for ODI cricket. England are one spot and one point behind WF on the ladder so the ODI series will sort out those rankings. India is also even with England on points below WF so the kiwis can move a few spots up or down the Women's Championship ladder in this series.
All of that is enough to make this a fascinating month for WF. The 'A' portion of this tour adds to the intrigue and takes this from WF intrigue to a deeper dive into the state of women's cricket in Aotearoa. Across all squads named for the tour by England, there is still a whiff of WF not selecting the best female cricketers in New Zealand. It's evident in the WF squad and how some players who dominate domestic cricket consistently are not selected in the NZ-A squads.
Despite selecting roughly 30 players across WF and NZ-A squads, some of the best players in Aotearoa are still missing. This selection policy of overlooking the best performers has hindered WF under coaches Carter and Sawyer, becoming a major issue because of the underwhelming nature of WF performances. None of this matters if WF are on the rise and consistently in the mix with the best teams as they were prior to 2019. Instead, it's an issue that headlines WF angst.
Even though this thread is on display in White Ferns and NZ-A squads, or the players not in those squads, now is the time for an open mind. We can't moan about players not selected if the Aotearoa teams perform well over the next month and various players snap up their opportunities. There are so many opportunities on offer in this tour that there is enough game time to genuinely assess talent, whether it's youngsters on the rise or mature cricketers who can add to WF right now.
Crossover with Women's Premier League only adds to the intrigue. WF need their best players to compete with England so any 1st 11 players missing will lower the chances of wins. This will present opportunities though and how WF perform without some of their best players will add a layer of learning, after a period of learning in the NZ-A stanza.
At this point you may have noticed that no WF player has been mentioned in this yarn. No details about who was selected where and how different players have been performing. While the Niche Cache has lots of women's cricket information from domestic cricket to WF, none of it feels important at this stage.
In trying to maintain an open mind about WF cricket, this tour by England is best viewed as a blank canvas. The hefty menu of women's cricket over the next month provides a platform for players to demand future selection and selections to be exposed. Questions about coach Sawyer's tenure and who the best players in Aotearoa are will be answered. Player depth will be sorted through and we will learn about how effective the WF development system is.
Conveniently, this WF/NZ-A extravaganza comes at the end of the domestic cricket season. A clear line between domestic cricket and the WF system has emerged in recent years, starting with WF selections generally ignoring performances in HBJ Shield and Super Smash. This has grown into winning HBJ Shield/Super Smash players ignored for selection in the wider WF mixer. There is also curiosity at how players who enter the WF mix (training camps) don't go on to dominate domestic cricket as one would assume they should.
At the end of the 2023/24 summer, it feels like the domestic teams and their development pipelines are thriving. Meanwhile, there is less correlation between domestic performances and WF antics. The domestic cricket product is as enjoyable, visible and entertaining as it has ever been. The next month will inform us more about how this flows up to WF and whether all entities are in alignment, or if the upper tier isn't as effective as everyone tells us it is.
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