Hallyburton Johnstone Shield starts this weekend with the regular flow of back to back games played on Saturday and Sunday. After a disappointing ODI World Cup, there will be many White Ferns who are eager to stack up runs and wickets, as well as a few younger wahine who are in the White Ferns mix but didn't play in the World Cup.

The emerging/younger bracket is large and this should offer plenty of competition for future selection. Some struggled at the World Cup and will be hungry to bounce back, others were part of the squad but couldn't get game time for a losing team, Flora Devonshire made the squad but left the squad due to injury, players like Fran Jonas and Molly Penfold were basically dropped ahead of the tournament, plus there are Izzy Sharp and Emma McLeod who elevated to the White Ferns tier earlier this year.

No one in the list below has dominant List-A career mahi and this sets the scene for the summer of women's cricket in Aotearoa. Many players have had their best seasons most recently and their career mahi reflects their grind through the early years of their careers, but none of the batters for example have LA career averages over 25 or strike-rates over 80.

Georgia Plimmer, Izzy Gaze, Eden Carson and Bree Illing did some stuff at the ODI World Cup so their mahi is listed before thier LA career records. Then then other emerging/young White Ferns have their LA career stats offered...

Georgia Plimmer: 108 runs @ 21.6avg/64sr | 22.2avg/68sr
Izzy Gaze: 129 runs @ 32.2avg/112sr | 20.8avg/77sr
Eden Carson: 2w @ 100avg/5.6rpo | 27.7avg/4.6rpo
Bree Illing: 4w @ 36avg/6.5rpo | 26.8avg/4.9rpo
Polly Inglis: 22.4avg/74sr
Bella James: 21avg/68sr
Flora Devonshire: 18.9avg/79sr | 25.6avg/5.1rpo
Fran Jonas: 31.4avg/4.3rpo
Molly Penfold: 32.5avg/5.4rpo
Izzy Sharp: 19.7avg/70sr
Emma McLeod: 24.2avg/65sr

11 players are listed above so that's enough to make a team. Here's how the team would look: Plimmer, James, McLeod, Sharp, Gaze, Inglis (wk), Devonshire, Carson, Penfold, Illing, Jonas.

Gaze was the funkiest performer for White Ferns at the World Cup as she was the only player who scored 10+ runs with a strike-rate over 100. That forms Gaze's impressive ODI mahi this year of 34.4avg/104sr and she is the only White Fern with 50+ runs who also has a strike-rate over 100.

In the HBJ Shield last summer, Gaze had three 50+ scores and scored 282 runs @ 28.2avg/86sr. Add this all together and Gaze is brewing as the most exciting women's player on the rise in Aotearoa, especially because she has shown development in her scoring rate at the highest level and that should flow down stream to HBJ Shield.

Another funky pocket is Carson's bounce back from a wobbly World Cup campaign. Carson was graced with consistent selection throughout the tournament and she repaid the faith with 2 wickets in 35.4 overs. Last summer though, Carson was tremendous in Otago's HBJ Shield championship with her best batting season (120 runs @ 60avg/107sr) featuring two 50+ scores along with exceptional bowling.

Carson was Otago's leading wicket-taker with 22w @ 17.2avg/3.8rpo. Add in the runs with a championship and Carson was one of the best players in HBJ Shield last season. That didn't lead to ODI success though and Carson is on 6w @ 48.8avg/4.8rpo for White Ferns this year, with clear difference in her ODI bowling (45.7avg/4.9rpo) and her T20I mahi (19.1avg/6.5rpo).

One sneakier player to watch out for is all-rounder Devonshire. The lefty batter and spinner left the World Cup due to injury but was soon playing for Central Districts at the National Women's T20 Tournament late in October. She didn't do much bowling but Devonshire did bat in the top order and captained CD, having scored 266 runs @ 33.2avg/79sr and taken 18w @ 17.5avg/4.4rpo in the HBJ Shield last summer.

Devonshire hasn't actually played an ODI yet so she should be viewed as the best emerging talent yet to represent Aotearoa in ODIs. If Devonshire is not bowling in the opening rounds of HBJ Shield then we won't have the Devonshire vs Jonas battle for the best lefty tweaker salute, but Devonshire's batting ability is intriguing enough.

Otago's championship mahi featured another spinning all-rounder in Anna Browning. Her batting and bowling weren't quite as good as Carson's but Browning showcased her ability as a righty batter and off-spinner, with the same easy-maih quality as the other youngsters like Devonshire and McLeod.

Browning is part of the 'one funky player for each team' group. The 22-year-old should make improvements in her batting and there were positive signs in how she parlayed her 77 runs @ 19.2avg/71sr from the HBJ Shield season into the North vs South series. Browning scored 94 runs @ 31.3avg/78sr for Team South and also took 5w @ 24avg/4.8rpo in the three one-dayers, finishing fourth for runs and tied for the most wickets in Team South.

This led to selection for NZ-A where Browning only played one game of their England tour. This will be her fifth season of HBJ Shield and Browning deserves to be in the same tier of emerging talent as Devonshire, Illing, McLeod and Sharp even though she is yet to represent Aotearoa.

The sneakiest emerging talent in Aotearoa is Wellington's Hannah Francis. The 19-year-old has already played in three HBJ Shield seasons and last summer she was one of Wellington's best players, perhaps their best player depending on how you want to slice up Francis' and Jess Kerr's mahi. Francis led Wellington for runs (329 runs @ 32.9avg/61sr) with a century and two 50+ scores in her 10 innings, while also taking 12w @ 19.8avg/4.3rpo to finish third for Wellington wickets.

Francis played three games for Aotearoa Under 19s during the summer which restricted her Super Smash involvement. She managed a wicket in all three games for the U19s but didn't do much with the bat, then she returned home and finished the season with...

53 runs/1 wicket | 23 runs | 115 runs/1 wicket | 18 runs/4 wickets

The century was scored as an opening batter and Francis was one of the Wellington bowlers who churned out 50+ overs. Averaging 30+ with the bat is a key indicator of emerging talent in the domestic landscape and Francis is one of the few youngsters hitting that mark, while also being efficient with her seam bowling. How she builds on last season will be an enticing aspect of the summer to track.

Here is the full 'one funky player for each team' group...

Auckland: Amie Hucker (23yrs - seamer)

2024/25

HBJ Shield: 53 runs @ 10.6avg/58sr | 16w @ 28.6avg/4.5rpo
Super Smash: 8 runs @ 133sr | 3w @ 55avg/6.8rpo

Career

List-A: 6.8avg/52sr | 37.9avg/5rpo
T20: 8.8avg/83sr | 32.8avg/7rpo

Northern Districts: Kayley Knight (22yrs - seam)

2024/25

HBJ Shield: 3 runs @ 100sr | 8ov @ 4.3rpo
Super Smash: 2 runs @ 25sr | 2w @ 8avg/5.3rpo

Career

List-A: 7.1avg/25sr | 23.2avg/5.6rpo
T20: 4avg/33sr | 37.4avg/7.6rpo

Central Districts: Ocean Bartlett (22yrs - leggy)

2024/25

HBJ Shield: 21 runs @ 4.2avg/32sr | 20w @ 19.7avg/4.9rpo
Super Smash: 21 runs @ 7avg/52sr | 8w @ 21.6avg/6.7rpo

Career

List-A: 6.4avg/39sr | 22.7avg/5rpo
T20: 7avg/61sr | 28.7avg/7.1rpo

Wellington: Hannah Francis (19yrs - seam all-rounder)

2024/25

HBJ Shield: 329 runs @ 32.9avg/60sr | 12w @ 19.8avg/4.3rpo
Super Smash: 2 games but no action

Career

List-A: 31.7avg/60sr | 21.4avg/3.9rpo
T20: -

Canterbury: Melissa Banks (24yrs - seam all-rounder)

2024/25

HBJ Shield: 101 runs @ 16.8avg/68sr | 9w @ 39.4avg/4.5rpo
Super Smash: 44 runs @ 14.6avg/113sr | 9w @ 26.5avg/4rpo

Career

List-A: 15.1avg/70sr | 47.4avg/4.7rpo
T20: 8.8avg/78sr | 21.5avg/7.2rpo

Otago: Anna Browning (22yrs - spin all-rounder)

2024/25

HBJ Shield: 77 runs @ 19.2avg/71sr | 13w @ 16.6avg/4.5rpo
Super Smash: 49 runs @ 16.3avg/102sr | 4w @ 27avg/6rpo

Career

List-A: 16.7avg/64sr | 25.8avg/4.6rpo
T20: 12.6avg/96sr | 30.7avg/6.5rpo

There are also a few ladies who made moves over the winter. Kate Chandler, Molly Loe and Jess Simmons are the most interesting movers as all three flashing their abilities in recent seasons with scope for more development as they find fresh scenery.

Chandler moves from Wellington to Canterbury. The 19-year-old wasn't a regular in Wellington's 1st 11 last season but she already has three 50+ scores in LA batting and she has taken 4+ wickets twice in the one-day format. Chandler offers Canterbury another spinner and she could form a funky leg-spin combo with Sarah Asmussen, while her batting ability will be useful alongside the powerful strokes of Banks.

Loe moves from Otago to Canterbury. The 22-year-old also struggled for consistent game time last season with Otago and she moves to Canterbury where she will add to their seam bowling depth. Last summer was the least productive of her last five seasons in both formats so she will be hoping the change to Canterbury can give her mahi a boost.

Simmons moves from Canterbury to Wellington. This leaves a hole in Canterbury's seaming unit for Loe to snap up and the 25-year-old Simmons offers an experienced seaming presence for Wellington. Simmons appears to be one of the faster seamers in Aotearoa's domestic circuit with a heavy-ball style that has helped her take 5+ wickets in eight consecutive seasons of LA bowling.

Simmons has been less effective in T20 bowling and her combo with Wellington's 22-year-old seamer Natasha Codyre will be a funky wrinkle this summer. Codyre usually bowls out-swing to righty batters and with Simmons offering seam/bounce, these two could be key figures in Wellington's bowling attack.

Best players in 2024/25 HBJ Shield

Batting

Maddy Green: 698 runs @ 69.8avg/89sr
Caitlin Gurrey: 523 runs @ 52.3avg/85sr
Kate Ebrahim: 411 runs @ 58.7avg/66sr

Bowling

Eden Carson: 22w @ 17.2avg/3.8rpo
Bree Illing: 21w @ 21avg/4.5rpo
Ocean Bartlett: 20w @ 19.7avg/4.9rpo

Best players in North vs South series

Batting

Jess Watkin: 164 runs @ 82avg/95sr
Bella James: 140 runs @ 70avg/116sr
Maddy Green: 135 runs @ 135avg/135sr

Bowling

Jess Kerr: 6w @ 11.6avg/4.2rpo
Emma Black: 5w @ 20.4avg/4.8rpo
Anna Browning: 5w @ 24avg/4.8rpo

Best players for NZ-A in one-dayers vs England A

Batting

Georgia Plimmer: 114 runs @ 38avg/87sr
Bella James: 109 runs @ 36.3avg/91sr
Izzy Gaze: 81 runs @ 137sr

Bowling

Bree Illing: 6w @ 19.1avg/6rpo
Jess Watkin: 3w @ 38avg/4.9rpo
Emma Black: 2w @ 42avg/4.9rpo

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Peace and love.