Since the glory of a T20 World Cup championship, New Zealand's White Ferns couldn't make a dent in Australia's dominance and also offered an enticing glimpse of the future during Sri Lanka's visit. At the end of the 2024/25 kiwi summer it is tricky to assess where White Ferns are poised because of the difference in the two groups of players used to represent Aotearoa against the best team in the world and a nation on the rise, along with the priority of the upcoming ODI World Cup later this year.

The most recent activity was a T20I series against Australia in which the Aussies won all three games. After losing the two Rose Bowl ODIS earlier in the summer by margins of at least 50 runs, White Ferns lost the first T20I by 8 wickets and then the second by 82 runs. Maddy Green smashed sixes in the third T20I to make that game more competitive but aside from Amelia Kerr's continued excellence, the rest of the team crumbled to lose by 8 runs.

That's five games against Australia and five losses this summer. While there is a dream of a day when New Zealand returns to competitive battles against Australia and perhaps a win or two, that isn't the case right now and hasn't been the case for the last few years. The Rose Bowl series was covered here and below are the White Ferns stats from the T20I series...

Batting

Amelia Kerr: 157 runs @ 78.5avg/122sr
Maddy Green: 84 runs @ 42avg/158sr
Georgia Plimmer: 45 runs @ 15avg/110sr
Sophie Devine: 40 runs @ 20avg/87sr
Suzie Bates: 33 runs @ 11avg/127sr
Jess Kerr: 15 runs @ 7.5avg/167sr
Bella James: 14 runs @ 14avg/156sr
Rosemary Mair: 10 runs @ 111sr

Bowling

Lea Tahuhu: 2w @ 28avg/11.2rpo
Sophie Devine: 2w @ 39.5avg/9.8rpo
Amelia Kerr: 2w @ 44avg/8rpo
Suzie Bates: 1w @ 34avg/8.5rpo
Rosemary Mair: 1w @ 80avg/9.4rpo
Jess Kerr: 1w @ 110avg/10rpo
Eden Carson: 6ov @ 11rpo

A-Kerr is the best player in the team and she has been for a while now. As well as being the leading run-scorer in the T20Is and second for runs in the Rose Bowl, she was tied for the leading wicket-taker in both series. At 24-years-old A-Kerr is the best batter, bowler and fielder in the team. This is reflected in her career mahi...

ODI: 42.49avg/82.9sr | 29.74avg/4.5rpo
T20I: 27.94avg/109.7sr | 20.37avg/6rpo

Being the best player doesn't mean someone is the best candidate for captain. A-Kerr is already one of, if not the best captains in both domestic cricket circuits given her Super Smash dynasty. Throughout her mahi as captain, A-Kerr has shown a fierce presence as a competitor on the field and a glorious care for her players. Given how the captaincy has been passed around in the last five years, it seems like the time has come to make the A-Kerr the leader of Aotearoa's women's cricket team.

Now is also a good time because senior players like Bates, Devine, Tahuhu and Green are still around to ease the burden of captaincy. Green is another fine candidate to captain Aotearoa as she is a fabulous leader for Auckland and at 32-years-old, Green is still improving as many older players do in the New Zealand Cricket system. Having A-Kerr as captain with Green in support is the best scenario to take White Ferns forward.

Despite being rolled by Australia, there won’t be drastic changes ahead of the ODI World Cup. Green is the leading run-scorer in ODIs since the start of 2024 and she is one of the few White Ferns top-order batters who has a T20I strike-rate over 110 in this period. Bates' contributions are diminishing across both formats but she won't be shifted from her opening role, while Tahuhu has been excellent in T20I bowling but she has only played four of 14 ODIs since the start of 2024.

Tahuhu has still been efficient in her limited game time and it would be a bold move to overlook her for an ODI World Cup unless she is unavailable through injury or retirement. Devine won't be shuffled out of the team either but there is a fascinating situation brewing.

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Before taking a wellbeing break, Devine had scores of 15 and 25 in the Rose Bowl followed by scores of 0, 38, 0 and 0 in the Super Smash. Then she took a break. After that break, Devine returned with 39* in the first T20I followed by scores of 0 and 1. Devine had four ducks in six innings either side of her break. When Devine did score runs they were clunky and it looked like she was scrapping for every run, which stalled the White Ferns innings a few times. Here's how she started each innings vs Australia this summer...

Rose Bowl ODIs

Wellington: 0 off 6 (finished on 15 off 20)
Wellington: 0 off 10 (finished on 25 off 41)

T20Is vs Australia

Auckland: 3 off 11 (finished on 39* off 36)
Tauranga: 0 off 1
Wellington: 1 off 9

Devine was the only White Ferns batter who scored 10+ runs and had a strike-rate below 100 (86.9) in the T20Is vs Australia. She had the lowest strike-rate of the six White Ferns batters who scored 30+ runs in the Rose Bowl (65.5). That's against Australia though and yet it's a pattern that is evident in her T20I career and Super Smash.

Devine had a T20I batting strike-rate over 120 for six consecutive years from 2015-2020 and she averaged over 30 in five of those six years. She now has strike-rates below 120 in five consecutive years and has averaged below 30 in all five.

Devine has gone from a Super Smash bully to not doing much when she does play...

2019/20: 90 runs @ 52.7avg
2020/21: 434 runs @ 62avg
2021/22: 153 runs @ 51avg
2022/23: 10 runs @ 5avg
2023/24: 16 runs @ 8avg
2024/25: 38 runs @ 9.5avg

All of this sits under the umbrella of Devine taking a few wellbeing breaks in the last five years and that makes these estuaries rather murky. While offering grace to Devine and what she is going through, there is a clear impact on her performances. This won't be covered in White Ferns coverage so it does need to be highlighted elsewhere, although Devine is deserving of faith in being locked in for the ODI World Cup.

The melancholy of these struggles are balanced by a development pipeline that is sizzling and producing excellent emerging cricketers for White Ferns. Most won't be in the mix for ODI World Cup selection but there is immense potential in a White Ferns team led by A-Kerr, supported by Green and filled with the abundance of emerging talent on offer.

Bella James only played one T20I vs Australia and missed the Sri Lanka series, but her flashes of attacking strokes in both formats vs Australia made her stand out. She scored 14 runs @ 155.5sr in the third T20I and she scored 51 runs @ 82.2sr in two Rose Bowl knocks, joining Green as the only batters with strike-rates over 80 in the group of six who scored 30+ runs.

Without scoring big runs, James has instantly offered a point of difference in her first three games for Aotearoa. Otago comrade Polly Inglis didn't score many runs in her two T20I knocks vs Australia but it's clear that she is the best wicket-keeper in New Zealand and deserves an extended opportunity.

Georgia Plimmer is settled in to keep developing as an opening batter. J-Kerr couldn't trouble Australia with the ball but she has grown into an excellent all-rounder who had the highest batting strike-rate (166.6) in the T20Is vs Australia. It was a tough series with the ball so like J-Kerr, Rosemary Mair and Eden Carson struggled to make an impact but are still on the rise.

Nuance is required to weave performances against Sri Lanka into this overall White Ferns assessment. Bree Illing impressed against Sri Lanka and she is the player from that series who looked like they had the ability to step up for games against Australia. Others like Emma McLeod, Izzy Sharp and Flora Devonshire need more time to develop but have plenty to offer White Ferns in the coming years.

Molly Penfold and Izzy Gaze have been out injured, along with Hayley Jensen. Fran Jonas was in the T20I squad vs Australia but didn't play for a team that lost all three games which reflects her position in the depth chart. Hannah Rowe played the ODIs vs Sri Lanka but wasn't selected in the T20Is as well as missing both series vs Australia.

This leads some alternative White Ferns teams. The first is a semi-realistic ODI World Cup 1st 11 and fringe squad that probably won't be selected but could be viewed as the best team available for winning games at a major tournament:

Georgia Plimmer, Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr, Brooke Halliday, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Jess Kerr, Polly Inglis (wk), Hayley Jensen, Lea Tahuhu, Eden Carson

Squad: Bella James, Hannah Rowe, Rosemary Mair, Izzy Gaze (wk)

That group leans more to experience and all-round options. Rowe still has plenty to offer White Ferns and could be selected ahead of Jensen, maybe even Carson if conditions are more favourable to seam bowling.

Then there is a younger/emerging team and squad:

Georgia Plimmer, Bella James, Amelia Kerr, Emma McLeod, Izzy Sharp, Jess Kerr, Polly Inglis (wk), Rosemary Mair, Molly Penfold, Eden Carson, Bree Illing

Squad: Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze (wk), Fran Jonas

Having Devonshire batting among the bowlers gives White Ferns a strong batting unit but the pace bowling trio of Mair, Penfold and Illing was irresistible. All three seamers are capable of hitting 115km/h with potential to grow into 120km/h seamers.

The North vs South series is currently being played. Here are the best emerging players selected in both squads who have not played for White Ferns...

North: Ocean Bartlett, Amie Hucker, Nensi Patel, Eve Wolland
South: Emma Black, Caitlin Blakely, Anna Browning, Olivia Gain, Jess Simmons

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Peace and love.