Super Smash takes a day off from the mayhem and that offers space to drop five funky things for the blokes and wahine. Before that though, digest the ladder before the finals push sparks up...

Women

Wellington: 5-2 | 25 points
CD: 5-2 | 23 points
Auckland: 4-3 | 20 points
Otago: 3-3- | 17 pints
ND: 2-3 | 12 points
Canterbury: 0-6 | 2 points

Men

Auckland: 4-2 | 20 points
Canterbury: 4-2 | 16 points
ND: 3-1-1 | 16 points
Southern: 3-3-1- | 14 points
CD: 3-4 | 12 points
Wellington: 1-6 | 6 points

Women - Jess Kerr Continues

Kerr has been brewing as the best female cricketer on the domestic circuit for a few seasons and this summer only amplifies her dominance. Kerr is one of three leading wicket-takers in HBJ Shield and she is Wellington's leading run-scorer, while also being the only Wellington batter who has 20+ runs and a strike-rate over 80.

That's flowed into her Super Smash mahi where she is ranked seventh for runs and fourth for bowlers. Kerr has 19.6avg/126sr and 16.7avg/5.5rpo in her Super Smash career, with her batting development firing her into this dominant space. After eight seasons of Super Smash batting, Kerr hit her first 50+ score last season and she now has four 50+ scores in her last two seasons.

Add in averaging below 25 in seven of the nine Super Smash seasons that she's taken a wicket, as well as excellent fielding and now some leadership mana for the best team in Super Smash right now. Kerr has played her role in Wellington's Super Smash dynasty and now there is an opportunity for her to lead the Blaze to another championship.

Xara Jetly And Offies

Wellington are also graced with the presence of Xara Jetly, who is tied with Kerr on 14w in HBJ Shield and is currently the leading wicket-taker in Super Smash. That means that Jetly is the best bowler across both competitions this season and like Kerr, Jetly has shown delightful growth in her batting as part of the Blaze development system.

Jetly has always been an excellent T20 bowler with a career record of 18.2avg/5.9rpo, as well as maintaining good List-a mahi (21.6avg/4.1rpo). Boosted by her mahi this season, Jetly is averaging 15+ in LA and T20 batting. She is in her first season of HBJ Shield batting with 100+ runs and 20+ average (164 runs @ 41avg) and this is her first Super Smash campaign with 20+ runs and an average over 5 (99 runs @ 33avg).

While Jetly stands alone as the best spinner in Aotearoa right now, there is a funky crop of offies who are adding to the depth in this role. Central's Ashtuti Kumar is the next best off-spinner and she is trending in the right direction...

2023/24: 6w @ 31.6avg/5.9rpo
2024/25: 3w @ 21.3avg/8rpo
2024/25: 7w @ 17.1avg/7.5rpo

Other notable right armers include Auckland's Maddy Green and Bella Armstrong, Northern's Nensi Patel, Southern's Anna Browning and Chloe Deerness. There are also lefty tweakers like Wellington's Nicole Baird and Southern's PJ Watkins. Green, Armstrong, Patel, Browning and Watkins all offer slick batting as well, although they are behind Jetly's sneaky mahi right now.

White Ferns Seamers

Along with Kerr, Hannah Rowe is one of the best players in women's Super Smash excellent all-round mahi. Both are White Ferns tier players who should command 1st 11 selection together and then there are the hostile seamers who add more juice to the White Ferns seam bowling unit.

Molly Penfold: 9w @ 15.3avg/7.2rpo
Rosemary Mair: 7w @ 23.7avg/7.3rpo
Bree Illing: 5w @ 28.4avg/6.4rpo

Mair, Penfold and Illing haven't played much cricket together for White Ferns yet. All three have played for White Ferns though and flashed their talent, bowling quicker that most on the circuit and developing more tricks as their experience grows. Based on talent and form, the best White Ferns team should have these three together, then the all-round skills of Kerr and Rowe.

Emma Black has also been around the White Ferns in recent season and while she's more of the Kerr style, her consistency is undeniable and she should be in the mix. Black is Southern's best bowler in HBJ Shield and Super Smash as their only bowler with 10+ wickets in each competition...

HBJ Shield: 12w @ 15.4avg/3.3rpo
Super Smash: 11w @ 17avg/6.6rpo

Emerging Seamers

Like all pockets of Aotearoa cricket, there are plenty more seamers on the rise to compete with the higher ranked bowlers. There is also lovely variety in how these seamers operate as Marama Downes is the best nibbler in Aotearoa, while Louisa Kotkamp, Josie Penfold and Kayley Knight are faster/bouncier. Lucy Boucher, Amie Hucker, Missy Banks and Jess Ogden are also factors in this bracket as seamers who are getting the mahi done in Super Smash.

Marama Downes: 11w @ 8.6avg/4.7rpo (ND)
Louisa Kotkamp: 9w @ 17.1avg/7rpo (SD)
Lucy Boucher: 8w @ 14.6avg/6.1rpo (ND)
Josie Penfold: 8w @ 13.7avg/7.3rpo (Auckland)
Missy Banks: 7w @ 21avg/7.8rpo (Canterbury)
Kayley Knight: 6w @ 19.1avg/6.2rpo (ND)
Amie Hucker: 5w @ 27.2avg/6.3rpo (Auckland)
Jess Ogden: 2w @ 24avg/5.3rpo (CD)

Young Batters With A Fiddy

13 kiwis have a 50+ score in Super Smash and there is an enticing cluster of eight younger wahine in this group. Izzy Sharp is the only batter with two 50+ scores while the rest all have one so far...

Izzy Sharp: 194 runs @ 38.8avg/131sr (Canterbury)
Georgia Plimmer: 172 runs @ 21.5avg/100sr (Wellington)
Prue Catton: 131 runs @ 18.7avg/98sr (Auckland)
Emma McLeod: 112 runs @ 22.4avg/109sr (CD)
Eve Wolland: 111 runs @ 22.2avg/107sr (ND)
PJ Watkins: 103 runs @ 34.3avg/116sr (SD)
Izzy Gaze: 99 runs @ 16.5avg/108sr (Auckland)
Natasha Wakelin: 94 runs @ 31.3avg/132sr (ND)

Men - Auckland Variety

Bevon Jacobs is awesome but Auckland are getting contributions from a wide range of players and that's evident in having 17 different players used so far, while someone like Jock McKenzie hasn't played at all.

Dale Phillips is second for Auckland runs, has bowled a few overs and stepped in for Cameron Fletcher as wicket-keeper against CD. While this has probably happened before, it's funky to ponder how both Phillips brothers have batted, bowled and been wicket-keepers in domestic cricket.

Phillips is one of a few Auckland batters over 150sr (20+ runs) in Super Smash along with Fletcher, Lachlan Stackpole, Ryan Harrison and Sean Solia.

Replace Solia with the freshest Auckland player Adam Jones and these batters are all average 20 or higher. Interestingly the batters below 20avg include Solia, Mark Chapman and Martin Guptill.

Auckland's worst bowlers are their most familiar bowlers in Phillips, Simone Keene, Ben Lister and Adithya Ashok. That's absorbed by their best bowlers being a funky mix of blokes who are in their first or second full season of Super Smash...

Harjot Johal: 14w @ 11.9avg/7.2rpo
Siddhesh Dixit: 8w @ 16.5avg/7.6rpo
Angus Olliver: 9w @ 20.3avg/8.3rpo
Ryan Harrison: 6w @ 26.6avg/9.4rpo
Rohit Gulati: 5w @ 32.2avg/6.7rpo

Of those five bowlers, Olliver and Gulati stand out as the funkiest. Olliver is a T20 wizard with 11w @ 17.5avg/8rpo in his 11 innings and how he progresses through the other formats will be an important wrinkle to track this summer. Gulati is averaging below 20 in each format and he is Auckland's best multi-format bowler this season.

Lefty Tweakers

Gulati and Dixit have added themselves to Aotearoa's pool of left-arm spinners. This is a hot pocket for Blackcaps as Jayden Lennox snapped up his opportunity on ODI debut for New Zealand in India and he's not even the best lefty at CD. Ajaz Patel offers a mature presence while Ben Lockrose is the leading wicket-taker for spinners right now, plus Tim Pringle may have signaled a shift to Aotearoa representation as he wasn't named in the Netherlands T20 World Cup squad despite playing 22 T20Is at 23-years-old.

Ben Lockrose: 10w @ 19.2avg/7.3rpo (SD)
Ajaz Patel: 9w @ 21.4avg/7.7rpo (CD)
Tim Pringle: 6w @ 32.6avg/8.9rpo (ND)

Northern Sluggers

One of the most exciting things in Super Smash is watching the Northern Districts' batting line up get busy. This is amplified by the presence of Xavier Bell who is flashing his freaky ability and he is following the lead by two of the most destructive T20 batters in Aotearoa...

Katene Clarke: 230 runs @ 57.5avg/172sr
Brett Hampton: 228 runs @ 45.6avg/178sr
Xavier Bell: 110 runs @ 55avg/151sr
Scott Kuggeleijn: 91 runs @ 45.5avg/227sr

Emerging wicket-keeper Ben Pomare has flashed his development in whacking boundaries and Rob O'Donnell has only batted twice but he's shown his class with 38 runs @ 165.1sr. Nine batters have strike-rates of 165 or higher and ND have four batters in this group as the only team with three batters at this mark. This sharpens to ND have three batters in the group of five batters at 170sr or higher, while Hampton and Clarke are in the group of six batters who have 10+ sixes ... ND is the only team with two batters in this group as well.

Don't forget About Dean Foxcroft

Returning to CD after a few seasons in Otago, Foxcroft has a 50+ score in each format this season. Most notably, Foxcroft has scored 200+ runs in Plunket Shield and Super Smash with healthy efficiency as a batter in the two most extreme formats...

Plunket Shield: 285 runs @ 47.5avg/71sr
Super Smash: 234 runs @ 33.4avg/141sr

Foxcroft is a fascinating cricketer because he has probably batted in every role throughout his domestic career while also offering similar a similar skillset as Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips in the spinny all-rounder silo. Foxcroft hasn't been dominant with the ball this summer in Aotearoa but he was one of the most impressive players for NZ-A in their one-day series vs Bangladesh A, playing a different role than usual as he batted down the order and bowled plenty of overs.

Foxcroft scored 108 runs @ 101sr in two innings and took 3w @ 19.3avg/4.8rpo vs Bangladesh A. His ability to bat throughout the line up, offer a spin option and Foxcroft's sneaky leadership skills combine to make him the style of player that has elevated to the wider Blackcaps group. Foxcroft has already played for Blackcaps but didn't get a regular crack and he also knows coach Rob Walter well, so folks should expect to see Foxcroft move up a tier soon.

Swift Seamers

Aotearoa has an abundance of seamers and this is evident in the combination used for Blackcaps in India with Kyle Jamieson joined by Zak Foulkes and Kristian Clarke. Michael Rae's in that mix having impressed in his first two Tests and Josh Clarkson's also in the squad as the best Plunket Shield seamer for example.

Canterbury's Cameron Paul continues to flex early in his career with 7w @ 21.4avg/10rpo, but the focus here is on two bowlers with blatant x-factor in Ben Sears and Matt Fisher. Both have already played for Aotearoa and along with Will O'Rourke and Nathan Smith, they are seamers who would be selected ahead of Clarke in a different situation and provide competitive depth.

Sears has always been an excellent T20 bowler, but Fisher has struggled to be as effective in T20s as he is in the longer formats. This makes Fisher's mahi in Super Smash extra intriguing as he is second for wickets at ND with a similar flow as Sears...

Ben Sears: 9w @ 24.8avg/10.1rpo
Matt Fisher: 7w @ 24.8avg/7.5rpo

Here are their career averages below the international tier (FC | LA | T20)...

Ben Sears: 27.8 | 31.5 | 22.4
Matt Fisher: 22.2 | 26.6 | 37.2

To support The Niche Cache you can join the Patreon whanau or donate through Buy Me A Coffee. A little goes a long way to fund our mahi. Smash an ad.

Peace and love.