The White Ferns lost their T20I Rose Bowl series 0-2 and stretched out their T20I losing streak vs Australia to 11 games. While this was the expect series result, Aotearoa dished up some quirky decisions that didn't seem to help them against the Aussies and it was aligned with how previous regimes held White Ferns back by selecting poor performers along with weird combinations.

White Ferns need Melie Kerr to be close to her best when playing Australia and unfortunately the skipper was one of the weaker players for the Ferns. A-Kerr scored 45 runs @ 86sr in her three innings and while her average of 15 was low, she was the only player who scored 20+ runs with a strike-rate below 100.

Not only was A-Kerr well below the 100sr mark, let alone the 130+ benchmark of Maddy Green and many Aussies, she was the most expensive bowler for White Ferns and the only bowler in this series over 10rpo. Folks like to point to the young players for White Ferns being the reason why they lose against Australia and the blame is often directed towards the domestic structures, yet the leader of the White Ferns was the slowest scorer and most expensive bowler.

The other major issue for White Ferns is Rosemary Mair's untouchable status as a 1st 11 bowler. Mair has been the worst T20I bowler for Aotearoa in two consecutive years, averaging 85+ in both and yet she is selected as if she is one of the best in the world. Three kiwis have bowled 50+ overs this year and two are the Kerr sisters who are the leading wicket-takers, while the other is Mair who has taken 4w @ 89.5avg.

It's the same trio of bowlers who have had 60+ T20I overs since the start of 2025 and again, both Kerr sisters are leading the wicket-taking charts as the busiest White Ferns bowlers. Meanwhile, Mair has taken 5w @ 92.8avg in this period which stretches across 18 T20I innings. This was on the radar last year, then it was an area of concern heading into the T20 World Cup and despite lots of losing, it has continued in another mediocre series.

Interim coach Dean Brownlie didn't appear to have much courage, aside from the strange decision to select Flora Devonshire as an opening batter in the two losses. Devonshire's a lefty so that was probably a key factor but she is usually in the middle order for Central Districts and she hadn't batted in T20Is before this series.

Izzy Gaze wasn't part of the squad and she's usually primed for this role, so Devonshire got a crack in a tough series and scored 13 runs @ 65sr. A tweak was made for the third game which was washed out with A-Kerr opening alongside Georgia Plimmer and there were other options like Bella James who was an unused squad member. That’s one of the weird things for White Ferns as coach Brownlie didn’t use James, Hannah Rowe, Molly Penfold or Eden Carson despite losing mahi.

Much of Devonshire's case for selection stems from her all-round ability as a lefty spinner. Coach Brownlie rolled out the same five bowlers in the two losses and got the same results as White Ferns couldn't take 10 wickets or restrict Australia to less than 160 runs. That's crazy considering one of the five bowlers doesn't take T20I wickets and is closer to averaging 100 than 30, plus there are bowlers like Devonshire, Rowe, Penfold, Carson who were part of the squad.

While it didn't have an impact on this series, coach Brownlie stayed goofy in selecting Mair to bat ahead of Nensi Patel as well as limiting Polly Inglis to a lower order batting role. Patel is one of the best batters in Aotearoa, so no bowler should be selected ahead of her regardless of Mair's batting 'power' which is good in theory. Inglis has also proven herself to be one of the best scorers in Aotearoa with her funky strokes and yet she is steadily shunned down the order.

Patel and Bree Illing were part of the illustrious quintet of White Ferns bowlers in this series, joining J-Kerr in averaging below 30. Patel is third for White Ferns T20I wickets this year behind the Kerr sisters but she is the only bowler with 3+ wickets who is averaging below 20 and conceding less than 6rpo.

If women's domestic cricket is so bad in Aotearoa then why have younger players been some of the best White Ferns in their early chapters? Illing has twice as many T20I wickets as Mair this year in the same number of innings and she's conceding a run less than Mair. Against Australia, Illing took 2w @ 29.5avg/7.5rpo and Mair took 1w @ 72avg/9rpo.

Inglis had the highest strike-rate for White Ferns in this series and Izzy Sharp had a brief glimpse of her talent while dishing up one of the highest T20I strike-rates ever for White Ferns in her first 17 innings. This is why it was such a bummer to see Devonshire restricted to an opening batter role and Patel's genuine all-round talents overlooked, as well as the lack of faith shown in someone like Molly Penfold this year ... after her best summer of bowling in domestic cricket.

There was a holy trinity of positive vibes in J-Kerr, Maddy Green and Georgia Plimmer. J-Kerr was the leading wicket-taker for White Ferns in this series with 5w @ 11.8avg/7.3rpo and she is the leading wicket-taker for Aotearoa in T20Is this year with 21w @ 20.6avg/7rpo. She averaged over 30 under the captaincy of Amy Satterthwaite, Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine which flips to 23.7 with A-Kerr as captain.

Green isn't the leading run-scorer for White Ferns this year but she is the only batter averaging 40+ and she's done so with a strong strike-rate of 121. This is Green's best year of T20I batting and the only year with two 50+ scores. She averaged below 20 with Satterthwaite, Bates and Devine as captains now she's averaging 40+ with A-Kerr as captain.

Plimmer bounced back from her struggles in Europe earlier this year and she is in her first year of T20I batting averaging 20+ as well as having her highest strike-rate. While Plimmer's mahi is balanced by averaging 7 in T20Is against England and 13.2 vs West Indies, she does have the crazy nugget of scoring two 50+ scores in Australia vs Australia.

That's amplified by Plimmer having one 50+ score in T20Is vs South Africa and Sri Lanka. The only team she has two 50+ scores against is Australia and the only country she has two 50+ scores in is Australia. Aside from one game against Zimbabwe, Plimmer's 23.2avg vs Australia is her highest average by opponent and her 33.2 in Australia is her highest average by location.

The most disappointing thing about this series loss against Australia was how there didn't seem to be a clear intention to win and challenge the Aussies. Losing combinations have been rewarded all year and that only increased vs Australia, with no desire to throw a doosra or x-factor into the equation. There were ample bowling options in the squad who would have at least provided a different battle for the Australians and the theme of players not batting in their best roles continued.

None of which suggests that coach Brownlie should be rewarded with the head coaching gig. I was optimistic prior to the series and suggested that this series wouldn't have much of an impact on his future, but the interim coach's selections and styles were too timid to command a greater coaching role. It seemed like Ben Sawyer was still in charge of this team and that isn't a great sign for Brownlie.

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