The strange 2026 T20 World Cup came to an end for New Zealand's White Ferns as they were hammered by England in their last group stage game. Losing to England isn't anything new for White Ferns as they are 2-12 in this match up since the start of 2024 and Aotearoa shouldn't have been in the must-win position, having lost their first two games against West Indies and Sri Lanka to start the tournament.

Wins against Ireland and Scotland gave the White Ferns a chance of making the semi-finals but they fell into familiar territory of not making the semi-final stage. The 2024 T20 World Cup championship sits as they only World Cup in either format that the New Zealand's women's team has made the semi-finals since 2016.

Eight World Cups have been played in this period and the White Ferns have made the semi-finals once. You can be the judge of whether that is good enough but it is the opposite of the Blackcaps who live in the semi-finals and as they are usually in the top-four for the World Test Championship, the men's team should be viewed as a top-four cricket team.

There is little evidence to suggest that the White Ferns are a top-four group in the world of women's cricket. The refresh has already started in ODIs and it has led to winning mahi for White Ferns as they won a series vs South Africa and drew with England a few weeks ago. The refreshing vibes are needed because a legendary bunch of kiwi cricketers bow out with 3-7 record over the last two World Cups.

The last White Ferns deep dive was titled T20I Confusion and things only got more muddled as they progressed through the tournament. In losing to West Indies in their first game, White Ferns showed little progress from their loss against Windies during the 2022 ODI World Cup in Aotearoa. Errors, kerfuffles and gloomy body language on the sidelines were all there in 2022 and as soon as White Ferns started to stumble this time around, confidence vanished from players and staff.

That seeped into the loss vs Sri Lanka. The manner in which this White Ferns group, with a coach who has impeccable job security and tremendous leadership, crumbled under pressure sums up how they have underperformed on the world stage for most of the last six years. This was most evident in their fielding and instead of being one of the best fielding teams in the tournament, the White Ferns were one of the worst.

White Ferns still found themselves in winnable positions against West Indies and Sri Lanka but no one on the sidelines seemed to think so as they all looked as if their souls had been snatched by a cricketing demon. The body language on the sidelines is notable because it fits into how the coaching staff fumbled their way through this campaign.

There didn't seem to be a clear plan around Suzie Bates after she had settled into a lower order batting role prior to the tournament. Bates was left out of the team for the first two games and while her switch to spin bowling had been celebrated by those in and out of the White Ferns environment, she bowled one over at the T20WC.

Unfortunately, Rosemary Mair's fabulous ODI form hasn't overlapped to T20Is. Mair was averaging 100+ in two years of T20I bowling prior to this tournament and that means she was locked into a 1st 11 role. Mair's 2026 T20I bowling average did drop below 100 during the T20WC and she's got 4w @ 98avg/7.2rpo in 54 overs since the start of 2026.

None of that warrants 1st 11 selection for any T20I team at the T20WC and sound selection policy usually revolves around selecting the best players. Instead, Mair bowled the full 12 overs in those first three games with 1w @ 86avg/7.1rpo and that alone can hinder a team's winning ability. The fact that Mair was selected ahead of Lea Tahuhu in those first three games was baffling though.

Georgia Plimmer was dropped from the 1st 11 after the first three games which signaled a shake up of the batting line up. Plimmer entered the T20WC with four scores below 10 in six innings and no scores over 30, then she had three scores below 20 during the tournament. The selection decision probably came too late during the tournament but this zone is more about a lack of development since the last T20WC as Plimmer and Izzy Gaze both averaged below 20 with strike-rates below 115 during this T20WC.

Jess Kerr didn't take a wicket in four consecutive games during as the most reliable White Ferns seamer became a weakness, finishing as the third most expensive bowler (7.93rpo) behind Bates (10rpo) and Sophie Devine (8rpo). This is juncture it's worth noting that White Ferns didn't bowl their opposition out in any game during the T20WC and took more than 5 wickets just once.

At no stage since White Ferns arrived in England as it appeared as if they had sorted out a 1st 11. There was constant tinkering throughout the T20I series vs England and then the T20WC, which involved regular selections of players who were politely out of form. The regular tweaks mixed with under-performing players getting lots of game time is not a winning recipe and then things like the fielding woes get sprinkled on top.

The vibrant ODI group and the talent of emerging wahine in Aotearoa means that there should be optimism about White Ferns moving forward. This tournament does not reflect where women's cricket is at in New Zealand and there should be a hunger for all involved to move beyond the gloomy White Ferns vibes that have become all too frequent over the last few years.

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Peace and love.