Answers needed from White Ferns

Warren Lees has accused the White Ferns of being overawed in crunch games and failing to deal with expectation after their worst showing at a women’s cricket World Cup.

Former New Zealand wicketkeeper and men’s coach Lees, who previously coached the White Ferns, said they would be ‘‘absolutely shattered’’ after a crushing 186-run loss to India in Sunday’s must-win final group match in England.

New Zealand took an experienced side, boasting plenty of firepower to the World Cup, with Lees believing it was their best chance to lift the silverware since 2000.

The White Ferns badly underperformed, losing to Australia, England and India, which saw them miss the semifinals.

Lees expected a thorough review to be conducted and said coaching staff and senior players needed to be answerable.

He said it was a huge opportunity squandered, given the talent they possessed.

‘‘The girls will be absolutely shattered and the management will walk away with a huge question mark over their heads and so they should. That’s why they get the jobs,’’ Lees said.

‘‘When you lose poorly, it puts a huge question mark [on their future].’’

Lees didn’t know coach Haidee Tiffen well enough to comment whether she was the best person to guide the team, but pressure will inevitably fall on her following an unsatisfactory campaign.

He believed domestic women’s cricket in New Zealand was the strongest it had been. The White Ferns had been given adequate coaching resources and warm-up games to succeed, but hadn’t performed to their ability.

‘‘It’s a bit like a spoilt kid. Throwing money at your kids doesn’t make them improve or behave.

‘‘It doesn’t matter how much money you spend. If it’s not well spent, you’re wasting your time.’’

New Zealand thumped the weaker Sri Lanka, West Indies and Pakistan sides at the World Cup, but in the games that mattered against the leading sides they didn’t front.

‘‘One on one, the skill levels of our players is right up there and equal to the other players. When we play at our best, we’re the equal of all the other teams. Collectively, we can’t throw it together,’’ Lees said.

‘‘We’re perhaps overawed. We may be over-excited or tense or nervous.’’