White Ferns banking on spin

New White Ferns captain Amy Satterthwaite will be one of six spin bowling options in an unchanged 15-woman squad for the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies in November.

Coach Haidee Tiffen confirmed the squads for three T20 internationals in Australia, starting next week, and the world tournament which starts for New Zealand against India in Guyana on November 10.

The selectors stuck with the same 15 from the tour of Ireland and England, in which they made the final of the T20 tri-series against England and South Africa but also lost five successive matches to the hosts before winning the final ODI. The only change is in the captaincy where allrounder Satterthwaite takes over from Suzie Bates who last week stepped down after six years at the helm to focus on her own game.

Auckland Hearts spinner Anna Peterson and Central Hinds seamer Hannah Rowe will miss the three-match series in Australia before joining the squad for the World Twenty20. Mid-year debutants Jess Watkin (Central Hinds) and Bernadine Bezuidenhout (Northern Spirit) are in for both tours.

Peterson will bolster the spin stocks in the Caribbean where New Zealand will play to their strengths on expected sluggish surfaces, headed by gun teenage legspinner Amelia Kerr.

The Ferns head to Australia next week for T20 internationals against their nearest rivals in Sydney (September 29), Brisbane (October 1) and Canberra (October 5).

Tiffen said both squads had a strong mix of youth and experience which should serve them well over the coming months.