White Ferns face worrying dilemma
The underperforming White Ferns face a bleak reality where they risk becoming a middle-of-the-pack international outfit, who don’t threaten the titles at major tournaments.
After a poor Women’s Cricket World Cup showing on home soil, the White Ferns’ situation is likely to worsen before it improves.
There should be no sugarcoating New Zealand’s sub-par tournament in their own backyard.
Even though they were ranked fifth heading into the World Cup, a semifinal berth in home conditions should have been a minimal expectation.
Not meeting that goal was bitterly disappointing, but an accurate reflection where the White Ferns are internationally.
In the frequently-played promotional TV ad, opener Suzie Bates remarked, ‘Nothing can stop us’, but when push came to shove in the crunch moments the team crumbled.
In their three narrow losses – to the West Indies (a three-run loss in the opener), South Africa (twowicket loss) and England (a heartbreaking one-wicket loss), the matches ebbed and flowed.
There were multiple stages in the second innings of all three matches for the White Ferns to seize the ascendancy and for someone to win the match. Those opportunities weren’t grasped in the key moments – the theme of their tournament.
Had they won even just one of those close matches, New Zealand would have been in the semifinals.
The White Ferns’ horrible 50-over record in recent times (they have lost 23 of 32 ODI matches since March 2019) and not making
the semifinals at back-to-back CWCs is distressing.
While they don’t have superstars scattered from one to 11, New Zealand have been blessed with Bates, skipper Sophie Devine, and Amy Satterthwaite, all playing in the same era.
They will go down as White Ferns’ greats, yet have played in just one Cup final in 2009, and World T20 finals in 2009 and 2010 – losing all three finals.
When you add in another elite talent in legspinning allrounder Melie Kerr, who by her standards had an inconsistent CWC, the White Ferns had the top-end performers to make the semifinals.
One of the many concerns facing the team is Bates and Satterthwaite, cornerstones of the side for the past decade and beyond, are closer to the end of their careers than the start.
It wouldn’t be a shock if Satterthwaite, 35, and Bates, 34, decided to step away after the Commonwealth Games in July – where a women’s T20 tournament will be held for the first time at the event.
Losing players of their calibre would be a major blow, but it is something the team need to be prepared for.
Long-serving wicket keeper batter Katey Martin ,37, was in tears during the national anthem of their final Cup group match against Pakistan – possibly signalling the end of her 19-year stint.
Whoever replaces departing head coach Bob Carter, who stepped aside after the Cup to return to a high performance role at New Zealand Cricket, has their work cut out for them.
Aside from the possibility of Bates and Satterthwaite retiring in the next 12-18 months, there are other issues.
The gap between women’s domestic cricket and the White Ferns remains a large one. Some players are able to handle the transition smoothly, but the majority seem ill-prepared and struggle mightily.
The depth in domestic cricket remains a worry. It’s hard to identify too many names outside the White Ferns’ World Cup squad, who have the ability to be real difference makers internationally.
Batting-wise, there doesn’t appear to be a hidden gem or New Zealand’s answer to outstanding South African 22-year-old Laura Wolvaardt, one of the players of the Cup, scoring 433 runs at an average 54.
There are some promising young spin options, including Nensi Patel, Eden Carson, Xara Jetly, Sarah Asmussen, and 17-year-old Fran Jonas, who played once at the Cup.
The Ferns would dearly love one of them to take off like English spin standouts Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean, or Australian legspinner Alana King, but that might be wishful thinking.
The current NZ player pool stands at $4.143 million over three years, due to be renegotiated in July. Add in the chance to play in lucrative T20 leagues in England and NZ’s premier players can carve out a decent living. But as former Ferns coach Warren Lees said after their 2017 semis loss: ‘‘It doesn’t matter how much money you spend. If it’s not well spent, you’re wasting your time.’’