Satterthwaite says form is ‘surreal’
Canterbury Magicians one-day captain Amy Satterthwaite has good reason to be confident ahead of the women’s domestic one-day and Twenty20 competitions.
The 30-year-old is in the form of her life ahead of the competitions, which start with the first round of Twenty20s on Friday and continue with a double header of one-dayers at the weekend. Satterthwaite will captain the one-day team, which finished third a year ago, while Frankie MacKay will attempt to lead the red and blacks to consecutive Twenty20 titles.
After becoming the first woman to score three tons in consecutive one-day internationals at the weekend, Satterthwaite ensures Canterbury will be armed with the form player in the world.
She blasted 123 from 99 balls to help the White Ferns wrap up a 5-0 series win against Pakistan in Nelson in the final match, and struck 115 not out and 137 not out in her previous two knocks in the series.
‘‘It’s certainly been a bit of a surreal last few weeks and you sort of look back on it and think, ‘Did that happen?’,’’ Satterthwaite said.
She put her battling blitz down to ‘‘feeling nice and relaxed’’ out in the middle, which came with growing confidence in her game plan after scoring the first of three tons in the second match of the series.
The early season series against Pakistan gave Satterthwaite and fellow New Zealand representatives a good workout ahead of the domestic season, something Satterthwaite believes bodes well for her and her team.
‘‘It’s been a different build up to it,’’ she said. ‘‘You sort of feel like you’ve played a lot of cricket but the summer’s only just starting.
‘‘You can’t beat playing cricket to help with your form and confidence. To have that preparation – for the ones that have been fortunate to play the international stuff – it’s certainly invaluable.’’
Canterbury’s 13-strong squad is mostly intact from a year ago, and has been boosted by former Central Districts and White Ferns player Kate Broadmore, who has relocated to Christchurch. Satterthwaite said opting for different captains across the two forms of the game was succession planning. ‘‘I’ve been playing for quite a few years now and I’ve even been captaining for quite a long time,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s having a new voice for the girls that have been playing for a while. A new voice and new ideas doesn’t hurt.’’ Scheduling means each team will play five triple-headers, with the Twenty20 set for one day, followed by a one-dayer each of the next two days. Cricket umpires Diana Venter and Kathy Cross are used to being described as pioneers.
But along with third umpire Kim Cotton, they took their ground-breaking careers another step forward as the first all-woman appointment to officiate in an international match in Monday’s Twenty20 clash between New Zealand’s White Ferns and Pakistan in Nelson.
Now based in Wellington, Taumaranui-born Cross, 59, achieved a significant milestone in 2014 when she became the first woman named on the ICC Associate and Affiliate panel of international umpires.
She stood in three Women’s World Cups, in 2000, 2009 and 2013, and in March this year, joined Australia’s Claire Polosak as the only two women to officiate at the Women’s World Twenty20 tournament in India. Cross created history when she stood in the opening clash between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Chennai.
She was also the first women to umpire in a New Zealand men’s domestic T20 match during the 2006-07 season, the former wicketkeeper having initially taken up umpiring in 1998.
‘‘I’m very happy that it is another first, particularly for two more women in New Zealand cricket,’’ Cross said.
South African-born Venter, now based in Auckland, last year became the first woman to umpire an Australian premier match as part of Cricket Victoria and Auckland Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association’s umpire exchange program.
A national powerlifting champion in South Africa, 50-year-old Venter went on to play, coach, then umpire the game in Finland, before moving to New Zealand in 2004. She has still to officiate at a Women’s World Cup, with those appointments for next year’s tournament in England and Wales still to be determined.
‘‘I’m very honoured to be here with Kathy and to share in the experience,’’ Venter said.
Aucklander Cotton began umpiring senior men’s cricket in Timaru in 2010 after a playing career which included a brief involvement with the Wakatu club in Nelson. She also enjoyed a stint in England when she represented Kent.
Now a Christchurch solicitor, 38-year-old Cotton has also been involved in several trans-Tasman umpiring exchanges.
Since moving to Christchurch, she has regularly umpired premier men’s club cricket and for the past three seasons has stood in NZC’s national women’s under-21 tournament.