U-17 stars challenged by senior NZ coach

‘‘I want those under-17 players to not just be inspired by what they’ve done, but be motivated by what they’ve done.’’

Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni wants to see what the country’s history-making under17s have got.

With a place in next year’s World Cup in France secured last weekend, when his team won the Oceania Women’s Nations Cup, Sermanni has six months to finalise a 23-strong squad for the tournament.

As he begins to do so, he has laid down a challenge to the

under-17s who finished third at their

World Cup in Uruguay, becoming the first New Zealand team to win a medal at a Fifa event.

‘‘All these players who are performing well, whether they’re

under-17s or

under-20s, are definitely in the frame to make the national team,’’ said Sermanni, who will attend the World Cup draw in France this weekend.

‘‘If you look at my history in football, I’m not someone who’s frightened to put a younger player in the team if I think that player is good enough, and that will be the case here.

‘‘I want those under-17 players to not just be inspired by what they’ve done, but be motivated by what they’ve done, and come in and put pressure on me and the other players in the senior squad to make the World Cup.

‘‘That’s what I want to see, and if they’re good enough, they’ll be in the World Cup squad. It’s as simple as that.

‘‘The ones that are not quite ready yet, but who we think have got potential, they’ll be in and around the programme as well.’’

Sermanni said that challenge extended to under-20s players and also to senior players currently outside the Ferns squad.

Under-17 coach Leon Birnie said during the World Cup he believed there were players worth looking at.

‘‘I don’t want to speak on behalf of Tom but what I do feel is there are a number of players here that have really put their hand up to say: ‘Hey, you’re taking a squad of 21 to the World Cup and I deserve to be looked at.’

‘‘I think that’s a really positive and great space to be in, when you’ve got your under-17s saying don’t forget about us for your senior World Cup.’’

There are four players from the under-17 team more likely than others to be in the selection frame – two who have already played for the Football Ferns and two who have stepped up to

under-20 level. Goalkeeper Anna Leat has been a fixture in Ferns squads since the start of 2017 and will surely return to the fold after missing the Nations Cup campaign while making history in Uruguay.

Striker Maggie Jenkins is the other player to have made her senior debut, getting a handful of minutes off the bench against Thailand late last year. With experienced strikers Amber Hearn and Hannah Wilkinson both recovering from knee injuries, she is likely to get a chance to impress, at the very least.

The others are midfielder Gabi Rennie, who was placed on standby ahead of the Ferns’ match against Japan in June, but not required, and defender Aneka Mittendorff, who played every minute of August’s Under-20 World Cup.

Two players have previously gone to a senior World Cup the year after playing at the Under-17 World Cup – Daisy Cleverley in

2015 and Katie Bowen in 2011. The Ferns were eager followers of the under-17s while at the Nations Cup and Sermanni said the historic run had been a great inspiration.

‘‘That achievement, when you consider the preparation and the resources that our girls have compared to some of the powerhouses, it’s an absolutely unbelievable result.

‘‘Things can happen in tournaments. It can be strange, you can get on a run, your confidence can be high, the group just comes together perfectly at the right time, and it’s surprising what can happen.

‘‘Seeing what the under-17s have done has certainly given a boost to our senior players,’’ Sermanni said. Nervously taking guard for his first test innings at age 34, Will Somerville got lucky.

Not only with an early decision review that went his way in the third test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, but the fact he was schooled by one of the best in the business at the other end.

As offspinner, Somerville negotiated the first hour of day two without scoring (he ended with 12 off 99 balls), BJ Watling – one year younger – guided him through with yet another test batting masterclass.

New Zealand’s wicketkeeper/ batsman emphasised his status among world’s best at his craft with an unbeaten 77 off 250 balls, in their first innings of 274.

It boosted his career average when designated wicketkeeper to a world-class 40.92 from 49 tests, better than the batting marks of Brendon McCullum (34.18), India’s MS Dhoni (38.09), South Africa’s Mark Boucher (30.30), Australia’s Brad Haddin (32.98) and England’s Alec Stewart (34.92) when they also had the demands of crouching behind the stumps for long periods.

Watling already had an extensive fan club in the New Zealand dressing room and Somerville became its newest member.

‘‘I like the way BJ plays his cricket. He’s a tough character and puts a lot of value on his wicket and sticks to his gameplan,’’ Somerville said.

‘‘He talked me through it as well, making sure I didn’t need to do anything silly. Just play straight, we built our partnership on that, and it was good fun.’’

This was pure test cricket, the ‘‘long game’’ as Watling put it, to give his side a first innings total that kept them in the game as they chase a first away series victory over Pakistan in 49 years.

‘‘We scrapped really hard and Will, even though he didn’t score a run, he batted for an hour and allowed myself to get a few runs and get a little partnership going. It was those little things we were quite happy with,’’ Watling said.

‘‘It’s great to score runs and good to help the team put a competitive first innings total. It was important for us to make sure we put something on the board that would give us a chance to win this game.’’

Watling ran out of partners before he could reach three figures and pass McCullum’s New Zealand record of five test centuries as wicketkeeper. They’ve been level since July 2016, Watling’s most recent test ton against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.

With the gloves, Watling’s standards remain high, having debuted as an opener in 2009 and returned to his former wicketkeeping role in 2012. His catch of Pakistan’s Haris Sohail late on

Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni, above