Angled Deliveries
Chloe Knott/Wellington Phoenix, Kane Williamson run-scoring, White Ferns vs Pakistan, Warriors extend Maiu'u & Laban, and more
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All Whites vs Greece & Ireland: The BazeBall Era Has Arrived (Football)
Football Ferns vs Colombia: Squad Yarns & Preview (Football)
Wellington Olympic Are 2023 Men’s National League Champions (Football)
Auckland United Are 2023 Women’s National League Champions (Football)
Flying Kiwis – November 30 (Football)
The NZ Breakers Have Plummeted Again... What’s Going On? (Basketball)
2023 Plunket Shield First Stanza Emerging All Stars (Cricket)
2023/24 HBJ Shield: Round Two Notebook (Best Batters, Spinners, Seamers) (Cricket)
2023/24 Ford Trophy: Round Two Notebook (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
White Ferns start their T20I series against Pakistan on Sunday and I'll whip up a preview for Saturday morning. Here are a few bits and bobs that I'm pondering after the squad was announced on Thursday...
No Eden Carson for the ODI series. Carson is the best bowler in HBJ Shield prior to the third weekend (10w @ 8.6avg/3rpo) and as noted below, Carson's got a fairly similar one-day bowling record to Fran Jonas...
Eden Carson: 39.83avg (ODI) | 26.88avg (List-A)
Fran Jonas: 46.7avg (ODI) | 26.95avg (List-A)
This is especially intriguing because Amelia Kerr's bowling mahi has diminished as she’s grown into being the White Ferns best batter. A-Kerr won't be playing on Sunday as she has a WBBL final against Amy Satterthwaite and Strikers, with A-Kerr putting up scores of 48 and 31 in WBBL finals to help Heat make the big ol' final. A-Kerr took a wicket in both those games, now entering the final with 325 runs @ 29avg/124sr, 10w @ 30avg/7.4rpo.
In four WBBL campaigns, this is A-Kerr's first WBBL averaging over 26 with the ball and conceding more than 7rpo. A-Kerr has maintained a fantastic T20I record of 22.4avg/5.8rpo, yet she is averaging 77.6 this year and after averaging below 22 in her first three years of ODI bowling, A-Kerr is in her third consecutive year averaging 39+.
Even though Carson doesn't have a great ODI record, it's weird that she isn't in the ODI squad when Jonas and A-Kerr aren't putting up fabulous one-day numbers. Keep in mind that the 'spin guru' Craig Howard has overseen this decline in White Ferns spin and if you want another goofy coaching wrinkle; Bob Carter is working with White Ferns for the T20Is vs Pakistan.
Yup, the guy who started the White Ferns plateau and stunk the place out, is back working with the coach who took his job in Ben Sawyer. Sawyer's got some goofy stuff happening here as well with White Ferns not making much progress in his tenure, but Sawyer reckons "We're looking to build on the back of some good recent form in bilateral series".
That good form he speaks of is an ODI record of 2-4 this year and 5-4 in T20s. That good form is a 7-8 White Ferns record across both formats this year.
Molly Penfold is always interesting because she doesn't take many wickets. Penfold has earned consistent White Ferns selection with a LA record of 37avg/5.5rpo and a T20 record of 37avg/7rpo, taking less than 20 wickets in both domestic formats. For context, Carson has 50+ wickets in both formats and Jonas has 40+ wickets in both formats. They have played more domestic cricket than Penfold, yet they also average less than 27 in both formats.
Penfold has 4w @ 34avg/5.9rpo in HBJ Shield so far. Molly's older sister Josie has 4w @ 18avg/4.2rpo while seven other seamers including White Fern Hannah Rowe (7w @ 21avg/5.1rpo) have taken 6+ wickets.
Kate Anderson gets another crack in the White Ferns mixer. Anderson has played two HBJ Shield games, faced four deliveries and scored zero runs. Add that to Anderson's mahi in South Africa and since last summer, Anderson doesn't have a score over 30.
Bernadine Bezuidenhout is back after missing the South Africa series and she has 65 runs @ 21avg/70sr in HBJ Shield. Bezuidenhout does not have a 50+ score in her last 10 games.
None of these things should matter though. The White Ferns best players are good enough to defeat Pakistan in Aotearoa, especially as Pakistan are 2-6 in ODIs this year and 5-9 in T20Is. Anything close to series losses vs Pakistan or a series loss in either format would be a drama.
Blackcaps stats that been been tweeted for those gold folks without much social media...
Kane Williamson yearly Test batting averages since 2017...
2017: 62.8
2018: 59.1
2019: 51.4
2020: 83
2021: 65.8
2022: 74
2023: 73.3
Glenn Phillips vs Rachin Ravindra (FC | LA) bowling
Phillips: 41.4avg | 40.7avg
Ravindra: 50.9avg | 52.7avg
Phillips has bowled in last 7 FC seasons, 2+ wickets in all 7 and 5+ wickets in 5 FC seasons.
Phillips also averages 41.7 in FC batting.
I've also pondered Kyle Jamieson as a funky Blackcap. First is how Jamieson leads a new wave of kiwi summers who have quirky styles and/or fantastic skills. Jamieson is really tall, so are Henry Shipley and Will O'Rourke. Jamieson has been moving the ball both ways when the clouds align in Bangladesh and while Shipley hasn't been sighted this summer, he nibbles the ball from his height. O'Rourke is more typical in his out-swing to righties but he has beaten many inside edges of right-handers as well.
Ben Lister and Ray Toole are notable lefties who angle deliveries across right-handers, unlike Trent Boult's classical lefty swing into righties. Need pace? Ben Sears is hostile. Then there is the Darfield pocket that I've enjoyed this summer which is led by Shipley, although Zak Foulkes and Cameron Paul are making waves for Canterbury this season. Seamers from Darfield are quick enough, they move the ball and have their own natural flow in their run ups then action.
We explored all of Aotearoa's best young cricketers in the latest Subscriber Pod which was sent out this morning. Tap in with that, check in with all our domestic cricket content and learn about these lads who are all worthy of celebration. Back to Jamieson...
Jamieson averages 19+ with the bat in all six cricket realms, which goes up to 20+ in limited overs cricket. Tests and First-Class are Jamieson's weakest batting formats, as well as his best bowling formats with 19.45avg in Tests and 22.2 in FC. Everyone knows how talented Jamieson is and his mahi for Blackcaps in Bangladesh has been a sneaky reminder of his unique talent, which fits into the wider trend of the quirky styles/skills of Aotearoa's young cricketers.
NZ Warriors announced extensions for Zyon Maiu'u and Jacob Laban, which included a note about them both being eligible for Under 19 SG Ball earlier this year. Laban played SGB and so I consistently packaged him alongside Tanner Stowers Smith, Leka Halasima, Patrick Moimoi, Etuate Fukofuka and Eddie Ieremia as SGB lads who played NSW Cup. There wasn't any birthdate information so I assumed that Maiu'u was too old for SGB because he didn't play ... and started at prop for NSW Cup in most games this season.
In all Niche Cache content I have said that as soon as Maiu'u runs the ball, he will be a fan-favourite. While consistently saying that, I didn't have him as an SGB eligible player and this has only amplified my excitement for Maiu'u, who was constantly battling against fringe NRL/senior middle forwards this year. Maiu'u was ruthless in NSW Cup and was obviously too ruthless for SGB.
Rabbitohs did a lovely thing in laying out all their squads in detailed fashion. None of which featured Josiah Karapani (East Tamaki RU) who left NZW SGB to join Rabbitohs and was celebrated by Rabbitohs as one of their best youngsters. I'm now curious to see where Karapani ends up as he was usually part of Rabbitohs extended benches this season and assuming he's fit and locked in (Rabbitohs may have ushered him out because he wasn't), he could be a nifty addition at centre/wing for many NRL teams.
Nazareth Taua was mentioned by Rabbitohs as a Train/Trial player and he featured in our Kiwi-NRL Train/Trial Breakdown. This is funky because the Glenora/Marist junior was listed in the NRL T/T group as an SGB squad member and Taua is the only SGB lad who is in this mix. Two Jersey Flegg (U21) lads are in the Rabbitohs T/T group, while six others are NSW/Queensland Cup.
Another sneaky move was Titans signing Caelys Putoko from Tokoroa and Hamilton Boys High School 1st 15. Putoko played for NZ Schools and he is the second player from the 2023 NZ Schools team (union) who has since entered NRL systems, joining Tevita Naufahu who joined Dolphins from St Kents 1st 15.
Aotearoa is the land of footy (and sporting) abundance so I don't dip into the niggly league vs union stuff. In covering all Kiwi-NRL matters and highlighting the many youngsters who thrive in NRL systems, there haven't been many players from NZ Schools who are then in NRL systems a few months later. NZRU have many school-aged rep teams and they usually ignore players who have already got links to NRL pipelines, or use these players in 'NZ Barbarians' and NZ Maori.
Putoko and Naufahu started in the first NZ Schools game vs Australia with Putoko in the midfield and Naufahu on the wing. That series was played in late September and just over a month later, both are with NRL squads preparing for rugby league. Seems like a notable update to the rugby league and union landscape in Aotearoa.
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
Big news out of the Wellington Phoenix yesterday with vice-captain Chloe Knott resigning from her contract. The club statement cited her struggles balancing a full-time job against her football career, though Knott later put out a personal statement on her social media accounts explaining that, while the financial aspect was part of her decision, she also felt that her “values no longer align with the club or current management”.
So... that’s a bit of a bombshell. Knott scored the winning goal in the team’s most recent game, against Perth Glory last weekend, and is the only player to have featured in all 38 matches for the team across this and the previous two seasons. She’s a valued leader for this team - at 27 she was the second oldest in the squad behind Annalie Longo. Perhaps not a first eleven starter when everyone’s fit this season but absolutely an important part of the group. Her performance in that Perth game was one of her best ever. Plus she becomes eligible for the NZ national team next year.
Her age might’ve counted against her here as it puts her in a different stage of her life than many teammates. According to Stuff’s reporting, Knott has a partner living in Auckland (where she spent her offseason playing for Auckland United). She was having to work before and after training every day while paying rent in Wellington and a mortgage in Auckland. Most of her 20-ish year old teammates are not on the housing ladder. Her financial strain would have ironically been worse than most despite probably earning more than most of them. The salary cap has increased this season but it’s still not going to be compare with what someone like Knott could earn in her day job.
But that’s not exactly what Knott was talking about. Players know they’re making sacrifices to chase a dream, what Knott seems to be getting at with quotes like this...
“It is important for me to be in an environment that prioritises honesty, authenticity, and a genuine care for every individuals and their development on and off the field. I want to work in an environment where all employees feel valued and respected at all ages and in every phases of their career, where their commitment and sacrifice is understood and appreciated, without needing to ask for it first.”
... would appear to be more about how the club (and the wider A-League) support players through that sacrifice. Those are strong words... albeit not very specific ones so it wouldn’t be fair to go lumping the Welly Nix as the bad guys, especially when Knott continues on with mention of “[creating] conversations about the experience that professional footballers are having at their clubs” and hoping “this can be a catalyst for systemic cultural chance within the club and particularly the women’s game”. Like, she’s basically admitting that this stuff is endemic throughout football, especially female football.
Which it pretty much is, to be honest. A lot of players at the highest level have spoken about how quickly the women’s game has evolved, with sudden influxes of funding, attention, and expectation... without there necessarily being enough foundations beneath that. So someone like, say, Sam Kerr at Chelsea. She’s expected to play roughly 40 games per year between the WSL, the various cups, Champions League, and internationals. Possibly more. With heaps of travel involved for those internationals. We don’t know what she’s getting paid to for that workload but we do know the highest ever transfer in the women’s game is less than £500k, whereas the blokes record is £200m (just a casual 400x difference). Even an average level Premier League player can tailor their entire life around what their job with personal trainers and chefs and childcare and all sorts. Women’s Super League... probably not so much. And that’s at the highest level, let alone whatever the Welly Nix are mustering up.
I have a somewhat controversial take on that trend which is that I think it has to be this way. I just don’t reasonably see how those foundations are ever going to get built without the top level product being established first – unfortunately most rich folks ain’t in it for the generosity so the nefarious trickle-down approach might be the only path. But that does mean we’re in a teething stage where what is being asked of female footballers is more than what they’re being compensated for. Situations like Chloe Knott’s are going to happen, and it takes characters like Chloe Knott to keep nudging things in the right direction.
Two more ideas: one is that if you’re putting together that Auckland ALW squad, which admittedly isn’t going to join the league until the year after next (the men’s are next year, the women unfortunately have to wait), then Chloe Knott probably just became your number one name on the signing watchlist.
The other is that the Welly Nix have said that they intend to sign a replacement not only for Knott but also for the injured Grace Wisnewski. They have one import spot left so if they sign two then the other would need to be a local. Keep in mind that most of the best Aussie players are already at ALW clubs. Keep in mind also, and this is a relevant point to the rest of this bit, that this club is borderline broke. The men’s team exhausted their budget despite losing an import and at least three local starting-level players and not replacing any of them with like-for-likes.
One obvious addition in keeping with the club’s strategy would be Ella McMillan, the captain of the reserve team. A very impressive character who can play as a central defender or a midfielder. She’s not got the preferred ALW experience but is a similar age to Manaia Elliott – in fact the two of them are both Melville United products from the Waikato so they’ve played heaps of footy together. Elliott’s done well enough to get a Football Ferns call-up so McMillan could do alright with the same pedigree.
Otherwise... Betsy Hassett is in between seasons in Iceland and could be a useful short-term addition. There will be some USA college graduates emerging in the coming months, amongst whom Gabi Rennie, Maggie Jenkins, Ava Collins, and Aniela Jensen have all been around the Football Ferns environment and could be available – depending on whether they want to hold out for the NWSL Draft or not (or go back for another year of studies). Jacqui Hand is now a free agent after her time in Finland but you’d kinda hope she’s got higher ambitions. Let us wait and see.
By the way, this is the Football Ferns XI I’d like to see on Sunday morning against Colombia:
Vic Esson | Ali Riley, Rebekah Stott, Katie Bowen, Michaela Foster | Malia Steinmetz, Betsy Hassett, Daisy Cleverley | Jacqui Hand, Grace Jale, Indi Riley
That’s pretty standard stuff, leaning on the established players and whatnot. It’ll be disappointing if we don’t finally get some proper Grace Jale number nine minutes. Feels like Foster is a better shout to start than Grace Neville (with Ali Riley on the left) due to the set piece factor. Got to lean on any advantage we can find and that’s a potentially big one. The funky thing is what the second XI would look like behind that, just to illustrate what we’re going to see with such a funky squad full of youthful depth...
Anna Leat (Bri Edwards) | Grace Neville, Mackenzie Barry, Marisa van der Meer, Ally Green | Kate Taylor, Katie Kitching, Aniela Jensen | Manaia Elliott (Ava Collins), Ruby Nathan, Paige Satchell
Of those 13 players, there are six who are uncapped and other than Satchell with her 46 caps, the next most experienced are Leat and Collins with 11 each. Plenty of ideas about this fascinating squad over here.
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Here’s a stat dump of some of the angelic things Kane Williamson accomplished with his latest hundy...
Williamson’s 104 in the first innings of this Test vs Bangladesh was his third in a row in Test cricket, following on from 121no and 215 against Sri Lanka back in March. This was the 45th instance of someone scoring three Test centuries in a row, the second by a New Zealander after Andrew Jones. The record is five by Everton Weekes, while three others have made it to four.
Those three tons were all in different matches, while Williamson also scored 132 in the second Test against England back in February. Meaning that’s four Tests in a row with a hundy... something that’s only happened 21 times and he’s the first NZer to do so. The record there is six matches in a row by Don Bradman.
Of course, in the middle of this streak he also suffered a serious knee injury which pretty sure none of these other jerries had to deal with.
The last five times that Williamson has reached fifty, he’s gone on to make a hundred. He’s also done so eight of the past nine times – with the lone score in that 50-99 range being his 52no in the World Test Championship final, the winning run chase. The last time he was dismissed in this range was an 89 against India in February 2020.
Four of his last eight centuries have been double hundreds (one of the few stats that got worse with his 104 in Sylhet).
Kane Williamson has scored a Test century in 12 consecutive calendar years. He has scored a double century in five consecutive years.
Williamson’s numbers under Tim Southee’s captaincy: 11 innings, 860 runs, 95.55 average, 5 100s & 0 50s (to be fair he averaged 57.43 as captain himself and 59.80 under McCullum so he wasn’t exactly slumming it before that).
We must be due a tour to South Africa at some stage soon because that’s the only country in which Williamson has played Test cricket but not scored a century (he’s tonned in ten different nations).
After that first innings in Sylhet, Williamson’s career average is up to 55.22 which is the highest it has ever been (excluding his first few innings - he scored a hundred on debut but the after 17 matches that average was actually under 30... and has steadily been rising ever since).
With 8228 career runs, KW is up to 31st all-time, having just surpasses Kevin Pietersen. His 29 Test hundreds are equal with Virat Kohli and Don Bradman.
In a year in which Williamson suffered a six-month absence with a knee injury, then spent the next two months focusing on an ODI World Cup... his four Test hundreds in 2023 are still the most of any one in the world.
The clock is ticking for Charlisse Leger-Walker, Aotearoa’s greatest ever college basketballer, as she digs into her final year at Washington State before the WNBA surely comes calling. How’s that going for her so far? Well the three-point shot hasn’t been dropping so she’s only at 11/43 for 25.6% after nine games. Shooting 39.1% from the field overall. But she did recently secure her first career triple-double in a big win over Maryland (11pts/13ast/15reb), only the second TD in the programme’s entire history and first since 1988. Also her team is 8-1 to start the season. So, yup, she’s going alright.
Many more accolades will be on the way for CLW this season. One that’s not going to get any traction over Stateside but which we get to revel in is the all-time leading New Zealand scorers in NCAA Division 1 basketball. Leger-Walker isn’t quite there yet but it’s only a matter of time until she surpasses the current record held by Erin Rooney (which Tera Reed went extremely close to – thanks in part to the extra year of covid eligibility).
Top NZ Scorers in NCAA Div1 Basketball (Male & Female)
Erin Rooney – 1648
Akiene-Tera Reed – 1625
Charlisse Leger-Walker - 1593
Megan Compain – 1497
Kirk Penney – 1454
Stella Beck – 1439
Micaela Cocks – 1195
Ashleigh Karaitiana – 1167
Tai Webster – 1116
Craig Bradshaw - 1114
Enjoy your weekend, here’s some DARTZ...