Clear Cut
Blackcaps ODI yarns, Football Ferns vs Mexico, Ford Trophy cricket, Breakers/Sam Mennenga, WNL Team of the Week, and more
Scotty’s Word
No rugby league in today’s dispatch, just lots of cricket. Beyond the wall are more stats for Daryl Mitchell and Zak Foulkes, a Ford Trophy spotlight on Auckland and a bit more information about the best emerging players from Ford Trophy’s round one.
A Summer Of Transition For New Zealand Warriors In NSW Cup Ahead Of The 2026 Season
Basics For The Best Emerging Cricketers With Each Team Ahead Of The 2025/26 Ford Trophy
2025 England Tour Of New Zealand: Five Blackcaps Things Between T20I & ODI Series
2025/26 Ford Trophy: Round One Basics
New Zealand in ODIs since the start of 2024...
Blackcaps: 12-5
White Ferns: 5-13
White Ferns haven’t made the semi-finals in four consecutive ODI World Cups. They won the 2024 T20 World Cup but couldn’t crack the semis in three tournaments before that. All up, White Ferns have made the semi-finals once in their last eight World Cups.
Suzie Bates at the 2025 ODI World Cup…
Bat: 5inns, 40 runs @ 8avg/61sr
Ball: 10ov, 1w @ 61avg/6.1rpo
Daryl Mitchell and Matt Henry are ODI legends for Aotearoa...
New Zealand’s highest ODI batting averages for 500+ runs
Daryl Mitchell: 50.45
Kane Williamson: 48.88
Luteru Taylor: 47.55
Glenn Turner: 47
New Zealand’s lowest ODI bowling averages for 50+ wickets…
Shane Bond: 20.88
Sir Richard Hadlee: 21.56
Geoff Allott: 23.21
Trent Boult: 24.38
Matt Henry: 24.82
Best Blackcaps in 2025 ODIs…
Daryl Mitchell: 542 runs @ 45.1avg/85sr
Rachin Ravindra: 430 runs @ 47.7avg/111sr
Kane Williamson: 425 runs @ 53.1avg/87sr
Matt Henry: 26w @ 16.3avg/4.9rpo
Mitchell Santner: 19w @ 25.3avg/4.3rpo
Jacob Duffy: 15w @ 20.2avg/6rpo
Blair Tickner has been called up to the Blackcaps ODI squad…
With an ODI bowling record of 42.4avg/6.5rpo and 1w @ 7.8rpo in CD’s win vs Wellington over the weekend, Tickner didn’t really demand this selection. That’s all good because Tickner is roughly 10th in the seaming depth chart and the only younger lad in the mix for this role would have been Matt Fisher, but he didn’t play the first round of Ford Trophy.
First ODI vs England: Henry, Foulkes, Duffy, Smith
Injured: O’Rourke, Sears, Jamieson, Ferguson, Milne
That’s nine seamers listed, with Fisher making it 10. The only other seamers in the mix who played Ford Trophy are Scott Kuggeleijn and Ben Lister. Kuggeleijn’s time has passed and Lister would have been an interesting option as he’s the only lefty in the wider Blackcaps group.
Selecting Tickner doesn’t smell like good depth but best not to stress about a seamer ranked 10th-ish in the depth chart.
My funkiest performance from the first round of Ford Trophy was Bevon Jacobs hitting 67* @ 149sr. Jacobs had a bit of a slump in T20 leagues and then three ducks in a row for NZ-A during their tour of South Africa, but that tour finished with a knock of 51.
Jacobs showed some gritty in his slower knock of 20 runs vs Australia, so he’s flipped three consecutive ducks into three 20+ scores with two over 50. Last summer Jacobs scored 251 runs @ 35.8avg/107sr in the Ford Trophy and he’s got a List-A record of 27.9avg/106sr. Don’t forget that Jacobs started his Plunket Shield journey with 476 runs @ 59.5avg last summer.
Musical jam…
Nick’s Notebook
There was too much sport on this past weekend. I’m still trying to catch up... so forgive the lack of A-League stuff (aside from some Nix Women squad notes in the paid section). Might see how it goes on Thursday, same with Joseph Parker, NZ U17 Women’s footy, and a couple other ideas I’ve got floating but don’t have the time to get to. But there was a Football Ferns international his afternoon. They lost 2-0 to Mexico following on from a 1-0 loss in the first game. And here are a few ideas...
Soft Goals Conceded
The three goals that Mexico scored were from a corner kick which Vic Esson came out for and got nowhere near, a low free kick cross which beat the first defender and then nobody tracked the runner who touched home, and then a fumble by Esson leading to a shot that Kate Taylor cleared off the line... into the back of the striker and it bobbled over before KT could untangle herself from the net in time. Well, we assume it went over. The replays were inconclusive but the goal was given. Mexico were good value for their two victories, they’re a fastly improving nation with a strong professional league and past results against them don’t reflect the competitive force that they’re becoming. All the more reason why New Zealand cannot be conceding silly, preventable goals like those. What’s more is that they conceded in the tenth minute of both games, then in the sixteenth minute of the second. This team is not built to play from a deficit.
Very Gentle Progress
Having gotten the grouchiness out of the way in the previous idea, now we get to look at the half full part of the glass which tells us that the Ferns played some nice stuff against Mexico, defended pretty well once they got settled each time, and showed enough going forward to think there’s something developing here. They need better finishing and even more to the point they need better crossing/passing so as not to ask the shooters to do so much. Set pieces are a key outlet, though Mexico dealt with them well. Ideally we’d have some more range as well, players who can score from outside the box. But keep in mind this was a Ferns squad without Macey Fraser, CJ Bott, Rebekah Stott, Malia Steinmetz, Grace Wisnewski, and a few others. Definitely not full capacity.
On The Rise
A few early considerations for players who’ve upped their standings in the Ferns squads... Kate Taylor has emerged as one of our most consistent overseas pro with Dijon FCO in France and it looks like she’s nailed down the central CB role under Michael Mayne having started all six games there this year (Vic Esson is the only other player to have started every game in 2025). Maya Hahn was used in a deeper midfield role against Mexico, bit more similar to what she does for her clubs, and that calmness on the ball combined with her precision passing makes her a great asset there. I also reckon Mickey Foster’s been very good in that back three, particularly in the first game. She’s been used a central defender for Durham this year and that could be the spot for her in this system too. And Emma Pijnenburg has quietly come off the bench in five consecutive games, emerging as a stealthy midfield option for the Ferns.
Goalkeeping Depth
There’s not a lot of it at the moment... but don’t say Michael Mayne isn’t looking. It was odd that they only picked one deputy for Vic Esson on this tour but they amended that between the first and second games when Maddie Iro was added to the squad. Like Alina Santos, the other keeper here, she’s an NZ age-grade rep who is currently at university in America (and therefore close and available) who is uncapped for the senior team. Vic Esson has played every minute so far this year but Iro joins Santos, Claudia Jenkins, and Geo Candy in being part of squads as uncapped options. Same with Murphy Sheaff who was in the Olympics squad last year. Bri Edwards does have one cap and she’s been around the place. Anna Leat should return soon, probably against Aussie in November once she’s had a few games for Newcastle. It seems pretty clear-cut that Esson, Leat, and Jenkins are our best three goalies but they’re having a good look around.
The Breakers had a shocking loss on Thursday night, blowing a massive first half lead to fall by a point against Brisbane Bullets at home. Just inexcusable messiness for a team that’s trying to dig out of a losing situation. The most frustrating thing about it is that they’ve shown flashes of brilliant basketball (like the first half vs Brisbane) but can’t put four quarters together – in fact, it’s in the fourth quarter when things usually fall apart. Their two wins have been blowouts where they didn’t have to find clutch buckets. Against Brisbane, even after they threw that big lead away they were still in a good spot to grind out the win... if they were a more capable offensive team. NZB shot 1/17 from threes in the second half, scoring just 26 points overall. Sam Mennenga alone had scored 25 in the first half (then only scored two more from just five field goal attempts in quarters three and four).
It’s the same old story where this just does not feel like a well-coached team. Petteri Koponen is an easy target as a leftover face from the previous owners but that doesn’t make it untrue. His line-ups are all over the place – this game was yet another in which eleven different players got at least seven minutes and nine played 10+. Rob Baker is barely a factor. Max Darling was hardly playing then he randomly started against Brisbane (an experiment that didn’t work, as he was -12 plus/minus from 19 mins in a one-point loss). He had Mennenga going nuts in the first half then couldn’t figure out the adjustment to keep him involved. So many late possessions boil down to: let Parker Jackson-Cartwright make something happen by himself. Izaiah Brockington has still not had a positive plus/minus game and we’re nine games into the season. The criticism keeps being that the kiwi depth players aren’t good enough but that’s overshadowing the fact that the three imports are all underperforming (PJC obviously by a lot less than the other two). I suspect Dillon Boucher is a patient man but he’s gotta be getting itchy about this.
Updated Breakers Results Under Petteri Koponen
NBL25: WWLWLWWWLWLLLLLLLLWLLLLWLLLWL
NBL26: LLLLWLWLL
But at least there’s Sam Mennenga, who from the very start of his NBL career (this is year three for him) has looked like somebody with huge NBL potential but lacked the consistency to put himself alongside the best local bigs in the competition. That’s no longer the case. Every game this guy is leading the way for the Breakers – he’s been their best player by a country mile thus far (even though PJC gets all the attention, ignoring the inefficiencies and the heavy-handed role he’s had in their late game stutters).
Sam Mennenga in NBL 26
vs Brisbane: 25 MIN | 14 PTS | 8 REB | 3 AST
vs Perth: 23 MIN | 8 PTS | 7 REB | 2 AST
vs Sydney: 24 MIN | 14 PTS | 12 REB | 3 AST
vs Illawarra: 20 MIN | 20 PTS | 8 REB | 1 AST
vs SEM: 30 MIN | 29 PTS | 11 REB | 1 AST
vs Tasmania: 25 MIN | 12 PTS | 8 REB | 1 AST
vs Melbourne: 28 MIN | 16 PTS | 4 REB | 1 AST
vs Brisbane: 31 MIN | 27 PTS | 6 REB | 4 AST
Sam Mennenga Year By Year Averages
NBL24: 17 MIN | 6.9 PTS (46.7 FG%) | 3.9 REB | 0.7 AST
NBL25: 22 MIN | 11.9 PTS (50.6 FG%) | 5.4 REB | 1.0 AST
NBL26: 26 MIN | 17.5 PTS (52.0 FG%) | 7.9 REB | 2.0 AST
In other news...
Jackson Ball started for Illawarra Hawks in just his second game. Remember he joined up late after hanging back to play NZ nationals for Napier Boys’ High School so he’s only even been around the team for a few weeks. He debuted last week getting 12 mins in a blowout loss against South East Melbourne... and then earned a spot in the starting team, logging 32 minutes with the best plus/minus on the team (+8 in a 1-point win). They weren’t running plays for him or anything, so the box score only reads 2 points and 5 rebounds, but that’s a crazy promotion for a 17-year-old.
WNL Team of the Week #5
GK – Hannah Mitchell (Auckland United) – Didn’t have a whole lot to do but she did it all well, commanding her area, organising her defence, and making the saves that she needed to make... a diving stop against a flicked header and a 1v1 denial near the end were the standouts but in a 1-0 win against a title rival all saves are crucial saves.
RB – Kenya Brooke (Eastern Suburbs) – That’s a very long throw that she’s got. And that long throw became her team’s best outlet in a tight contest against Western Springs... leading to the winning goal with ten mins to go. Oh yeah and pretty good defensive mahi as well, though that’s come to be expected from KB.
CB – Rebekah Van Dort (Eastern Suburbs) – The headliner of the first defence to limit Maddi Ollington to just a single goal, now that’s good business. RVD ran the show with a pristine centre-back performance barely giving those dangerous Springs forwards a sniff.
CB – Laney Strachan (West Coast Rangers) – At the heart of an outstanding WCR shift, leading from the back and winning countless tackles and headers, even showing off a few shifty skills carrying the ball forward, and in the process proving that Auckland United are fallible after all... even though AUFC still won 1-0 thanks to a controversial penalty decision.
LB - Caelin Patterson (Petone) – Let’s squeeze another central defender in because even against a Central team that hasn’t scored a goal, dealing with the wind at Massey Uni on Wednesday night was not easy... Petone took their time in putting away a few goals but Patterson kept them safe throughout with some excellent front-foot defence.
CM – TJ Anderson (Eastern Suburbs) – Her corner kicks were fantastic, leading to her team’s first goal, and then she scored the second herself getting in the right place at the right time. The American’s been a really nice addition to this Lilywhites midfield.
CM – Jazz Shailer (Petone) – Given a bit more room to work with against a deep-set Central defence and she used it, combining well with her teammates and then scored a beauty of a goal herself.
CM – Macey Fraser (Wellington Phoenix) – You’d hope that a player of Fraser’s calibre would be a level above dropping down to play some reserves footy, building up her match fitness after six months out, so it’s good to know that she was. Every touch, every decision. Pure class. Plus she blessed us with a banger of a goal.
FW – Nieve Collin (Southern United) – Pretty much led her team to victory by scoring twice and setting up another as Southern rocked their South Island rivals Canterbury Utd, popping up when needed to ensure her team got full reward.
FW – Summer Laskey (Wellington United) – Hat-trick hero for the Diamonds, what more needs saying?
FW – Maggie Jenkins (Wellington United) – Unlike her buddy Summer, she didn’t score at all during the win against the WeeNix... she simply set the tone with her superb striker mahi, making great runs, holding the ball up, getting teammates involved, and all those good things.
Musical Jam...
