Glorious Tales
Blackcaps & Domestic Cricket, The NZ Derby in the A-League, Joseph Parker's new opponent, Tall Blacks in action, Football Ferns preview & more
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New Zealand Warriors Pre-Season Notebook Ahead The 2025 NRL Season (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Big Opportunities For Te Hurinui Twidle, Jeremiah Mata'utia, Salesi Ataata & More (Rugby League)
The Football Ferns Have Named A Very Intriguing Squad For Their Costa Rica Tour (Football)
Flying Kiwis – February 18 (Football)
Auckland FC Have Unveiled Their Very First Men's Reserves Squad (Football)
A New Zealand Breakers NBL25 Post-Mortem (Football)
2024/25 Ford Trophy: Canterbury & Auckland Keep Winning (Cricket)
2024/25 Ford Trophy: Auckland Go Back To Back, Central Districts On The Up (Cricket)
2024/25 Ford Trophy: Canterbury Take The Lead, Youngsters Dominate (Cricket)
New Zealand Find An ODI Groove Leading Into 2025 Champions Trophy (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
Below are a bunch of Blackcaps stats that were posted on social media on Thursday and hopefully you're zoned out of social media so I've copied them in here. Two funky things to digest before that though starting with a brief example of what Aotearoa's young cricketers are up to...
In our Bonus Pod yesterday we chatted about the career best zones for Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner. This started when I went through Santner's stats for the bits and bobs, then we talked through it for the Bonus Pod and here's a glorious tale of two lads who have improved right as their team needed them to...
Santner's best years of ODI bowling - only years averaging below 30
2021: 21ov, 4w @ 20.2avg/3.8rpo
2025: 62ov, 12w @ 23.7avg/4.5rpo
2017: 149ov, 26w @ 26.3av/4.6rpo
Santner's best years of Test bowling - only years averaging below 30
2024: 179.1ov, 27w @ 19.9avg/3rpo
2023: 39ov, 6w @ 19.3avg/2.9rpo
2020: 25.3ov, 2w @ 29.5avg/2.3rpo
Henry's best years of ODI bowling - only years averaging below 20
2025: 52.1ov, 16w @ 14.3avg/4.4rpo
2014: 56ov, 19w @ 15.2avg/5.1rpo
2021: 29ov, 6w @ 16.8avg/3.4rpo
Henry's best years of Test bowling - only years averaging below 30
2024: 271.5ov, 48w @ 18.5avg/3.2rpo
2017: 70ov, 8w @ 26.1avg/2.9rpo
2022: 127ov, 16w @ 26.3avg/3.3rpo
2023: 196ov, 19w @ 29.2avg/2.8rpo
2021: 70ov, 7w @ 29.5avg/2.9rpo
Blackcaps bits and bobs...
New Zealand has won three consecutive ODIs vs Pakistan in Pakistan
Feb 8: win by 78 runs
Feb 14: win by 5 wickets
Feb 19: win by 60 runs
6-1 in ODIs this year
ODI stats this year
Batting
Will Young: 241 runs @ 40avg/90sr
Glenn Phillips: 237 runs @ 79avg/124sr
Kane Williamson: 226 runs @ 75avg/89sr
Daryl Mitchell: 198 runs @ 33avg/90sr
Tom Latham: 175 runs @ 35avg/99sr
Mark Chapman: 172 runs @ 86avg/102sr
Devon Conway: 155 runs @ 51avg/78sr
Rachin Ravindra: 150 runs @ 37avg/122sr
Bowling
Matt Henry: 16w @ 14avg/4.4rpo
Will O'Rourke: 12w @ 28avg/5.6rpo
Mitchell Santner: 12w @ 23avg/4.5rpo
Michael Bracewell: 7w @ 29avg/4.1rpo
Nathan Smith: 6w @ 34avg/6.4rpo
Jacob Duffy: 5w @ 23avg/5.6rpo
Glenn Phillips: 1w @ 134avg/6.3rpo
ODI career mahi
Will Young: 43.08avg/87.5sr, 3 x 100, 1 x 50
Glenn Phillips: 37.4avg/99.7sr, 1 x 100, 4 x 50
Matt Henry: 25.33avg/5.18rpo, 12 x 4w, 2 x 5w
Will O'Rourke: 27.11avg/5.78rpo, 1 x 4w
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HBJ Shield is back this weekend so here are some refresher notes...
Table
Otago: 7-1 | 35 points | 1.924 NRR
Central Districts: 5-3 | 24 points | 0.294 NRR
Auckland: 4-4 | 17 points | -0.168 NRR
Canterbury: 3-5 | 14 points | -0.857 NRR
Wellington: 3-5 | 13 points | -0.161
Northern Districts: 2-6 | 8 points | -0.896 NRR
Most Runs
Maddy Green: 444 runs @ 63.4avg/83sr
Kate Ebrahim: 388 runs @ 77.6avg/67sr
Caitlin Gurrey: 322 runs @ 40.2avg/79sr
Bella James: 321 runs @ 53.5avg/83sr
Emma McLeod: 300 runs @ 42.8avg/73sr
Flora Devonshire: 264 runs @ 44avg/80sr
Lauren Down: 258 runs @ 32.2avg/81sr
Suzie Bates: 245 runs @ 245avg/90sr
Felicity Robertson: 235 runs @ 39.1avg/71sr
Kerry Tomlinson: 234 runs @ 117avg/124sr
Most Wickets
Eden Carson: 17w @ 14.8avg/3.3rpo
Bree Illing: 17w @ 18.2avg/4.2rpo
Ocean Bartlett: 17w @ 18.9avg/4.8rpo
Flora Devonshire: 14w @ 16.3avg/4.3rpo
Amie Hucker: 14w @ 24.1avg/4.5rpo
Anna Browning: 13w @ 12.1avg/3.9rpo
Xara Jetly: 13w @ 15.5avg/3.6rpo
Hannah Rowe: 13w @ 15.6avg/3.4rpo
Hayley Jensen: 12w @ 13.5avg/2.5rpo
Jess Kerr: 12w @ 20.5avg/3.3rpo
Molly Penfold has been ruled out of the rest of the summer due to injury as White Ferns prepare to host Sri Lanka for three ODIs and three T20Is. Penfold was decent in the two ODI losses to Australia late last year with 4w @ 28.7avg/5.7rpo but she has still averaged 40+ in all three years where she's taken a wicket, while not taking a wicket in 2022...
2021: 2w @ 42.5avg/5rpo
2022: 11ov @ 3.6rpo
2023: 2w @ 41avg/5.8rpo
2024: 5w @ 47avg/5.7rpo
White Ferns could select a youngster as they tend to do in these situations and Bree Illing has the lefty profile that could be nurtured during this Sri Lankan tour. That shouldn't be required right now though as White Ferns need wins and the seam department is their deepest pocket right now.
It was baffling that Jess Kerr didn't play in the Rose Bowl. Hannah Rowe wasn't even in the squad and Hayley Jensen can still offer value as an experienced squad member. Rosemary Mair is often injured but has the pace/bounce stuff that has seen Penfold get lots of opportunities. Sophie Devine won't be playing, Lea Tahuhu's always battling injuries and the depth of spinners can balance out any lack of seamers.
Rowe, J-Kerr and Jensen have been good in HBJ Shield as listed above which should see them earn selection/more overs. There are youngsters on the rise with Amie Hucker, Emma Black, Marama Downes, Jess Simmons, Louis Kotkamp and Natasha Codyre all offering various levels of potential. They are all regular righties who are rather similar though and Illing's got a bit of x-factor.
Busy morning and I've cooked up lots of rugby league stuff recently so I'll chill on that. Two comprehensive rugby league yarns are in the Reading Menu and the rugby league portion of our podcast always gets lots of views so tap in.
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
Joseph Parker was supposed to have his IBF heavyweight world title fight on the weekend. He was scheduled to step into the ring against reigning champ Daniel Dubois on Saturday evening in Saudi Arabia... but there was some drama with Dubois catching ill in the days leading up. It would be pretty crazy to risk a world title belt with illness, hence the IBF quickly began scoping out potential last-minute replacements with Lawrence Okolie and David Adeleye on the shortlist – though both of them had scheduled fights in April that would need to be rearranged – and undefeated Frenchman Mourad Aliev also being mentioned. However, when Dubois was officially ruled out by the doctors earlier this morning, the bloke who got the gig was Martin Bakole.
Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole. Same time, same place. The estimate is that it’ll be ringwalks around 10am NZT on Sunday but you never exactly know with those ones due to the fluidity with the undercards (Parker’s fight is top of the undercards with the main event being the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol light-heavyweight rematch).
Bakole is a bit of a monster to have to face so suddenly. He’s a 31 year old Congolese heavyweight with a 21-1 (16 KO) record. Nearly two metres tall with serious power. In his most recent fight back in August 2024, Bakole demolished previously undefeated Jared Anderson in a fifth-round knockout to launch himself into contender status, with many pundits already considering him one of the most avoided dudes in the division. Bakole doesn’t have many other notable wins on his resume yet. His one defeat was against Michael Hunter in 2018 by a tenth-round TKO. He’s beaten Sergey Kuzmin, Tony Yoka, and Carlos Takam (he beat Takam in 2023 whereas Parker beat Takam in 2016).
Good thing for Joe Parker then that his last two fights have been against man-giants Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang (the latter of whom is fighting on the undercard of this bout against Agit Kabayel). In fact, by a strange coincidence, Wilder, Zhang, and Bakole are all listed by Boxrec as 198cm tall (compared to Parker at 193cm). Daniel Dubois is 196cm so these buggers are all massive. Bakole is probably going to weigh close to 130kgs as well, he’s a very big boy.
One benefit of this for Parker is that he will now get to hold onto his WBO interim title, keeping him in line as one of Oleksandr Usyk’s next challengers. He was going to have to forego that if he beat Dubois because the organisations don’t like to share. But ideally he beats Bakole and they reschedule the Dubois fight for another time because watching these two nice humble lads trying to do the trash-talking stuff that the promoters expect of them has been one of the funniest things I’ve seen this year.
Auckland FC vs Wellington Phoenix ALM Stat Rankings…
Alex Paulsen with the Wellington Phoenix in 2023-24
11 clean sheets in 29 games, 81.1% save percentage, 0.94 goals against per 90 mins
Alex Paulsen with Auckland FC in 2024-25
9 clean sheets in 16 games, 79.2% save percentage, 0.75 goals against per 90 mins
The two NZ ALM clubs by for kiwi representation...
Auckland FC have given 54.96% of their total minutes to New Zealanders (10.47% to Australians, 34.57% to imports)
Wellington Phoenix have given 59.26% of their total minutes to New Zealanders (8.9% to Australians, 31.85% to imports)
The Tall Blacks played away to Hong Kong overnight and had a very comfortable 92-51 victory. Nothing to worry about there. This result was an expected one but what wasn’t so expected was that the Philippines were shocked 91-84 by Chinese Taipei in a concurrent game. The Gilas had beaten New Zealand earlier in these Asia Cup qualifiers, itself an upset, but with these results the two nations are now tied with 4-1 records ahead of facing each other in Auckland on Sunday. That game will now decide who finishes top of the group for slightly better seeding when the Asia Cup draw is made. Both nations have already qualified.
It was a pretty high-scoring and efficient first quarter as both teams shot well and traded leads. But Hong Kong couldn’t keep that up for long enough and the Tall Blacks soon surged ahead. HK were up 18-17 at one stage… only to be down by five when the first quarter ended. They then trailed by 19 at half-time, the deficit was 24 after three, and then 41 points at full-time. Hong Kong only scored four points in the fourth.
Rebounds were actually even across the game but NZ shot 48% from threes, had ten fewer turnovers, and had ten more assists than their opponents. All 11 Tall Blacks who played scored points, with Jordan Ngatai leading the way with 20pts (including, incredibly, 6/7 from threes). Also popping off were Tai Wynyard with 13 points and 9 rebounds, and Reuben Te Rangi with 18 points.
The starting five:
Taylor Britt, Walter Brown, Reuben Te Rangi, Tohi Smith-Milner, Sam Waardenburg
Unfortunately, we didn’t see much of Waardenburg though. He’d already been dealing with a neck issue from late in the NBL season and he took an accidental elbow to that region from Tai Wynyard in the fourth quarter and never returned. Fingers-crossed he’s alright for the Philippines game.
Also in there was a debut for Tama Isaac, who checked in alongside his brother Kaia (who debuted in November). Pretty cool moment. They become the ninth set of brothers to have represented the Tall Blacks. That debut happened in the first quarter, while Jackson Ball joined the club midway through the second for his own debut. These guys join a steady progression of teenagers being given early development opportunities with the national team, usually one or two per tour, over the past couple years. Hayden Jones, Oscar Goodman, and Julius Halaifonua being other notables.
My Preferred Football Ferns Starting Eleven For Costa Rica
GK – Vic Esson (Bri Edwards, Geo Candy)
RB – Grace Neville (Manaia Elliott)
CB – Mackenzie Barry (Meikayla Moore)
CB – Claudia Bunge (Liz Anton)
LB – Mickey Foster (Liz Anton)
CM – Kate Taylor (Emma Pijnenburg)
CM – Annalie Longo (Maya Hahn)
AM – Macey Fraser (Katie Kitching)
RW – Indi Riley (Hannah Blake)
CF – Milly Clegg (Kelli Brown, Ruby Nathan)
LW – Jacqui Hand (Grace Jale)
Have them defend in a 4-4-2 with the attacking midfielder pushing up alongside the striker and the wingers dropping in, but have them attack in a 4-3-3 where they can squeeze the wingers infield with overlapping fullbacks but two good midfielders able to slide and cover against the counter-attack.
I haven’t heard anything about injuries yet but there are always a couple of niggles, especially with the travel involved. But Kelli Brown and Indi Riley, who were injured when the squad was picked, have both returned to fitness for their clubs and have looked very good in doing so.
I don’t love the idea of Taylor in midfield after she’s been playing exclusively as a CB in France... but KT is the only one with enough mobility and tackling to do that role while Malia Steinmetz is injured. And she was playing there at the Olympics. Mickey Foster would be the alternative, having largely been a CDM for Durham, though she did play left-back on the weekend... and there aren’t any other left-backs in this squad. Neville, Barry, and Anton would be the alternatives but I want someone who’ll contribute to the attack as much as the defence (for that reason I almost went Elliott > Neville at RB, even though Neville is the more sound player at a higher level).
Most Instances of Blackcaps Bowling the 50th Over of an ODI (Since 2000)
Shane Bond – 22 (8.97 RPO/18.44 AVG)
Tim Southee – 18 (11.94 RPO/15.46 AVG)
Jacob Oram – 16 (10.00 RPO/20.00 AVG)
Kyle Mills – 13 (7.74 RPO/13.33 AVG)
Daryl Tuffey – 12 (10.07 RPO/49.50 AVG)
Jimmy Neesham – 12 (11.47 RPO/18.17 AVG)
Matt Henry – 8 (8.70 RPO/9.67 AVG)
James Franklin – 8 (9.60 RPO/12.80 AVG)
Trent Boult – 8 (10.09 RPO/11.29 AVG)
Lockie Ferguson – 7 (9.24 RPO/9.50 AVG)
There haven’t been many recent games that went into a 50th over. The away tour to Sri Lanka was rain-affected. In the first match, it was Jacob Duffy who took the last over. He went for a single then got a wicket and the rain meant he didn’t get to finish. The other two games never got that far. When Sri Lanka came here in January, they were bowled out in games one and two… but in game three they put up 290/8 and Matt Henry bowled a lovely last over that went: 0 1 W 1 0 4 (6 runs, 1 wicket)
Into the tri-series, the Blackcaps bowled Pakistan out slightly early in game one. South Africa put up 304/6 in the second match, with Matt Henry again getting Over 50 and delivering another belter: 1 1 W 0 1 0 (3 runs, 1 wicket). Pakistan got bowled out in the last over of the final thanks to Will O’Rourke going: W 1 W with the only three balls he needed. O’Rourke has one other instance of bowling the last over and he took 2/2 from five deliveries that day as well. This was in a win over Bangladesh in December 2023 (only his second ODI). Pakistan didn’t make it to over 50 in the Champions Trophy opener.
Legendary bowlers that they are, it’s probably fair to say that Tim Southee and Trent Boult weren’t so great at the very death... as those fiftieth-over run rates can tell you. Lockie Ferguson’s been a bit better but Jimmy Neesham tended to get pumped as well. This previous-generation flaw is why Blackcaps fans flinch when someone says “Super Over” (the Blackcaps are 1-7 in T20I super overs and let’s not even mention their only ODI super over). But apparently Matt Henry and Will O’Rourke are different gravy so those worries might now be a thing of the past.
Musical Jam...