Hustle & Bustle
Super Smash cricket, Wellington Phoenix & Auckland FC, Emerging Warriors, Kiwis in NBL, All Whites/Football Ferns, and more
Scotty’s Word
On the same day that Ellyse Perry pulled out of the WPL, she started her second stint in Super Smash. Super Smash must be doing something right if Perry is eager to spend summer in Aotearoa and while it’s not quite clear cut (yet) that Perry is choosing Super Smash over WPL, it was funky how news of her WPL withdrawal came as she scored 39 runs @ 126sr and took 3w @ 2.7rpo in her third game for Wellington.
That was part of Wellington’s two wins at Bay Oval vs Northern Districts. Here are a few more quick hitters from the Northern Districts vs Wellington game day...
Tim Robinson hit 54 runs @ 180sr opening the batting for Wellington. He is the second best Blackcaps T20I batter this year and is flourishing in the other formats as well, perhaps building towards a T20 World Cup salute ahead of cooler names if he continues this path.
2025 T20Is: 402 runs @ 44.6avg/144.6sr
Plunket Shield: 381 runs @ 63.5avg/77sr
Ford Trophy: 208 runs @ 69.3avg/98sr
Super Smash: 63 runs @ 21avg/157sr
Nick Kelly’s scores in his last 10 games: 1, 6, 54, 41, 10, 3, 13, 3, 59, 111, 1, 8, 5, 95*.
Jesse Tashkoff is 25-years-old and one of a few undercover emerging cricketers to keep close tabs on through Super Smash. He has only played nine T20s and is enjoying a bigger bowling role right now, while averaging 40+ in all three formats as a lefty tweaker.
His bowling will improve and his batting is already funky. Tashkoff averages 30+ in First-Class and List-A batting impressive strike-rates, as well as centuries in both formats...
FC: 30.55avg/71sr
LA: 34.15avg/100sr
T20: 25.46avg/136sr
Tashkoff whacked 83 runs @ 212.sr in the loss vs Auckland and then he helped Wellington finish their innings vs ND with 23* @ 127.7sr, also snaring 2w @ 11rpo. Having captained the NZ U19 team previously and been behind Michael Bracewell in the spinny all-rounder role for Wellington, Tashkoff now has a clear path to regular 1st 11 mahi and is showing what he’s capable of.
Yahya Zeb has plenty of zip as a seamer for Wellington having followed Azhar and Muhammad Abbas south from Eden Roskill in Auckland. He has played fewer than three games in each format and has snuck a wicket in most of his domestic innings so far.
Most notably, Zeb has a wicket in four of his five innings this season including three innings in a row. Zeb took 3w @ 7.9rpo vs ND and ND’s young swifty Matt Fisher bowled 4ov @ 8.2rpo, taking him to 4w @ 13avg/9.1rpo after two T20 games.
Zeb, Tashkoff and Otago’s young slugger Jamal Todd all played in a tour game vs England a couple years ago...
Jamal Todd: 3 runs | 49 runs @ 116.6sr
Jesse Tashkoff: 19 runs | 1w @ 7rpo | 56 runs @ 90sr | 2w @ 8.6rpo
Yahya Zeb: 6ov @ 7.6rpo | 2w @ 6rpo
Wellington’s best wahine aside from Amelia Kerr and the two Aussies...
Georgia Plimmer: 102 runs @ 34avg/120sr
Xara Jetly: 25 runs @ 104sr | 5w @ 11.8avg/5.5rpo
Jess Kerr: 5w @ 15.8avg/6.5rpo
Jess Simmons: 3w @ 11.6avg/5.8rpo
Here’s how those bowlers have been tracking in HBJ Shield...
Jess Kerr: 166 runs @ 33.2avg/83sr | 14w @ 12avg/3.1rpo
Xara Jetly: 164 runs @ 41avg/52sr | 14w @ 16.2avg/4.4rpo
Jess Simmons: 8w @ 20.7avg/4.7rpo
And here’s the T20 career mahi for those three...
Jess Kerr: 16.29avg/123sr | 21.2avg/5.9rpo
Xara Jetly: 10.6avg/95sr | 18.78avg/5.9rpo
Jess Simmons: 5.14avg/73sr | 32.2avg/6.7rpo
Between Simmons, Kayley Knight (ND) and Louisa Kotkamp (Otago), there are three emerging seamers doing well in Super Smash. Simmons is in her first season with Wellington after moving up from Canterbury and while she doesn’t appear as quick as Knight, Simmons has more hustle and bustle than most kiwi seamers.
Knight has tremendous zip and she took 1w @ 6.5rpo vs Wellington, after taking 13w @ 11.6avg/3.6rpo in HBJ Shield. Knight won’t be far away from a White Ferns promotion and the depth of faster seamers is growing with Bree Illing joining Rosemary Mair and Molly Penfold last summer, now Knight and Simmons are on the rise.
ND also have Lucy Boucher in decent form. She has 1w @ 21avg/4.24pro in Super Smash and like Knight she had a good start to the summer in HBJ Shield with 7w @ 14.1avg/3.9rpo.
Kotkamp is slower but she still bowls quicker than most and is in a groove for Otago. All Otago angles were covered in the recent Super Smash check along with plenty more domestic cricket stuff...
2025/26 Super Smash: Five Funky Emerging Men & Women
2025/26 Super Smash: Spotlight On Bevon Jacobs, Izzy Sharp, Xara Jetly & Cameron Paul
2025/26 Super Smash: All Things Otago
Beyond the paywall I’ve use ND’s Xavier Bell as an example of Aotearoa’s abundance of young cricket talent, 1st 11 emerging men’s/women’s teams and some other Super Smash stats prior to the Canterbury vs Central Districts games today.
Emerging NZ Warriors team featuring no NRL players…
Fullback: Caelys Putoko
Wingers: Haizyn Mellars, Daeon Amituanai
Centres: Sio Kali, Motu Pasikala
Halves: Jett Cleary, Luke Hanson
Middles: Jason Salalilo, Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea, Lennox Tuiloma
Edges: Dezman Laban, Bishop Neal
Hooker: Makaia Tafua
Bench: Jacob Auloa, Paea Sikuvea, Tepatasi Laumalili, Gordon Afoa
What positions the younger Aussies recruited by NZW in recent years play...
Fullback: 0
Outside backs: Brandon Norris
Halves: Tanah Boyd, Luke Hanson, Jett Cleary, Jye Linnane, Jack Thompson
Forwards: 0
Hooker: Samuel Healey, Braelan Marsh
Musical jam...
Nick’s Notebook
The Wellington Phoenix Women are good now, so good that as they picked apart the Western Sydney Wanderers the other night I forgot that it was an away game. No need to stress about last minute concessions in 1-0 defeats in Australia when they were in full control leading from the seventh minute onwards against Wanderers on the way to a 3-0 victory. Emma Main scored twice. Sabitra Bhandari got a goal and an assist and continues to bring the Nepalese faithful out in fantastic numbers. There were 1600 people at Wanderers Park for this match (on a Tuesday evening) whereas none of WSW’s previous three home games this season reached the 1k mark... and it wasn’t the travelling Nix fans that did that.
That’s all well and good but note that Samba is putting in some serious work on the pitch too. She had a slow start, wasting some good chances in the opening round draw vs Canberra before missing a couple games through injury. But she’s got it going now - that’s three goals and an assist in these two recent wins. She’s all energy up top, constantly in motion and springing onto loose balls, willing to take risks which leads to some silly shots but also allows her to score from situations you’d never expect.
And, tell you what else, Emma Main is also doing some excellent work feeding off the energy of Samba. Main’s not particularly fast or skilled or tall or whatever else might set a striker apart but she’s smart and adaptable and a slight tweak to Bev Priestman’s system having two strikers and one attacking midfielder (lately that’s been Pia Vlok, who isn’t really creating a whole lot but she’s doing plenty of work to make it possible for others).
Priestman’s WahiNix are undefeated in four games at home (2W, 2D).
The two draws, to begin the season, were against Canberra and Newcastle and both results look a lot better now than they did at the time. CBR and NEW are also in the top six – in fact, Canberra have gone top again after the Victory only drew 3-3 most recently (in that bonkers comeback where they were 3-0 down entering second half stoppage time). The Jets actually have the worst opponent xG, although that doesn’t matter because they have the best goalkeeper in Anna Leat so they’ve only conceded 10 goals from 13.1 xGA. The Phoenix’s magnificent defence has conceded 4 goals from 6.9 xGA... because they have the second best goalkeeper.
Wellington Phoenix vs Western Sydney All-Time Record:
In New Zealand: 3 G | 2 W | 1 D | 0 L | 5 GF | 2 GA | +3 GD
In Australia: 6 G | 4 W | 1 D | 1 L | 12 GF | 3 GA | +9 GD
Wellington Phoenix Away Wins vs WSW: 4 wins in 6 games
Wellington Phoenix Away Wins vs Everyone Else: 5 wins in 40 games
(Make that 6 wins in 42 if you wanna count Unite Round neutral games in Oz)
The SheNix’s longest winning streak ever is three games (early in the 2023-24 season) and their longest unbeaten streak is four games (achieved early last season). Their longest clean sheet streak is two games... tied by this current run.
While we’re on the milestones, Emma Main’s next match will be her 50th for the club, joining Mack Barry (78), Alyssa Whinham (62), and Zoe McMeeken (55) in that club. Main is now the club’s joint top scorer alongside Mariana Speckmaier and Grace Jale with 10 goals each. Main, Jale, and Bhandari have each gotten doubles within the past two matches – no Nix player has yet scored a hat-trick before. This was Main’s second brace.
Vic Esson has kept three clean sheets in six appearances. The club record is five clean sheets by Rylee Foster (although she didn’t finish two of those games, weirdly – there was a red card and also one where she was subbed with ten to go in the season finale... some folks wouldn’t count those but she played at least two-thirds of each of them so we’ll give her the benefit... Esson’s coming for her either way). Carolina Vilão kept four last season.
WahiNix Goalkeepers
Rylee Foster – 5 clean sheets from 19 starts
Carolina Vilão – 4 clean sheets from 23 starts
Vic Esson – 3 clean sheets from 6 starts
Bri Edwards – 2 clean sheets from 21 starts
Lily Alfeld – 2 clean sheets from 13 starts
Geo Candy – 0 clean sheets from 1 start
Aimee Danieli – 0 clean sheets from 1 start
Don’t really wanna dwell on the Phoenix blokes at the moment coming off a stinker 5-1 loss away to Melbourne Victory. They have a shocking record in the State of Victoria for whatever reason. Always have done. This was one of their worst visits as rookie goalkeeper Eamonn McCarron got exposed by a clinical Victory attack which was able to get in behind the Nix wing-backs (or just whip in crosses from in front of them without much pressure).
For all the aspects of Chiefball 3.0 that offer encouragement (and there are plenty as long as you’re not clouded by negativity)... we’ve seen a few times now that there are certain opponents who play certain styles where it simply doesn’t work. Teams that clog the midfield like Macarthur. Teams that can attack from width like the Victory. Teams that have the pace and intent to run behind the high line like Newcastle. Teams that do all three like Auckland FC.
It’s now 22 games (and counting) since the last time the Wellington Phoenix ALM side kept a clean sheet.
The SheNix have had the same back three on the pitch for 617 minutes out of 630 (97.9%). Marisa van der Meer was subbed late in the 7-0 win vs Sydney FC and that was it, that trio with MVDM, Mackenzie Barry, and Ellie Walker has started every single game. These are the back threes for the HeNix so far (LCB – CB – RCB)...
D 2-2 vs Perth (A): Kelly-Heald – James – Sheridan
W 2-1 vs Brisbane (H): Kelly-Heald – James – Sheridan
D 1-1 vs Central Coast (A): Kelly-Heald – Hughes – Sheridan
L 1-2 vs Auckland (H): Kelly-Heald – Hughes – Sheridan
L 0-1 vs Macarthur (H): Kelly-Heald – James – Hughes
W 2-1 vs Adelaide (H): Kelly-Heald – Hughes – James
L 1-3 vs Auckland (A): Kelly-Heald – Hughes – James
L 1-3 vs Newcastle (A): Smith – Kelly-Heald - Sheridan
W 3-1 vs Central Coast (H): Kelly-Heald – James – Hughes
L 1-5 vs Melbourne Vic (A): Kelly-Heald – James – Hughes
The other notable difference between the Men and the Women is that the ALW squad have done some very good business lately by picking up kiwi players from outside their academy. This isn’t even about Football Ferns players like CJ Bott and Vic Esson, it’s about younger or less proven players like Pia Vlok, Zoe Benson, and you could make a case for Emma Pijnenburg flittering between those two categories. The HeNix had a nice spree last season with Luke Brooke-Smith and Corban Piper but didn’t go back to the well despite those guys quickly emerging among their better performers, certainly Piper has been this season (LBS has only played off the bench so far).
They lost Sam Sutton and replaced him with Dan Edwards. They lost Kosta Barbarouses and replaced him with ALM journeymen Nicola Mileusnic and Ramy Najjarine (each of whom is onto at least their fourth club in this league). Mileusnic has been injured the whole time anyway. They do have that in common... for all the chat about the magnificent facilities that every new signing offers, this club continues to suffer a crazy number of injuries. But that’s enough of that. Auckland FC are playing after this is being written so nothing about them today but there is some stuff in the Subscriber Zone around their OFC Pro League squad.
All Whites Debutants in 2025:
Luke Brooke-Smith, Owen Parker-Price
Football Ferns Debutants in 2025:
Manaia Elliott, Maya Hahn, Kelli Brown, Emma Pijnenburg, Lara Wall, Alina Santos
All Whites Uncapped Player Rankings
George Stanger – Kilmarnock, Scotland
Kees Sims – GAIS, Sweden
Corban Piper – Wellington Phoenix
Isaac Hughes – Wellington Phoenix
Henry Gray – Ipswich Town, England
Matt Dibley-Dias – Colchester (Loan), England
Stipe Ukich – NK Istra, Croatia
Riley Bidois - Unattached
Noah Dupont – West Bromwich Albion, England
Matt Sheridan – Wellington Phoenix
Football Ferns Uncapped Player Rankings
Marisa van der Meer – Wellington Phoenix
Rebecca Lake - Unattached
Pia Vlok – Wellington Phoenix
Suya Haering – Carl Zeiss Jena, Germany
Emma Main – Wellington Phoenix
Claudia Jenkins – Adelaide United, Australia
Lara Colpi – FC Thun Berner-Oberland, Switzerland
Jana Niedermayr - Union Kleinmünchen, Austria
Helena Errington – Sporting Club Jacksonville, USA
Charlotte Lancaster – Newcastle Jets, Australia
(Alyssa Whinham would have jumped in at third were she not injured long-term)
Musical Jam...
