Progressions
Pondering White Ferns emerging depth, Blackcaps in Bangladesh, National League Grand Final previews, plus the last WNL Team of the Week
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2023/24 Kiwi-NRL Train And Trial Breakdown (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Kiwis & Kiwi-NRL Development Bumps For Naufahu Whyte, Wiremu Greig, Keano Kini (Rugby League)
2023 Men’s National League – Week 9 (Football)
2023 Women’s National League – Week 9 (Football)
All Whites vs Greece & Ireland: The BazeBall Era Has Arrived (Football)
2023/25 World Test Championship: Blackcaps Tour Of Bangladesh Preview (Cricket)
Assessing The Blackcaps Pipeline After The 2023 World Cup (Cricket)
2023/24 HBJ Shield: Round One Notebook (The Young Wave) (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
The Women's NZ 11 cricket squad was announced yesterday for two games against Pakistan, prior to the White Ferns series vs Pakistan. Bella Armstrong, Izzy Gaze, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer and Nensi Patel feature in this squad as White Ferns or in Patel's case on the fringe of WF squads. Leigh Kasperek is skipper and despite routinely being overlooked for WF cricket, Kasperek is still in the mix.
Gabby Sullivan continues her rise as the best domestic seamer with selection in this squad. The seam stocks are bolstered by Northern Districts' Kayley Knight. Abby Gerken is also selected from Canterbury as an emerging batter.
Last Friday's newsletter had HBJ Shield notes for each team. I pondered how Ocean Bartlett and Flora Devonshire would settle into consistent 1st 11 roles for Central Districts, as well as which batters would elevate for Otago without Suzie Bates or Kate Ebrahim. Bartlett and Devonshire are now in this NZ 11 squad as spinners who can bat. Two Otago batters are also selected in Olivia Gain and Bella James.
There is a clear theme of women's domestic cricket emerging: lots of talented young bowlers but the batting stocks are fairly low.
Sullivan has been dominating domestic cricket for a few years now, while Knight could be replaced in this squad by her ND comrade Lucy Boucher or Otago's Emma Black. Not to mention Claudia Green who has already played White Ferns or Auckland seamers like Amie Hucker and Josie Penfold. Bartlett (leggy) and Devonshire (lefty) join Eden Carson and Fran Jonas as young spinners, with Patel and Kasperek offering their own spin.
The batting baseline is low in Aotearoa. Here are the domestic batting stats for Gerken, Gaze, Gain and James...
Abby Gerken: 23avg (LA) | 9avg (T20)
Izzy Gaze: 9.8avg (LA) | 11.3avg (T20)
Olivia Gain: 15avg (LA) | 10.4avg (T20)
Bella James: 16.5avg (LA) | 10.5avg (T20)
Gerken has the best LA average, yet this stems from her 2021/22 summer. Here's how Gerken's career has played out...
2021/22: 41.5avg, 1 x 100, 1 x 50
2022/23: 13.4avg
2023/24: 8.5avg
I'll add in four more batters to build out the theme. Jodie Dean and Izzy Sharp have earned my attention with Canterbury, while Mikaela Greig and Georgia Atkinson were fantastic for CD in the opening weekend of HBJ Shield...
Jodie Dean: 26.9avg (LA) | 10avg (T20)
Izzy Sharp: 20.6avg (LA) | 7avg (T20)
Mikaela Greig: 15.9avg (LA) | 13.6avg (T20)
Georgia Atkinson: 22.5avg (LA) | 11.8avg (T20)
One of the four batters in NZ 11 has a LA average over 20, while three of the other quartet have LA averages over 20. Their T20 mahi is pretty similar. Even the batters averaging over 20 aren’t stacking up runs and Dean has the highest average a smidge below 27.
Apart from highlighting four other good batters to watch out for in HBJ Shield, this all serves to highlight a severe lack of batting talent in Aotearoa. This is evident at the highest level as Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Maddy Green (in that order) score most of the runs. WF lack runs from role-players and have done throughout their demise/plateau.
Even batters who are WF, have similar stats to the players listed above. Gaze was fast-tracked into the WF with domestic batting averages below 12.. Plimmer is in the NZ 11 squad and has been a constant figure for WF, averaging 15.6 in LA and 10.7 in T20. Brooke Halliday is often selected in the batting role-player slots, earning selection with a LA average of 23.7 and T20 average of 13.4.
Let's climb back up the WF batting ladder to Green, who is the fourth best WF batter. Green is now a senior figure and the 31-year-old has matured into a solid WF batter, playing her best cricket in the last few years. Green averages below 25 in both formats this year and doesn't have a 50+ score in 13 innings. Green has career averages of 23.6 (ODI) and 16.2 (T20I) for White Ferns. She averages 28.5 in LA and 20 in T20.
None of Green's stats suggest she is a crucial batter for WF, yet this is aligned with the general lack of dominant batters in the extended WF pipeline. This is why WF struggle to win games against Australia, England, India and South Africa as well as why they are always victims of an upset loss. This seeps down in HBJ Shield and Super Smash, now evident in how players have earned promotions to the NZ 11.
Funnily enough, the best domestic batters like Jess McFadyen, Natalie Dodd, Kate Ebrahim, Saachi Shahri, Rebecca Burns and Jess Watkin aren't given regular opportunities. The one batter who has dominated domestic cricket and earned a WF gig is Kate Anderson, so her progress will be interesting this summer.
This is the major storyline for HBJ Shield. The best batters from the first weekend were youngsters as the more experienced players struggled for runs. While probably not sustainable, I'm fascinated by which youngsters continue to score runs and who the best batters not named Kerr, Bates or Devine are.
The last weekend of WBBL features one more game for Amelia Kerr and Sophie Devine (tonight), with Suzie Bates and maybe Jess Kerr playing on Sunday. Here's the battle for top-four...
Strikers: 9-3 | 18 points
Scorchers: 8-5 | 16 points (Devine)
Thunder: 7-4 | 15 points
Heat: 7-6 | 14 points (A-Kerr)
Hurricanes: 6-6 | 13 points
Sixers: 6-7 | 12 points (Bates, J-Kerr)
Stats break down...
Suzie Bates: 155 runs @ 14avg/95sr
Jess Kerr: 4w @ 25.2avg/7.2rpo
Amelia Kerr: 226 run @ 28.2avg/119sr | 8w @ 28.8avg/7.7rpo
Sophie Devine: 446 runs @ 40.5avg/146sr | 11w @ 26avg/8.4rpo
Also worth noting that Amy Satterthwaite was part of the Strikers coaching team for their WBBL championship last summer. Strikers are now first with Satterthwaite on the staff again chasing a back to back championship.
Blackcaps have plenty of options ahead of their Test series vs Bangladesh. I whipped up a 1st 11 below which includes Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra for their spin, while also selecting Neil Wagner as a workhorse...
Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Blundell, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner
(Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Kyle Jamieson, Ajaz Patel)
Blackcaps may opt to open with Young which would bump Conway to fourth, with Phillips the likely lad to drop out. Nicholls has played every Test in the past year and took lots of Plunket Shield runs with him to Bangladesh, so excluding him is an unlikely move. Jamieson and Wagner can be swap spots without much fuss. Patel could come in for Santner or a seamer if Blackcaps want lots and lots of spin.
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Here are the best Blackcaps in Test cricket this year...
Best Batters
Kane Williamson: 756 runs @ 94.5avg
Tom Latham: 527 runs @ 52.7avg
Devon Conway: 485 runs @ 48.5avg
Tom Blundell: 466 runs @ 51.7avg
Daryl Mitchell: 373 runs @ 46.8avg
Henry Nicholls: 345 runs @ 38.3avg
Best Bowlers
Tim Southee: 23w @ 28.9avg/2.6rpo
Michael Bracewell: 19w @ 37.7avg/3.4rpo
Matt Henry: 19w @ 29.2avg/2.8rpo
Ish Sodhi: 13w @ 25.1avg/3.1rpo
Blair Tickner: 12w @ 36.2avg/4.1rpo
Neil Wagner: 12w @ 43.5avg/5rpo
Ajaz Patel: 5w @ 64.2avg/3.8rpo
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
What do you reckon, time for some National League grand final previews? Yeah why not. We did about ten minutes at the end of the most recent podcast about these two games as well so check that out if you want more of this good stuff. Also right here you’ll find all the write-ups from the wonderful season that was.
WNL - Auckland United vs Southern United
Neither of these clubs have made it this far before, although Auckland United did win the Kate Sheppard Cup in 2022 and Southern United won the South-Central Series that year when the top half of the North Island was in lockdown and couldn’t participate. So there is big game experience within. But we’ll be getting a new champion for the Women’s National League. One way or another.
Auckland United won the NRFL Premier Division during the winter though that was with the A-League talents of Chloe Knott, Marisa van der Meer, and Ruby Nathan in tow. Without them they’ve had to shuffle things a wee bit but no dramas. This side is effectively a combo team from last year’s United and Northern Rovers teams after coach Ben Bate moved and a bunch of players followed him (Rovers ended up getting relegated).
The two best defensive teams are in this final. That’s an inarguable fact. Southern conceded fewer goals... but AU might have the stronger claim. After conceding five goals in their first two they’ve only allowed four in the seven games since and never more than one in any game. Australian goalkeeper Aimee Hall has been superb. She actually spent some time with the Wellington Phoenix while they were based in Wollongong... although wasn’t able to play when Lily Alfeld was away on international duty because she wasn’t yet 18 and it technically meant signing for an overseas team (same rule that meant Milly Clegg had to wait two games for her WSW debut).
Their centre-back duo is also excellent and this is despite losing captain Jess Philpot to injury. Greer Macintosh is one of the most underrated players going around while Chelsea Elliott... you may have seen the goal she scored last week. Yume Harashima is a Japanese midfielder who can claim to be their most talented. One of those players who always makes the right decision. Also look for the incisive passing of Maisy Dewell and Danielle Canham in midfield while their frontline is all speedsters with the likes of Bree Johnson, Alexis Cook, and Rene Wasi competing for places. Probably gonna see Shannon Henson start instead of one of that trio to give them a number nine presence. Talisha Green is a hard-running, hard-tackling fullback while Suya Haering on the other side is like a mini-Ali Riley.
Auckland United’s big worry is whether their finishing will match their build-up. They’ve had games where it all clicks but they’ve also had a couple where it doesn’t and they’ve scraped 1-0 results. That’s especially true against a team like Southern United who are not only defensively sound but they’re super aggressive in how they go about it too. They rush up and make challenges. The tone there is set by Rose Morton and Kendrah Smith in midfield, though the switch to a back three partway through the season allowed for even more of that from their CBs as well.
Toni Power used to be a fullback but has thrived at RCB, while Hannah Mackay-Wright has long since established herself as one of the best in that position and Marissa Porteous has been spectacular. Porteous and Smith (as well as Shania McIntosh who might be on the bench) moved down to Southern after their winter club, West Coast Rangers in Auckland, failed to qualify. Smith also played for Canterbury Utd last year but that was as a centre-back. For Southern she’s been unleashed in midfield and has honestly been one of the best players in the entire National League – including a penchant for long range goals.
Freya Partridge-Moore is one to watch at left wing-back, pushing forward and swinging crosses into the area. Margi Dias will throw in some stepovers and will score a stunner from time to time. Abby Rankin was pushed further forward from midfield with the formation change and hasn’t missed a beat linking things up as a smart mover and good passer. Then there’s Amy Hislop. Centre-forward. Seven goals and four assists this season. She’s back from uni in the States and has levelled up with all sorts of skills. She’s tall and can hold the ball up well but she also knows how to ghost a defender and get to a shot. Containing her will be priority number one for Auckland United... number two will be trying to match the energy in midfield as Morton runs around covering every blade of grass.
Southern lost 1-0 in round one against Eastern Suburbs and have not lost since. The only other team to take anything from them was... Auckland United. These two teams played out a 1-1 draw at Keith Hay Park in Auckland a few weeks back with Bee Park (SU, 12’) and Dani Canham (AU, 74’) getting the goals. Curiously both teams’ only loss came against Eastern Suburbs – but Suburbs lost to Western Springs and, most drastically, Ellerslie so they didn’t make it (had they won against Ellerslie then it would’ve come down to goal difference between Auckland Utd and Southern). Will be curious to see which goalie plays for Southern. Amelia Simmers was really good for the first six weeks. Then she was out of the country for a bit and Lauren Paterson took her place and was also really good. Both have two clean sheets.
Expect a low scoring game. These defences are just too good, even under the pressure of the occasion. AU are going to want to attack from wide behind those Southern wingbacks, while lots depends on whether their finishing will be up to scratch. Each of these teams does have a tendency towards scoring bangers so whichever team wins it there could be a spectacular moment to decide our 2023 champs
Predicted Line-ups:
Auckland United (4-3-3) – Aimee Hall | Talisha Green, Greer MacIntosh, Chelsea Elliott, Suya Haering | Yume Harashima, Maisy Dewell, Dani Canham | Alexis Cook, Shannon Henson, Bree Johnson
Southern United (3-4-2-1) – Lauren Paterson | Toni Power, Hannah Mackay-Wright, Marissa Porteous | Bee Park, Rose Morton, Kendrah Smith, Freya Partridge-Moore | Margi Dias, Abby Rankin | Amy Hislop
MNL – Wellington Olympic vs Auckland City
The women’s comp features two new sides, the men’s comp features a repeat of last year’s final. Christchurch United ran them close for a bit but didn’t quite have the steam. These two led the whole way and nobody can deny that they’re worthy finalists. Especially after the thriller they served up last year in which Auckland City won 3-2 despite a first half red card for Reid Drake, completing their quadruple trophy haul.
Auckland City aren’t in such imperious form this year though. Even while they were winning seven games in a row to start the MNL, lots of those results featured late goals and comebacks. They seemed to be either coasting or struggling to get through the gears. Injuries certainly have not helped... and that’s come to a head in the past fortnight as they’ve lost consecutive games at Kiwitea Street where they’d been undefeated since 2017 other than a semi-final against Team Wellington in 2019. One loss in six years, two in two weeks. And the team that broke the streak was none other than Wellington Olympic.
That game saw both teams understrength, with their places in the final having been confirmed earlier in the round, and it was only really in the last twenty minutes when they each went to the bench for some of their top dogs that the game caught alight. Difference is that Olympic look like they’ll be able to have most of their fellas available for the final whereas Auckland City are less likely to have folks like Liam Gillion, Ryan de Vries, and Gerard Garriga available. Plus centre-back Christian Gray is suspended after a red card last week – he and Adam Mitchell had started every game together.
It’ll still be a formidable ACFC team. Probably gonna have Mike den Heijer drop to CB which would free up a midfield spot alongside the ever-dependable Mario Ilich and the passing superstar Cam Howieson. Possibly young Rayan Tayeb or maybe Tong Zhou will get that chance. Dylan Manickum has given them a spark since returning from captaining the NZ futsal team to World Cup qualification and Angus Kilkolly’s goals have carried them the whole way. Joe Lee’s an exciting right winger as well, part of the wider NZ U23s picture – as is left back Nathan Lobo though Albert Riera will likely prefer the experience of Takuya Iwata for such a big game. Nearly half of City’s goals have come in the last fifteen minutes plus stoppage time whereas no team has scored more in the first 15 than Olympic.
Thing is, Olympic have also scored as many late goals as City. They score a lot of goals fullstop. They’re an incredible attacking side that went through the entire MNL without keeping a clean sheet yet never lost because they bagged a whopping 34 of them in only nine games. Ten more than anyone else. They had Gianni Bouzoukis sharing the Golden Boot with Cashmere Technical’s Garbhan Coughlan plus they also had Joel Stevens and Jack-Henry Sinclair leading the way for assists. Bouzoukis has scored in six consecutive matches. Gavin Hoy, an attacking midfielder, also had a four-game scoring streak earlier. And let us not forget the human battering ram that is Hamish Watson, a man who loves playing against Auckland City more than anyone.
Defenders Justin Gulley and Ben Mata have missed some time lately. Mata played last week so should be all good. We’ll see about Gulls and also JHS who hasn’t played for two weeks. Every one of your ideal XI who’s missing for a final against ACFC is adding dangerous jeopardy but then City will be without folks as well, many of them important attackers, and with Olympic having scored at least two in every game and 4+ on four occasions the question might be: Can Auckland City keep up? They couldn’t the other week but should be better prepared this time around.
Regardless, this feels like a high-scorer. This feels like goal-scoring funkiness waiting to happen. It also feels like a very rare occasion, perhaps the only time ever under the club-based format, in which Auckland City are not the favourites. But even if they’ve been stuttering lately, they remain Auckland City and their big game experience counts for a lot (granted, Olympic have heaps of that too). Should be a belter. Both games should be. Cannot wait.
Predicted Line-ups:
Auckland City (4-3-3) – Conor Tracey | Jordan Vale, Adam Mitchell, Michael den Heijer, Takuya Iwata | Mario Ilich, Cam Howieson, Rayan Tayeb | Joe Lee, Angus Kilkolly, Dylan Manickum
Wellington Olympic (3-2-4-1) – Scott Basalaj | Justin Gulley, Ben Mata, Jack Cawley | Tor Davenport-Petersen, Theo Ettema | Jack-Henry Sinclair, Gavin Hoy, Hamish Watson, Joel Stevens | Gianni Bouzoukis
Women’s National League – Team of the Week #9
GK – Sophie Campbell (Central) – If she hadn’t been playing WNL since she was 14 then Campbell’s save-stacked performance against the WeeNix would’ve felt like the announcing of a huge new talent. But even though she’s still eligible for the U17 World Cup next year we’ve seen this from SC before. Outstanding shot-stopper.
RB – Freya Partridge-Moore (Southern United) – Such a fun player to watch when she’s rolling and that was the case with another exciting display to help take her team into the grand final. A wing-back with genuine attacking edge
CB – Chelsea Elliott (Auckland United) – Not only at the heart of yet another decisive AUFC defensive effort but she also scored a 40 metre free kick and set up another goal. It was outrageous.
CB – Saskia Vosper (Waterside Karori) – Ultimately in vain as they lost to a very late Western Springs goal but the ex-Phoenix defender was at her best sweeping against a speedy and direct Springs side. She had everything covered, it was all class (two of the goals were set pieces, remember).
LB – Lara Wall (Canterbury United) – Another fullback who was part of a losing effort... which is a pity because for most of that match they had Eastern Suburbs tied in knots and really having trouble. Wall set up one goal and locked down her side. Plus she hadn’t made a TOW yet this year and that didn’t seem fair.
CM – Rose Morton (Southern United) – The first name on this list. With Southern needing to win to confirm their final spot, their captain delivered a legendary showing claiming ridiculous quantities of tackles and interceptions whilst also setting up a goal. Inspirational doesn’t even do it justice.
CM – Ella McMillan (Wellington Phoenix) – It was not a classic game as the WeeNix beat Central 1-0, in fact only a dodgy offside call saved them from sharing the points, but amidst that there were yet more assured and composed midfield activities from EM as the WeeNix held possession as well as they have in any game this year. Surely her team’s WNL player of the season. Plus she’s a fantastic leader and it’s obvious even just from watching.
CM – Lara Colpi (Western Springs) – It was only right that Springs would finish their season with Colpi setting up Jerez for a late winner. It’s how they won the Kate Sheppard Cup. Just a shame it wasn’t in a final this time as well. But Colpi was superb once again as the playmaker for WSAFC.
FW – Ela Jerez (Western Springs) – As above, so below. Colpi and Jerez were the stars for Springs. Even when the team was struggling in the first half they always looked like they could make something happen. Then when they turned it around, these two were the ones who capped it off. Colpi is 18 years old... Jerez is still only 15. Incredible talents.
FW – Bree Johnson (Auckland United) – Whenever they need a goal they turn to Bree Johnson and she usually delivers. She did again in the 4-1 win vs Wellington United, scoring a spectacular solo goal to get her team going and they never looked back.
FW – Zoe Benson (Eastern Suburbs) – With respect to Kaley Ward and Amy Hislop, the last spot goes to the Assist Queen of the 2023 WNL Zoe Benson. Six assists, including the 90+8th minute winner. She also scored a goal against Canty and honestly should’ve had at least one more assist. Respect has been earned.