“The question of where the White Ferns’ runs will come from outside the ‘big three’ of Devine, Bates and Kerr

Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine have held the White Ferns together with the bat for many years. What happens when they eventually retire? Brendon Egan reports.

If Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates, and Amelia Kerr had weary shoulders, you wouldn’t blame them. The trio, along with the retired Amy Satterthwaite, who played her last international in March 2022, have been carrying the White Ferns with the bat for some time.

Take away their contributions, especially in recent years, and it would be grim stuff for a side, who have struggled at pinnacle events – outside the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where they finished third.

The White Ferns’ summer of cricket begins today with the first of three T20s against Pakistan in Dunedin, which will be followed by three ODIs. A five-match T20 series and three ODIs against England in March-April will be the real gauge for the side this season.

The question of where the White Ferns’ runs will come from outside the “big three” of Devine, Bates and Kerr, remains as pertinent as ever. Just as pressing is the head-scratcher of when the team’s next batting star will emerge to take the pressure off their gun trio. Time is ticking with Bates, who is 36, and Devine, 34, at the back end of their distinguished careers. They have been legends for many years, but will leave a giant void when they eventually step away.

Kerr, who will miss today’s opening T20 after competing for the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash final last night, is younger at 23. She should continue to be an influential figure for the next decade and beyond.

Players like Maddy Green (1180 ODI career runs at 23.60), Bernadine Bezuidenhout (167 ODI runs at 13.91 for South Africa and New Zealand), and Brooke Halliday (510 ODI runs at 24.28) have shown flashes of their batting skills. Scoring important runs on a regular basis at international level has been a struggle, however.

They have combined for just eight ODI half-centuries between them with Green scoring the lone ton of her 64-match ODI career against minnows Ireland in 2018.

Halliday has yet to play this summer since joining Auckland from Northern, due to a foot injury, and wasn’t considered for the Pakistan series.

The country’s most exciting young women’s batter looks to be Wellington’s Georgia Plimmer, 19, who made her White Ferns debut last year and showed why she is so highly rated last Saturday, belting 147 in a Hallyburton Johnstone Shield match against Northern Districts. She struck 11 fours and a six in her 139-ball knock.

She was in the runs again on Thursday, scoring 52 for the New Zealand XI in a warm-up T20 against Pakistan.

Plimmer hasn’t exactly set international cricket alight so far though. She averages just 13.80 from nine ODIs and 9.11 from 18 T20Is. White Ferns head coach Ben Sawyer was encouraged by what he had seen from Plimmer. Her first domestic ton was a positive step forward, he said.

“The one thing we’ve asked from all our White Ferns is to go back to HBJ (Hallyburton Johnstone Shield) and dominate those competitions,” he said.

“To see her score 140 is exactly what we want, but more importantly, I think it’s a great confidence boost.

“Just positive affirmation for her of all the work she’s doing.”

The White Ferns’ batting stocks have not been helped by the loss of Auckland’s Lauren Down, who is sitting out the 202324 season for personal reasons, not being contracted to Auckland or New Zealand.

Down has displayed glimpses of her ability since debuting internationally in

2018, scoring 90 against Australia in April 2021, and an unbeaten 64 against India last year.

The major batting mover last summer was Kate Anderson, who flourished in her first season with Canterbury after shifting south from Northern.

The 27-year-old was a run-scoring machine for the Magicians, scoring the most runs in the women’s Super Smash T20 competition (536 at 59.55, strike rate: 115). Anderson also hit the fourth most HBJ Shield runs (343 at 42.87, which included a century).

She was rewarded with her first White Ferns’ contract in June and travelled with the side for their tour of South Africa in September.

Worryingly, a look at the domestic run-scoring charts from last season doesn’t reveal too many batting saviours.

Four of the five top run-scorers in last summer’s HBJ Shield are either retired (Satterthwaite and Katie Perkins), or have been tried at international level and are on the outer (Kate Ebrahim and Jess Watkin).

Satterthwaite, Central’s Natalie Dodd and Wellington’s Rebecca Burns all featured in the top five run-scorers for last season’s Super Smash, alongside White Ferns Anderson and Bates. Dodd and Burns have previously played for New Zealand, but don’t appear to be on the national radar.

Central’s Mikaela Greig is the top run-scorer through four rounds of the HBJ Shield (232 at 77.33), followed by Plimmer (186 at 46.50) and Green (168 at 168). Allrounder Greig, 28, who bowls offspin, has yet to play for New Zealand.