Photo Credit: New Zealand Cricket
Eleven WHITE FERNS are set to get a taste of the 2020 Women’s Big Bash League, with an additional five players remaining in Australia following the WHITE FERNS tour.
WHITE FERNS all-rounder Hayley Jensen has signed with the Hobart Hurricanes, while four other WHITE FERNS will provide injury cover whilst training in the ‘WBBL hub’ in Sydney over the next month.
Auckland Hearts’ Katie Perkins (Adelaide Strikers), Lauren Down (Melbourne Renegades) and Holly Huddleston (Brisbane Heat) along with Central Hinds’ Rosemary Mair (Perth Scorchers) will train alongside their allocated team but are available to be selected for any side if a marquee player (Cricket Australia contracted or overseas) becomes injured or unavailable.
NZC Head of Women’s High Performance, Ant Sharp, said the opportunity presented itself due to the fact our WHITE FERNS were currently in Australia, had been operating in a biosecure environment and would therefore not need to go through a further quarantine period before entering the WBBL hub in Sydney.
“NZC are committed to supporting our centrally contracted players wherever we can,” said Sharp.
“By staying on and being exposed to new training environments, alongside other quality players, they will continue to learn more about their game.”
The players on “stand-by” join Sophie Devine (Perth Scorchers), Suzie Bates (Adelaide Strikers), Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu (Melbourne Renegades), Amelia Kerr and Maddy Green (Brisbane Heat), who were already signed up for this year’s edition of the tournament.
Central Hinds’ bowler Rosemary Mair said she was looking forward to heading into the WBBL hub.
“We get into Sydney on Monday and I can’t wait to catch up with the Perth Scorchers,” said Mair.
“It’s a great opportunity to learn more from the Scorchers set-up and how they go about their cricket. I’ll be looking to glean as much knowledge as I can from the staff and players.
“There’s a couple of English internationals in the squad too, so it will be interesting to compare our cricket experiences from different parts of the world.”
“Sophie Devine is the captain of the Scorchers and it will be nice to have a familiar face around the nets, although I’m not so sure about bowling to her in T20 mode.”
The WBBL starts on Sunday October 25 with a full round of matches in Sydney.
Name of Author: New Zealand Cricket
The New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, made their Test debut in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth nation to play Test cricket. After waiting 26 years for their first Test win against the West Indies in 1956, they also played their first ODI in 1972–73 against Pakistan. New Zealand are the inaugural World Test Championship champions (2021) and have won the ICC Champions Trophy (2000). They have reached the Cricket World Cup final twice and the T20 World Cup final once.
