All out. The past, present and future of the White Ferns collide as the World Cup moves on and the players head home. Suzanne McFadden reports
When Hannah Rowe was introduced to ‘Michelle Pfeiffer’, after collecting her first five-wicket bag in international cricket at Hagley Oval on Saturday evening, the first to leap on her back in celebration was Suzie Bates.
In almost every photo of Rowe snapped after taking a wicket for the White Ferns at this World Cup (and she took a respectable nine of them), there’s a fizzing Bates first on the scene to congratulate her.
There maybe nine years between them – and they may be at different ends of their cricketing careers – but Bates and Rowe have become great mates in this White Ferns side.
When Bates was awarded player of the match for her stellar innings of 126 in New Zealand’s final hurrah at the World Cup, a bittersweet 71-win over Pakistan on Saturday, she insisted on sharing the trophy with Rowe.
“She only just learned what a Michelle Pfeiffer was today,” Bates said as she beckoned Rowe into her interview; her five-fer (5-55) the second-best bowling performance at this World Cup.
When a few hours before, a more subdued Bates scored her 5000th run in ODI cricket, it was a barefoot Debbie Hockley – the president of New Zealand Cricket – who jumped inside the Hagley Oval boundary rope and applauded her.
“It meant a lot to me to be there, because I’ve admired her cricket for such a long time,” Hockley (in the video below) says. “And to witness her become one of only four women in the world to have scored 5000 ODI runs, that’s a big deal.”
Bates also became the first player to score centuries in four different editions of the World Cup, which shows the longevity of the 34-year-old’s brilliant career. She was given a standing ovation by the 3500-strong Christchurch crowd at the end of her latest innings.
It was Hockley and the performances of her New Zealand team-mates in winning the 2000 World Cup that inspired Bates to become a White Fern, and there have been numerous Hockley records with the bat Bates has surpassed during the last 16 years.
It was as if the past, present and future of the White Ferns had all melded on Hagley Oval.
The crestfallen White Ferns, with three wins from seven, headed home, even before the final round robin games were played out on Sunday. It was obvious they weren't going to make the knockout stages – as England (with a convincing win over Bangladesh) and West Indies nabbed the last two semifinal spots to join Australia and South Africa (India missing out with a dramatic last-ball loss to the Proteas last night).
But none of the New Zealand players were revealing their future in the game.
"[Devine] has set up the culture in the team for years to come," - Rebecca Rolls.
Perhaps the only player to give a glimpse of her cards was Katey Martin. Tearing up during the national anthem, the 37-year-old keeper contributed an unbeaten 30 to see the White Ferns through to the end of their 50 overs, took two catches, then waved to the crowd as she walked off the oval as if it were her last goodbye.
The only thing that’s certain is the end of an era for White Ferns coach Bob Carter, whose contract is now up. He’s going back to his old high performance role at NZ Cricket, and there will, of course, be a thorough review of the White Ferns' disappointing performance.
“I’ve had a marvellous time for the last two-and-a-half years,” Carter said of his tenure, in which he coached New Zealand to nine ODI wins and 20 losses. “It’s been a great team to coach, it’s improved my coaching and I think in many ways now because I’ve had this experience, I can take it back to high performance to really now help grow the female game.”
As the White Ferns now have seven weeks off, before a team is selected to play T20 cricket at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, captain Sophie Devine hinted she still wanted more.
“I'm certainly really passionate about this team and I feel like we're in a really good space,” Devine said straight after the match. “Obviously, results haven't gone our way, but I've just got so much love and I feel like I've still got more to give to this group.
“I don't want to make any decisions at the moment. But I still feel like I've got a bit left in the tank.”
The idea of playing in a women’s IPL league – touted to start in 2023, with an exhibition series this coming May – also appeals to Devine. She’d have to be one of the most sought-after players, too.
Win or lose, a change of the guard wouldn't be unusual. “It’s that time in women’s cricket where you see a switch-over in generations,” says Rebecca Rolls, who took the winning catch in the 2000 World Cup final victory, and is now on the New Zealand Cricket board.
“All the teams here have some great players who’ve been around a long time, but we’ve also seen the emergence of some real stars.” In the White Ferns, that’s been Rowe, Brooke Halliday, Jess Kerr and Rosemary Mair. “Melie Kerr is still evolving too,” Rolls says.
“I’m a cricket geek so I hope everyone sticks around. But you have to be realistic that won’t go on forever.
“Years ago, the Suzies and Sophies of the cricket world would have finished their careers way earlier, because they would have had to go and get jobs. They fact they’ve been able to play alongside those senior players means their learning journey is so much richer. And you can better bridge the gap.”
Rowe, who learned to bowl into a net named Brendon McCullum on the family’s dairy farm in the Manawatū, had a costly first spell against Pakistan but then effectively removed the middle of their order with her five-fer.
“Hannah Rowe was outstanding yesterday,” Rolls says. “She’s still learning her trade, and I think in time will be a very good international allrounder.”
Rolls, who received an ICC commemorative medal with other year 2000 White Ferns on Saturday, told many of the current team they had much to be proud of, despite failing to emulate the feat of 22 years ago.
“They took us on a journey,” she says. “I was most impressed with how they fought back in some situations. We’ll all remember the last over against West Indies and a couple of other moments that didn’t go our way.
“But you’ve got to remember that’s cricket. The game sets you up to fail, and you fail most of the time.”
Under the guidance of Carter, who took on the coaching role three years ago when Haidee Tiffen resigned, and the captaincy of Devine, the White Ferns had become a “completely different side” than they were 18 months ago, Rolls says.
“Sophie’s had her struggles, but the way she plays - ‘I’ll do it, you guys follow me’ - is so valuable. And it has set up the culture in the team for years to come.”
Devine spoke at her pride in the side’s fight during the tournament, with her highlight the White Ferns’ win over India.
“I think it's probably been our closest to a complete performance of the team with the bat and the ball,” she said. “I thought the way we bounced back, obviously from the West Indies game as well… I guess it shows what we're capable of when we can get it right.”
She was proud of her long-time team-mate Bates too.
“I don't say this lightly, but Suzie Bates is going to be one of our greatest ever players produced by New Zealand and I've just had a front row seat for most of my career,” Devine said.
“I think the greatest thing about Suzie is absolutely she's a world class player but she's just a bloody good human and the way she’s inspired other people and even now, she's like a young kid out there… her energy is infectious. I think that's probably something that I'm most proud of - not just the runs that she scored.”
Devine hopes the White Ferns have achieved at least one of their goals from this tournament – to inspire the next generation of female Kiwi cricketers.
“We can go out there and scream from the top of the hills, but for us, playing a good brand of cricket and doing it with a smile on our face, I think that's what's going to attract new fans young and old,” she said. “I guess you saw it today hopefully with the amount of young kids, not just young girls but young boys as well, watching the game.”
Hockley has no doubt this tournament will leave that legacy.
"It's probably one of the best World Cups, women’s or men’s, in terms of close finishes,” she says. “I think this is the most broadcast women’s cricket tournament – having every single match live – which has exposed it to a much bigger audience. And the saying ‘If you can’t see it you can’t be it’ is so true.
“The fact the tournament has gone ahead - in the middle of a pandemic and New Zealand’s outbreak of Omicron - has been nothing short of a miracle. I’m so proud of the local organising committee and the ICC, but also Grant Robertson, the Minister of Sport, for the governmental support.
“If you have a little insight into the background of how much has gone on to get it happening, it’s absolutely phenomenal. When things are pretty rough, to give people something joyous and exciting, it’s not a bad thing, is it?”
* Unbeaten Australia will meet the West Indies in the first semifinal at Wellington's Basin Reserve from 11am on Wednesday, while South Africa play defending champions England at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, in a day-nighter on Thursday. The winners will meet in the final in Christchurch on Sunday.
