CENTRAL HINDS and Manawatū teammates HANNAH ROWE and MIKAELA GREIG are getting ready to take off with the WHITE FERNS together for the first time, the national team departing for the winter tour of England in a week's time.

Rowe, 27, has become a regular in WHITE FERNS squads, but for her 29-year-old good mate Greig, it's another exciting first in a year of breakthroughs.

Greig received her maiden WHITE FERNS cap at the end of the past summer when she was called up from the New Zealand A squad to step in for a single match during England's recent tour of New Zealand.

It capped a big few weeks in which the experienced player had also been selected for the North Island T20 team for the first time, as well as debuting for New Zealand A as both a player and a captain.

Hannah Rowe (left) and Mikaela Greig | PHOTOSPORT

Greig admits she had been "quite shocked" just to have been invited to play the North v South games - let alone go on to finally crack national selection for her country.

"In 12 years, I’d never played any level higher than Hinds — I’d never even been to a camp before that was anything higher than a Hinds camp.

“So it was next level, and then [to make] the WHITE FERNS as well, that was unreal. Three levels up at once!

"But the way it happened so quickly kind of helped. Joining any new team is quite a big thing, let alone three new teams, so by the time the WHITE FERNS happened, in my head it was just the same process of fitting into another new team. It was all a really cool experience.”

A special moment together for Rowe, Greig and Rosemary Mair | PHOTOSPORT
 

Rolling off a season in which she had earlier plundered runs in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield and then made the 2024 Dream11 Super Smash Grand Final with the reinvigorated Hinds, Greig seized her opportunities with New Zealand A.

She put her head down and top-scored in the decisive one-dayer, producing one of her career best List A performances of 84 to ensure her side won the series.

Determined to lead from the front, it was a personally significant innings for Greig who was backed to bat at four and captain a team that had just come off a heavy loss in the second game.

"In the Hinds this season, we’d talked a lot about being the one to stand up to do the job," says Greig.

"Do you want to be that person winning it for the team, or leave it to someone else?

Greig in action for NZ A | PHOTOSPORT
 

"So I was saying to myself, ‘Right, come on, I’m taking this game on myself’ — and although I struggled for a lot of that innings, that mentality clicked in during that game."

The result was a 133-run victory, and coveted trophy for New Zealand A.

The WHITE FERNS tour will bring a chance to play in up to three ODIs and five T20 Internationals, ahead of the looming T20 World Cup - with that World Cup squad yet to be named for the October tournament in Bangladesh.

But there's disappointment for contracted WHITE FERN ROSEMARY MAIR whose untimely luck with injury continues.

Hinds Player of the Year Mair, 25, was another of the Central Hinds to show her class last summer in both formats.

Fear the Mair | PHOTOSPORT

The pace weapon took four wickets in four balls (the Hinds' first ever hat-trick, as well as an internationally rare four-in-four feat) in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield against eventual champions the Otago Sparks.

Later she turned in a brilliant bowling performance in the Dream11 Super Smash Grand Final with a breathtaking haul of 4/5 against Wellington Blaze.

Mair played two matches for New Zealand A against England A in March, and then went on to play five T20is for the WHITE FERNS against the full England touring side - taking her WHITE FERNS appearances tally to 24 T20is plus 16 ODIs.

Rosemary Mair | PHOTOSPORT

But back pain saw her miss the subsequent ODI Series of the home season, and now Mair misses out on a reciprocal trip to England due to those ongoing back problems.

Respected wicket-taker Hannah Rowe will set off with 55 ODIs and 44 T20is now under her belt, including a one-day best of 5/55 and 57 ODI and 21 T20i wickets.

She's set to be a key member of the WHITE FERNS attack in a 16-strong squad missing Mair as well as injured Hayley Jensen (calf), while veteran pace star Lea Tahuhu will remain in New Zealand pending the arrival of her second child, and join the team ahead of the T20i Series that follows the three one-dayers.

Hannah Rowe | PHOTOSPORT
 

The squad departs for England on 13 June, with a warm-up match at Grace Road (Leicester) on 21 June and the first ODI set for 26 June in Durham.

WHITE FERNS Head Coach Ben Sawyer noted that the selection of Greig and the recall of veteran batter Lauren Down (Auckland Hearts) spoke to long-term planning for pinnacle events such as the T20 World Cup.

"Every Series is an opportunity to test what our best Playing XI looks like," said Sawyer, "and with T20 and One-Day World Cups looming, it will be good to see where Lauren and Mikaela could fit in."

Rowe and coach Ben Sawyer | PHOTOSPORT
 

The WHITE FERNS wider training squad has spent the past six weeks training and practising in a series of pre-tour camps, the most recent of which was at Mt Maunganui this week.

Cast the line back a couple of decades and Australia and the WHITE FERNS used to dominate the women's international cricketscape, but England's resurgence and consistency on the back of greater investment is emblematic of the new world order in which many more teams pose a threat.

"Anytime you play a world-class team like England in their own backyard, it's going to be a challenge," said Sawyer.

"But with the work that's been put in, we've got ourselves into the best position possible to succeed."

Down has been selected for the opening ODI leg of the tour only, while off-spinning allrounder Leigh Kasperek and Tahuhu will join the fold for the five T20 Internationals.

WHITE FERNS

2024 Tour of England

Sophie Devine - Captain, Wellington Blaze

Suzie Bates - Otago Sparks

Eden Carson - Otago Sparks

Lauren Down - ODIs only, Auckland Hearts

Izzy Gaze - wicketkeeper, Auckland Hearts

Maddy Green - Auckland Hearts

Mikaela Greig - Central Hinds

Brooke Halliday - Auckland Hearts

Fran Jonas - Auckland Hearts

Leigh Kasperek - T20is only, Wellington Blaze

Jess Kerr - Wellington Blaze

Melie Kerr - Wellington Blaze

Molly Penfold - Auckland Hearts

Georgia Plimmer - Wellington Blaze

Hannah Rowe - Central Hinds

Lea Tahuhu - T20Is only, Canterbury Magicians

SCHEDULE

Warm up match • Grace Road, Leicester, Fri 21 June, 10PM NZT

1st ODI • Riverside, Durham, Wed 26 June, MIDNIGHT +1 day NZT

2nd ODI • New Road, Worcester, Sun 30 June, 10PM NZT

3rd ODI • County Ground, Bristol, Wed 3 July, MIDNIGHT +1 day NZT

1st T20I • The Rose Bowl, Southampton, Sat 6 July, 1.30AM +1 day NZT

2nd T20I • The 1st Central County Ground, Hove, Tues 9 July, 5.30AM +1 day NZT

3rd T20I • The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury, Thurs 11 July, 5.30AM +1 day NZT

4th T20I • The Oval, London, Sat 13 July, 5.30AM +1 day NZT

5th T20I • Lord’s, London, Wed 17 July, 5AM +1 day NZT

NZC Broadcast partner details - to be confirmed

Article added: Thursday 6 June 2024

Author: Margot Butcher

All images: Photosport | Published under licence