MANY HAPPY RETURNS AS ROWE RECALLED

Hinds captain Hannah Rowe has got an early birthday present with a recall to the WHITE FERNS' T20 International squad.
 
The mega experienced allrounder joins Rosemary Mair and Flora Devonshire in the national squad picked to play Australia in Sydney this month in a short, but key, T20 International series.
 
There will be just four games across the ditch - one of those a warm-up, but the short-format series provides a major opportunity to perform ahead of February's inaugural ICC Women's Champion Trophy in India.
 
Rowe, Mair and Devonshire are all contracted WHITE FERNS, but contracts don't guarantee selection and Rowe's spot has come under pressure from Molly Penfold and Bree Illing at times over the past year, despite 47 T20i caps.
 
 

 

 
Penfold and Illing will also be on the plane to Sydney's Kingford Smith Airport later this month with Rowe, who turns 30 tomorrow, hoping to get back on the park for her country in the T20 format for the first time since September 2024 - which coincidentally was also a tour to Australia.
 
In the interim, she was meaningfully deployed in Sri Lanka this winter, playing five matches across the two formats on May's New Zealand A tour.
 
The venture will be a fresh start for the national side in more ways than one, Dean Brownlie taking over as interim Head Coach after the end of Ben Sawyer's tenure; and a cavern to fill after the retirements of Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Lea Tahuhu.
 
Bates will continue playing for Otago this summer, but is done with international assignments - and that has opened the door again for Sparks teammate Bella James on this tour.
 
 
 
Wicketkeeper-batter Izzy Gaze was unavailable for selection following surgery to an ongoing thumb injury which will see Polly Inglis take the gloves.
 

Brownlie said the tour between the previous and the current ICC Women’s T20 World Cup champions was a valuable opportunity but he was also framing it with a good measure of caution.

"It’s going to be a chance for the group to test themselves against a quality side. 

"Competing against the best in the world is always going to be a challenge, but it also provides a lot of opportunities to learn and strengthen skill sets within that.”

The squad departs to Australia on Monday, 12 October ahead of the warm-up fixture against a Governor General’s XI.

All three T20is against Australia will be hosted at North Sydney Oval and broadcast live in New Zealand on SKY Sport NZ.

 

 

 

2026 T20I TOUR OF AUSTRALIA

 

Melie Kerr - captain, Wellington Blaze

Eden Carson - Sparks

Flora Devonshire - Central Hinds

Maddy Green - Auckland Hearts

Brooke Halliday - Auckland Hearts

Bree Illing - Auckland Hearts

Polly Inglis - wicketkeeper, Sparks

Bella James - Sparks

Jess Kerr - Wellington Blaze

Rosemary Mair - Central Hinds

Nensi Patel - Northern Brave

Molly Penfold - Auckland Hearts

Georgia Plimmer - Wellington Blaze

Hannah Rowe - Central Hinds

Izzy Sharp - Canterbury Magicians

 

 


Article added: Friday 2 October 2026

 

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