Life is Tough
1
By Ryan Nixon
Few things seem to evoke the kind of emotional response than the axing of an established team veteran, and we’ve seen just that this week with the announcement of the White Ferns contracted players list. In an ideal world, all players would control the end of their careers, giving coaches, selectors, teammates and fans alike the heads up that they’re calling stumps on their terms. In reality though, that’s often not the case; injuries, loss of form and better alternatives can lead to a veteran being jettisoned before they’re personally ready.
What has stirred up the response to the dropping of Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu and to a lesser extent, Frankie Mackay and Leigh Kasperek, is that the reasons listed above aren’t apparent. While the White Ferns have largely settled into the middle of the international pack, well below the likes of Australia and England, and coming off the back of a disappointing home World Cup, there’s evidence to suggest that the above quartet aren’t to blame. However, there’s also plenty of rationale behind the new contracts list, and it speaks to a coming of age for New Zealand women’s cricket.
The biggest issue is that there’s currently no adequate system for developing our emerging talent. Domestic retainers and even the New Zealand Cricket development contracts are paltry; a largely token sum of money that no player could ever survive on. In bygone eras this wasn’t an issue, but with professional women’s sport evolving, and other nations advancing their games, New Zealand has found itself behind the run rate.
It also demonstrates just how cutthroat professional sport can be. Yes, these are human beings, and yes, we are dealing with people’s livelihoods. However, women’s sport is learning that sometimes tough decisions get made. Ross Taylor might have been afforded a somewhat saccharine summer farewell, but short memories seem to have forgotten he also experienced cutthroat selection decisions not so long ago. The White Ferns’ performance in recent years has been mediocre, and like with Taylor’s captaincy, the selectors have switched philosophies in an attempt to reverse their fortunes. A swansong season is not an entitlement.
Some will argue that others in the squad could have made way instead of some of those listed above, but what’s apparent is that New Zealand Cricket and the White Ferns selectors believe in investing in youth. They’ll now get to focus full-time on cricket, honing their skills without the absolute need to juggle other commitments. Whether this philosophy works may not be apparent for a few years, with the 2025 Cricket World Cup in particular looking like the ideal yardstick. If the White Ferns improve and compete with the world’s best, then this selection controversy will be quickly forgotten in a similar manner to Taylor’s removal as Black Caps captain.
This takes nothing away from the international careers of Satterthwaite and Tahuhu, who demonstrated time and again their ability on the world stage. In other circumstances, they may have been afforded the freedom to leave the game on their own terms. However, sometimes bold choices need to be made in professional sport, and I can understand the reasoning behind this choice.
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“what’s apparent is that New Zealand Cricket and the White Ferns selectors believe in investing in youth.”
This is nothing novel, its what the selectors have done for nearly a decade – they prioritise potential over performance (and not surprisingly, the White Ferns always have ‘potential’ to do well at world events, but never actually perform).
2017 World Cup – McGlashan and Mackay left out of squad (its just that hardly anyone really cared then). Between 2017 and 2021 – Rachel Priest left out while in demand for T20 leagues in UK and Aus. 2022 – Kasperek and Ebrahim not in World Cup team. To say nothing of the likes of Peterson, Dodd, Perkins and so on over that timeframe.
This isn’t a brave new approach, this is doubling down on the usual approach. Hope it works, even if it does its just a band-aid over the poor development pathways NZC have in place for women’s cricket – using White Ferns contracts as a youth development pathway is novel at least.
Interestingly, the aforementioned Sara McGlashan is now NZC High Performance Coach (Female Pathways). Hope she can make a difference, the pathway is too narrow and short now and too many teenagers with too little cricket are making it to the final step.