THE 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham are only a matter of weeks away, and Cricket is making its triumphant return to the schedule at these Games. In preparation, we will be taking a look at each of the competing nations to see how they stack up.

Today we are taking a look at Australia’s Trans Tasman rival, New Zealand.

New Zealand has always been one of the teams to beat for such a long time now, but after some poor results at both the last T20 and One Day World Cups, New Zealand will be looking to come out and make a statement at these games.

At the last T20 World Cup, the White Ferns finished third in their group behind the Aussies and Indians so missed out on the knockout stage, and at the One Day World Cup earlier this year, which was on home soil, they finished third last after a disastrous tournament.

Things are different now and the White Ferns will subsequently be hoping for a different result. They have a new coach, with Aussie Ben Sawyer only a month and a half into the role, and the squad for these Games is very different to the squads we have seen from the Silver Ferns recently.

There are plenty of new faces in this team, but still plenty of experienced faces to help guide the younger talent. At the top of the order, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates are two of the most imposing batters to face in a T20 game once they get going, so the key for any opponent this tournament will be to get them out quick. Moving further down the order, and although Hayley Jensen has been around the system a while she has not had to step up and make a statement with her performances like she may have to at these games.

Moving down into the bowling list, and although Amelia Kerr is only 21, she has been an absolute sensation on the international stage for a number of years no so will certainly be someone to watch this tournament. One thing that may surprise fans outside New Zealand is Lea Tahuhu who was a late inclusion to the squad. Tahuhu did not get a National team contract, and along with Claudia Green was brought into the squad to replace injured pair Jess Kerr and Lauren Down, who had to step away for mental health reasons.

In terms of the Kiwi schedule, they are in the harder of the two pools with not much recent history in this format to go off against their pool opponents. The White Ferns have not played either the Proteas or Sri Lankans since before the last World Cup, so there is no recent history to go off between the countries.

However, there is some history between them and the English. Since the last T20 World Cup the White Ferns have played the English in two separate T20 series, one held in each country. The English won the series in New Zealand 3-0, and the series in England two to one.

New Zealand Squad

Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Izzy Gaze, Claudia Green, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Amelia Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Jess McFadyen, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu

New Zealand’s Schedule

Saturday 30 July – South Africa
Tuesday 2 August – Sri Lanka
Thursday 4 August – England