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Wellington, March 5 (HS). Fast bowler Rosemary Mayer and batsman Brooke Halliday have returned to the New Zealand women's cricket team for five T20 and three ODI matches against England at home. Offspinner Leigh Kasparek has been included for the last two T20s.
The tour will begin with two warm-up T20 matches in Queenstown on March 10 and 12. After this, the first T20 match will be played in Dunedin on 19 March. Three standby players for the first T20 will be named closer to the series as cover for Amelia Kerr (Mumbai Indians), Sophie Devine (Royal Challengers Bangalore), or Lee Tahuhu (Gujarat Giants). These three players are currently playing in the Women's Premier League (WPL), which ends on March 17.
Mayer and Kasparek have been rewarded for their performances in New Zealand's domestic T20 tournament Super Smash. Kasparek played a key role in Wellington's title win by taking 17 wickets in the competition at an economy of 5.38. She was the second highest wicket taker in the tournament.
Mayers, whose last international appearance was in August 2022, was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the Super Smash with 14 wickets. However his team, Central Districts, lost by one run in the rain-affected final.
Halliday was out with a foot injury, which kept her out of the T20I and ODI series against Pakistan in December. She returned in the middle of the Super Smash and scored 108 in the List A game against Canterbury on Sunday.
“Rosemary has been an integral part of the Central Hinds team this summer and she has stepped up with her leadership and added pace, which is pleasing,” New Zealand head coach Ben Sawyer said in an official statement. We have identified key areas of her game to work on after the Sri Lanka tour and we have been impressed with the way she has gone and worked hard to implement these into her game. The results speak for themselves and Rosemary’s performance in the Super Smash Grand Finals showed us that she is ready for another opportunity.”
In the combined 15-man roster for both series, Georgia Plimmer has been selected only for the ODIs, while Eden Carson has been selected for the first three T20Is. Carson will also play for New Zealand A in the T20 and 50-over series against England A. Hayley Jensen, who is returning from knee surgery, will also be part of the A series. The full New Zealand A squad will be announced on Wednesday.
New Zealand women's squad for England series
Sophie Devine (captain), Suzie Bates, Bernadine Bezuidenhout (wk), Izzy Gaze (wk), Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Fran Jonas, Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mayer, Hannah Rowe, Lee Tahuhu, Aiden Carson (first three T20Is), Leigh Kasparek (last two T20Is), Georgia Plimer (only ODI).
