Cricket: First full tour for four in White Ferns squad for England ODIs

New Zealand White Ferns Nensi Patel (C) and Izzy Sharp (R) celebrate a wicket during the ODI series against South Africa.
Photo: photosport

Spin-bowling all-rounders Flora Devonshire, Nensi Patel, and batters Emma McLeod and Izzy Sharp will make their first international tour after winning inclusion in the White Ferns squad for next month’s ODI series in England.

The foursome, all in their early 20s, featured in the ODI home series wins over Zimbabwe and South Africa this summer and face a sterner test of their skills in three matches against the second-ranked women’s team in the format.

Devonshire was named in last year’s Cricket World Cup squad but returned home without playing a game after injuring a finger during training.

Melie Kerr is captain of a side which also includes senior players Bates, Maddy Green, and Brooke Halliday.

Bates’ will bring the curtain down on a 181-match ODI career, having announced last week she’ll retire after the T20 World Cup in June-July.

Coach Ben Sawyer liked the balance in his 15-strong squad.

“We’ve got some exciting young talent in this squad with the likes of Emma, Izzy, Nensi, and Flora, alongside our core group of seasoned campaigners,” he said.

“Our younger players are finding their feet in international cricket but they’ve proved they have what it takes to succeed at this level.”

The team will play a warm-up match against an ECB development 11 on May 6 before ODIs in Durham, Northampton and Cardiff.

The squad for the T20 leg series in England and the subsequent T20 World Cup will be named on Wednesday.

White Ferns ODI squad:

Melie Kerr (capt), Suzie Bates, Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis, Jess Kerr, Emma McLeod, Rosemary Mair, Nensi Patel, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Izzy Sharp

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