White Ferns immersed in conditions ahead of Cricket World Cup
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RNZ News
19 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Black Caps dominate day one of second Test against Zimbabwe
New Zealand bowler Matt Henry Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ The Black Caps did not take long to gain the upper hand over Zimbabwe on the first day of the second test, skittling out their hosts for 125 before reaching 174-1 in reply in Bulawayo overnight. Opener Devon Conway (79) and nightwatchman Jacob Duffy (8) were unbeaten at stumps as New Zealand led by 49 runs. Conway and Will Young put on 162 for the first wicket before Young chopped on a delivery from Trevor Gwandu to be bowled for 74 just before the close. Matt Henry, man of the match in New Zealand's comprehensive first test win, bagged another five-wicket haul with 5-40 in 15 overs while debutant Zakary Foulkes took 4-38 after Zimbabwe won the toss. Brendan Taylor top scored for Zimbabwe with 44, falling just when he looked on course for a successful return to the team at the age of 39. He was back after serving a three-and-a-half-year ban for breaching anti-corruption and anti-doping rules and before the match spoke of overcoming alcohol and drug addiction to revive his test career, which began 21 years ago. "How good is it that three years ago, I couldn't get out of bed and now I am here doing what I love, and that's representing Zimbabwe?" Taylor said in an emotional television interview before the first day's play. "I was in the dark depths of the abyss and trying to just get through this total and incomprehensible demoralisation of life. It was incredibly difficult." He was the fifth Zimbabwe wicket to fall when a ball from Henry looked to stand up on him and he steered an easy catch to Mitchell Santner at extra cover. Wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga made the only other significant contribution with an unbeaten 33. Fast bowler Foulkes was one of three debutants for the Kiwis, whose captain Tom Latham failed a fitness test on a shoulder injury, with Santner deputising for a second successive match. New Zealand won last week's first test , also at the Queens Sports Club, by nine wickets. -Reuters
Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Form in England gives Bates boost for future
By Barry Guy of RNZ A successful stint in England has White Ferns veteran Suzie Bates confident she still has something to offer the game. Bates has just finished playing for Durham in the ECB's new domestic women's competition this year where the eight top division teams were all fully professional. The 37-year-old was Durham's first ever women's overseas player and helped the club to mid-table finishes in both the T20 and 50-over competitions in their inaugural season. During her stint Bates became the oldest player to score a century in their 50-over competition. She smashed 163 off 140 balls against Somerset, her 29th century in List A cricket. She was also the leading run-scorer in the T20 Blast and averaged 52 in the 50-over game. Bates said it was a real boost at an important time on her career. "When you get a bit older and lose a bit of form you do start to wonder if you're near the end, but if you're scoring runs and your body and mind are good then you want to keep going," Bates said. She has just arrived back in New Zealand and will now start preparing for the World Cup in India in October. "[The 163] was a perfect way to end the season and it was nice to leave on a good note. "Leading into a 50-over World Cup to have a score like that under my belt and, more importantly, to spend that amount of time out in the middle really helps when you have a big tournament coming up." Since making her debut for Otago in 2002 and the White Ferns in 2006, Bates has played in most of the cricketing nations around the world. When the opportunity came up to return to England this year she didn't hesitate. It also meant she didn't have to spend all of the New Zealand winter just training and instead got to be out in the middle playing cricket. She said Durham (and its director of cricket, the former Australian international Marcus North) were keen to have an experienced player to help, especially with some of their players 20 years younger than her. "The fact that I've played for a long time and probably seen it all in women's cricket was an appeal for the club." Bates, the most capped New Zealand women cricketer with 348, said she didn't really coach, but hoped that she was more of a role model for the younger players "In all my leadership roles during my career I've gone by the motto 'Do as I do not what I say'. "I find it difficult to tell players what to do; it's more about being in the middle and discussing options. I try not to give younger players too much advice." Bates has scored 4716 runs in T20 internationals, the most of any female cricketer. She has scored more than 10,000 white ball runs for New Zealand The White Ferns will head to the UAE in September for warmup matches before the World Cup in India in October.
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
Plea for contract rules around international rugby fixtures to be enforced
Inoke Afeaki when he was Tonga rugby captain after a match against Fiji in Nadi on 5 July 2003. Photo: PHOTOSPORT A former Tonga rugby captain says it's unlikely Super Rugby contracts explicitly state New Zealand-based Pasefika players can't play for their home nations. Inoke Afeaki's comment comes after reports New Zealand-based players of Pacific heritage are being contractually restricted from playing for teams other than the All Blacks or their clubs. Afeaki spoke to Pacific Waves about it. Flying Fijian's coach Mick Byrne told RNZ Pacific last month that New Zealand-based players of Pacific Island heritage have signed letters of agreement attached to their contracts that bar them from playing for teams other than the All Blacks. Meanwhile, New Zealand Rugby said contracted players were free to choose which national team they represented. Afeaki said while restrictions around national representation wasn't put in any "real black and white clauses", club contracts often included certain dates players had to be available. "They'll put in dates… saying: 'This is the period that you're available and you have to focus on this'. But there's clear intent to keep them… from going away and playing international matches," he said. New Zealand Rugby have said its five Super Rugby clubs (Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders, Hurricanes) were allowed to contract up to three "non-NZ eligible players". These included players who had already played internationally, including for Pacific nations like Fiji or Tonga, as well as players who had declared their intention to play internationally for a non-New Zealand team. Under the organisation's rules, those in the latter category were ineligible for New Zealand's national teams. "All other players contracted to NZR's five Super Rugby clubs have declared their availability and intention to represent NZ national teams over the duration of their contract," a New Zealand Rugby spokesperson said. Afeaki said players understood why clubs needed them to be available at certain dates. He also said it happened in clubs "everywhere" including in Japan and the UK. "The players know that they're signing their contract because the team need them when the international players from that team - say the All Blacks - go away. "They need us island boys making sure that we're keeping their team strong. "The clubs are making decisions to keep their team strong while they lose their best players to their national team. Our boys know that it's the reason why they're being contracted." Afeaki believed World Rugby - the sport's overarching governing body - needed to take a tougher stance on international fixtures being booked outside its set test match windows. The body has set periods over the year for international test matches. These were primarily around July and November. He said a range of problems stemmed from dates around the test period. For example, players of Pacific heritage may not be released by clubs to represent their home nations simply because other club players - like All Blacks - received preferential status for international matches, Afeaki said. Players of Pacific heritage could also fail to secure a release because their home nation had scheduled a test match outside of World Rugby's test windows, he said. In that instance, Afeaki said clubs could come back and say the release period violated the player's contract. He believed both scenarios were unacceptable and resulted in players being put in a difficult position, particularly because big competitions like Super Rugby often offered lucrative contracts to players. Afeaki said any international fixtures within the test windows should supersede club obligations, and that should be enforced by governing bodies like World Rugby and New Zealand Rugby. "It's the game off the field. "The regulation … clearly says that all players are allowed to play for their country during that test window. And what clubs and rugby unions are doing is clearly out of that regulation, and that's breaking the law in the game. "They should be embarrassed." Inoke Afeaki played for Tonga in the 1995 and 2003 Rugby World Cups. He has played professionally and coached clubs and unions around the world, including in New Zealand, France and Japan.
