Wellington Blaze bowler Jess Kerr (pictured right) and Central Hinds wicket-keeper/batswoman Natalie Dodd have been offered White Ferns contracts for the first time, as part of a 17-player list for the 2020-21 season.
Both Kerr and Dodd will be familiar to New Zealand women cricket fans; Dodd making her debut as a teenager back in 2010 while, in the 2019-20 season, Kerr played both ODI and T20I cricket against South Africa.
Both players have been in the contract frame for a while, earning Development Contracts in 2019-20, while Kerr was also part of the Emerging Players Programme the year previous.
Of the players centrally contracted during the previous year, Bernadine Bezuidenhout and Rachel Priest did not receive offers for the coming season.
White Ferns head coach Bob Carter said Kerr and Dodd fully deserved their new contract offers.
“It’s an acknowledgment of hard work and perseverance from both Jess and Natalie, culminating in a fantastic opportunity ahead of them,” he said.
“Jess was an excellent addition to the group last season and impressed the coaching staff with her work ethic and commitment. We’re looking forward to her developing her game over the next 12 months.
“Natalie has impressed over several seasons at domestic level having been in the top echelon of run scorers while also showing her ability with the gloves. We see this as an opportunity to work on her skills and hopefully build on an international career that started many years ago.
“I’m happy the majority of our group can remain stable as we look for continual improvement and application from our players. We have an experienced core of White Ferns and want to ensure our younger, less experienced players have the chance to learn from them over the next 12 months.”
As part of the formal contracting procedure, the NZCPA was consulted and agreed the process, as outlined in the Women’s Master Agreement, had been correctly followed.
Players offered central contracts for 2020-21: Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Natalie Dodd*, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Holly Huddleston, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr*, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin, Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu.
*denotes first NZC contract
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
#Cricketnews #Whiteferns
