There are just two more major stops for Melie Kerr and the White Ferns en route to the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh this October.
At the end of this month, they’ll start their tour of England, which contains three ODIs and five T20Is. Then, in mid-September, they’ll travel to Australia to play the defending T20 World Cup champions in their own backyard over a three-match T20I series, before jumping on a plane and heading off to the host country, Bangladesh, for the latest global tournament.
The White Ferns squad, which was announced on Thursday morning and is listed below, will depart for England in a week’s time. The tour fixtures will be their first since playing the same opposition on New Zealand shores in March and April, when the visitors won the T20I series 4-1, and the ODI series 2-1.
“I thought there was some really good stuff in that England series,” Kerr says.
“In a lot of those games we were in winning positions but [England batter/wicketkeeper] Amy Jones seemed to be there as their lifesaver, their get out of jail free card and she was outstanding and we didn’t really have answers,” she says.
The England series was the end of a busy season for Kerr, 23. Starting In September with a White Ferns tour to South Africa, Kerr then flew to Australia to play for the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League before heading home to take on Pakistan in New Zealand colours. From there, it was domestic competition for the Wellington Blaze before flying to India to play for the Mumbai Indians in the second season of the Women’s Premier League before returning home to play England.
“Things just keep rolling around and then you’ve got the next thing to prepare for,” Kerr says.
“The domestic season for the Wellington Blaze was awesome. To win the Super Smash title, that was definitely a goal of mine and to captain the side [in the absence of regular captain Sophie Devine] as well made it even more special. We’d lost quite a few experienced players as well, so to win that meant a lot. It’s a young group coming through with different people stepping up at different times,” she says.
Kerr’s ongoing excellence at domestic and international level was recognised at the 2024 ANZ New Zealand Cricket Awards where she came close to sweeping the board. She was named Dream11 Super Smash Women’s Player of the Year, ANZ Women’s T20I Player of the Year, ANZ Women’s ODI Player of the Year and also picked up the supreme award, the Debbie Hockley Medal.
“It was personally a great season. I always set goals to try and achieve what I want to achieve, but I said those wickets and those runs leading up to the Super Smash final mean nothing if we don’t win the whole thing, so for me it was about winning the title and because we won it, those runs and wickets mean more as it’s helped us get across the line,” Kerr says.
As well as captaining Wellington, Sophie Devine’s absence from some White Ferns fixtures last season gave Kerr the opportunity to lead her country. It was a special feeling and another step in Kerr’s development as she pushes herself to be even better.
“It’s not an easy job, that’s for sure, but I enjoy thinking about the game, and helping people to try and believe in themselves and get the best out of themselves. It’s really important and it’s all just great learning experiences, whether it’s about my own game, about other people’s or the whole tactical side of the game. You’re just learning and growing all the time,” she says.
Kerr, with Devine, are the White Ferns who regularly play in the major overseas leagues, although Kerr chose not to be considered for The Hundred which will take place in England and Wales between July 23 and August 18.
“Those competitions are amazing, they’re life-changing for some people and it’s amazing where women’s cricket is going. It’s growing globally and hopefully it keeps heading in that same direction. You’d rather be in the position where you have to turn down opportunities because you’ve got to prioritise yourself and your workload and that’s just part of the job, but it’s awesome to have the option and to have these opportunities, it’s a privileged position,” Kerr says.
“I love playing in these competitions but New Zealand’s always number one for me and I just want to keep preparing to be the best I can be for whatever team I play in and putting results in to help win games for your team that you’re playing for, that’s the most important bit for me and being a good team-mate.”
One of the keys for Kerr is finding balance. Each year, it’s about sitting down and looking at the domestic and international schedules and seeing where she can have her training blocks, time with family and have a break. From there she can understand when she can go play overseas.
“It’s a bit of planning but it’s nice to be in that position rather than trying to find more cricket to play,” Kerr says.
Playing in the overseas competitions is not only helping Kerr’s game, but it also provides her with experiences she could only otherwise dream about. There are new friendships created in many different environments.
“It’s so good to see those competitions around the world happening and playing with different people, learning new things and also creating friendships. The more cricket you’re exposed to, the more games you play, the more learnings and results help you grow into a better player. I think that’s also playing with other players around the world, you can learn a bit from other people’s games. It’s really helpful,” she says.
Away from cricket, something that Kerr is passionate about is her documentary series, ‘Treading Water’, made in collaboration with mental health charity I Am Hope and film-maker Hamish Johns. Each episode, presented by Kerr, focuses on a different individual’s mental health journey. Although there’s no precise release date yet, a third season will come out later this year.
“For me, that’s work that I’m so extremely proud of. It means so much because you know you’re having an impact on other people and I hear amazing stories first-hand as well. I’m excited for that to come out and that’s something that is really important for me. I’m passionate about it and it just means so much to me. It’s exciting and I’m excited for the [third] season to come out too.”
But next up, it’s the fixtures against England, as Kerr and the White Ferns look to build momentum before the T20 World Cup.
“England are a quality side. I think they’re really well balanced and do all three parts of the game really well, so that’s a challenge in terms of how we want to play,” Kerr says.
“I guess with a lot of games before the World Cup, it’s finding the style of play we want to play and having the courage to buy into that so that when it comes around to the World Cup we’ve practised it, we’ve played it together and we believe in that style. I think that’s going to be the important part, that we keep trusting our game and don’t change when things get hard. I think that’s going to help give us the confidence to play well at the World Cup,” she says.
Despite all the travel Kerr has had, Bangladesh will be a new destination on her ever-expanding cricketing map.
“I saw a little bit of Australia playing over there and it was pretty low, slow and took a lot of turn so it’s going to be tough conditions, that’s for sure, but we all know that and it’s the same for everyone,” Kerr says.
“World Cups are awesome. To win you’ve got to beat everyone, but they’re also one-off games so anything can happen and I think that’s the exciting thing. In the past we’ve seen so many upsets at different times and with T20 cricket, it’s scary because one player can take a game away from you.”
White Ferns squad to tour England
Sophie Devine (C)
Suzie Bates
Eden Carson
Lauren Down (ODI’s only)
Izzy Gaze
Maddy Green
Mikaela Greig
Brooke Halliday
Fran Jonas
Leigh Kasperek (T20I’s only)
Jess Kerr
Melie Kerr
Molly Penfold
Georgia Plimmer
Hannah Rowe
Lea Tahuhu (T20I’s only)
White Ferns tour to England schedule
Warm up match – Grace Road, Leicester – Friday 21 June – 10.00pm (NZT)
1st ODI – Riverside Durham – Wednesday 26 June – 12.00am +1 day (NZT)
2nd ODI – New Road, Worcester – Sunday 30 June – 10.00pm (NZT)
3rd ODI – County Ground, Bristol – Wednesday 3 July – 12.00am +1 day (NZT)
1st T20I – The Rose Bowl, Southampton – Saturday 6 July – 1.30am +1 day (NZT)
2nd T20I – The 1st Central County Ground, Hove – Tuesday 9 July – 5.30am +1 day (NZT)
3rd T20I – The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury – Thursday 11 July – 5.30am +1 day (NZT)
4th T20I – The Oval, London – Saturday 13 July – 5.30am +1 day (NZT)
5th T20I – Lord’s, London – Wednesday 17 July – 5.00am +1 day (NZT)