D'Arcy Waldegrave: Sportstalk host on the newly-unveiled White Ferns squad for World Cup

White Ferns coach Ben Sawyer has outlined the tough calls made for his one-day cricket World Cup squad in India and Sri Lanka starting later this month.

Four potential debutants have been named in the 15-strong squad - left arm seamer Bree Illing, batter Bella James, wicketkeeper Polly Inglis and left-arm spinner Flora Devonshire.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:06):
Darcy water Gravers with us Alo does hello here, we've
got the White Ferns team.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
Yeah, this is fantastic. It's been named World Cups coming up.
Starts at the start of October and their first game
is up against Australia on the same day that the
black Caps first game up against the Australia and their
T twenty series is on, so you can get to
watch that game and then you just turn the channel
over and then you get to watch the Ferns play brilliant,
play right the way through. The White Ferns play right

(00:31):
the way through and see how they go. Four players
have been dropped, but that means four new players have
come into the side. Are four debutants in there, which
is great news for them. And we'll be joined tonight
on nearby Eleata who who's also been selected. This will
be her fourth World Cup. I think that's impressive. Sezy
Bates and captain Sophie Devine a hitting number five. The

(00:54):
criticism always around the Ferns is what they are not
building enough depth that over the last few years under
Ben Sawyer, the coach. They've started bringing a lot of
young new players through, so they've got a lovely maxof
the veterans, which I think is still a polite thing
to say, isn't it. You got the mid ranges and
then you've got a lot of the youth, so it's

(01:14):
looking good. And of course they can't hide anymore because
of what they did at the T twenty World Cup.
Different format, different game, but everyone been looking over their
shoulder going oh on. And I remember talking to Leah
back and I want to say twenty twenty two when
she was not offered a central contract, and same with

(01:35):
her wife, Amy Sattathwaite. I'm sure if I married at
that stage. But I've got them both on air in
a couple of days of each other talking about it
and talk about thinly veiled rage. Leah was not happy
at all. Yeah, I said, look, can we come on
here and talk about it? And she goes, yeah, sure,
I'll talk about with you, Darce, and I was like,
this is fantastic. So got her on air and there

(01:57):
was no grayer about what she thought.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
She's like.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
But I deserve to be this team. I'm a very
good cricket player. I've been here for a long time.
No one takes my contract. Watch this, hold my beer.
She went away, she played fantastic domestic trickt she smashed
her way back into the team again, and here she
is going off to a fourth World Cup. I mean,
I'm sorry, how good does.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
This explain to me?

Speaker 2 (02:17):
How you have a netballer who then switches to rugby.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
Paris Locke do it? She's got a history because the
old man played for Tonga, I believe in rugby, and
the brother debuted last weekend for Wellington in the MPC.
So she's been talking with the Whitney Hansen. Steve Hansen says,
Steph Hanson's Daughter's been coaching Matatu in the Opicky competition.

(02:42):
Thinking she's been down there in christ Church. She played
for the Tachtics. They won a title. But she's got
something gnawing away at her and she wants to play rugby.
She goes, yeah, all right, I don't want to do this.
I mean, they talk about netbulls getting more and more physical.
You couldn't get much more physical than ruby.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Unlikely thing. I mean, like, I think we're used to
the idea that r players switched to rugby league and
even in a weird way. We used to kind of
the dual internationals with cricket and rugby, but the idea
of netball and rugby is just an unusual combo, isn't.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
It brilliant athlete? And that's what it all comes down to,
isn't it a brilliant athlete, huge aerobic capacity, the ability
to compete at the top level. So good luck getting
tackled hard out in practice. But I suggest that she
did play back in her high school days, so it's
not completely foreign to her. It's cool and you make

(03:29):
good sense. It's normally a different way of doing it
as opposed to this, but I applaud it fantastic.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Right, Dars, Thank you for that. Darcy watergrave Lea on
the show tonight back at seven with Sports Talk.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
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