![\"Xara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/382be2_4268a4337a994941b74899323189dcc0~mv2.jpg\")
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Xara Jetly is one of hte new names in the New Zealand women’s A squad to tour Sri Lanka PHOTO: LINTOTT PHOTOGRAPHY<\/p>\n
A 15-strong New Zealand A women’s squad comprising a host of emerging talent will head to Sri Lanka this week for three one-day matches and three T20s in Dambulla.<\/p>\n
This will be the first women\u2019s New Zealand A tour to Asia providing the opportunity to test the next best women\u2019s cricketers in subcontinent conditions.<\/p>\n
The squad features seven players with White Ferns experience in Northern Brave\u2019s Kayley Knight and Jess Watkin, Auckland Hearts\u2019 Bella Armstrong and Fran Jonas, Central Hinds\u2019 Hannah Rowe, Canterbury Magicians Kate Anderson, and Otago Sparks\u2019 Bella James.<\/p>\n
Top-order batter Anderson was recently awarded the Ruth Martin Cup for domestic batting at the ANZ NZC Awards after making 776 runs across the season, including 560 at an average of 70 in the Hallyburton Johnstone (HBJ) Shield. <\/p>\n
Auckland Hearts\u2019 Prue Catton will join Anderson in the batting department after playing a crucial role in the Hearts Super Smash campaign and finishing the competition as one of the top run scorers.<\/p>\n
Wellington Blaze off-spinner Xara Jetly, the second-highest wicket-taker in both the domestic one-day and T20 competitions, has earned her maiden New Zealand A call up after claiming 35 wickets for the Blaze this summer, including career-best List A figures of 6-39.<\/p>\n
Northern Brave pace-bowler Marama Downes finished second-equal to Jetly in the Super Smash leading wicket-taking chart also earning herself a maiden New Zealand A call up.<\/p>\n
Otago Sparks seamer Emma Black adds her domestic experience to the pace bowling ranks off the back of another memorable season where she led the HBJ Shield wicket-taking charts with 21 wickets.<\/p>\n
Canterbury men\u2019s assistant coach Brendon Donkers will lead the coaching unit, alongside Northern Brave Women\u2019s head coach Peter Borren, and NZC pathway coach Sara McGlashan.<\/p>\n
NZC head of women\u2019s high performance Liz Green said it was a busy winter for New Zealand\u2019s top female talent.<\/p>\n
\u201cSri Lanka\u2019s going to be a really exciting tour for this group of talented athletes,\u201d said Green.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know playing opportunities are crucial for player development so it\u2019s really pleasing to know we\u2019ll have 15 players in England with the White Ferns and 15 players in Sri Lanka with New Zealand A, all at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of cricket and hopefully a lot of growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green said the tour would allow players to test their skills in foreign conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of this group haven\u2019t experienced subcontinent conditions yet so they\u2019re set for a good challenge with plenty of learning opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green said selecting the New Zealand A squad wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe selection process was one of the most competitive to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a number of impressive performers we saw this summer which gave us a lot to think about.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s varying levels of experience in this squad and they\u2019ve all shown skills consistent with what\u2019s needed at the international level so it should make for an exciting series.” <\/p>\n
The squad depart to Sri Lanka on May 7 ahead of their first One Day match in Dambulla on May 12.<\/p>\n
New Zealand A squad to Sri Lanka<\/p>\n
Kate Anderson Canterbury Magicians<\/p>\n
Bella Armstrong* Auckland Hearts<\/p>\n
Prue Catton Auckland Hearts<\/p>\n
Marama Downes* Northern Brave<\/p>\n
Kate Gaging* Central Hinds<\/p>\n
Fran Jonas Auckland Hearts<\/p>\n
Xara Jetly* Wellington Blaze<\/p>\n
Kayley Knight* Northern Brave<\/p>\n
Darcy Prasad* Canterbury Magicians<\/p>\n
Hannah Rowe Central Hinds<\/p>\n
Tash Wakelin* Northern Brave<\/p>\n
Jess Watkin Northern Brave<\/p>\n
Schedule of New Zealand A Women tour to Sri Lanka<\/p>\n
All matches at Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium<\/p>\n
1st One Day match \u2013 12 May 2026 – 4.30pm (NZT) <\/p>\n
2nd One Day match \u2013 15 May 2026 – 4.30pm (NZT) <\/p>\n
3rd One Day match \u2013 18 May 2026 – 4.30pm (NZT) <\/p>\n
1st T20 match \u2013 21 May 2026 \u2013 4.30pm (NZT) <\/p>\n
2nd T20 match \u2013 23 May 2026 \u2013 4.30pm (NZT) <\/p>\n
3rd T20 match \u2013 25 May 2026 \u2013 4.30pm (NZT)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xara Jetly is one of hte new names in the New Zealand women’s A squad to tour Sri…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":652587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-652586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}