While the men are about to play England in a high-profile test series, the women haven\u2019t played a multi-day test for 22 years.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s even longer since New Zealand last hosted a women\u2019s test \u2013 31 years.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year it was reported New Zealand Cricket turned down the chance to play a test in Australia next season.<\/p>\n
Past internationals Frankie Mackay and Penny Kinsella tell The Detail it\u2019s a sporting tragedy that soon-to-retire greats of the game Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine never got to wear whites for their country.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve each had 20-year careers that have spanned white ball cricket only.<\/p>\n
Others, including Mackay, have come and gone from the international scene in that time without bowling a red ball or batting all afternoon.<\/p>\n
The Detail asked NZ Cricket for an interview about the test drought, but a spokesperson says with the White Ferns\u2019 world Twenty20 title defence just weeks away, now\u2019s not the right time.<\/p>\n
In a statement, its head of women\u2019s high performance development, Liz Green, says there are no plans to reintroduce tests for the White Ferns at this stage.<\/p>\n
But, she says, never say never, although the organisation thinks concentrating resources on white ball cricket will grow the game in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe limited overs formats have proven to be very effective in terms of attracting and retaining young players, which is a significant factor in the health of the women\u2019s game here.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn time, this will provide a bigger base from which talented players will emerge to ultimately play for the White Ferns,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFocusing on formats which include ICC global events, such as world cups, is our preference for now.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a growing chorus that says that\u2019s not good enough.<\/p>\n
Former White Fern Penny Kinsella played six tests and 20 one-day internationals for New Zealand in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
Her handle on social media platform X is: \u201cPK says tests for White Ferns\u201d, and she has a banner repeating this message, which she takes to cricket matches.<\/p>\n
She unfurled it recently at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, when the White Ferns played South Africa, and in Perth, when she went to watch Australia play India in a test.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely they should be playing test cricket,\u201d she says of New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fine heritage we have of test cricket dating back to 1935. Over that time we\u2019ve had some really cool struggles trying to establish ourselves as a test nation and then actually getting to the point in the 1970s where we won a few matches.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand has played 45 tests, for two wins, both in 1972, and 10 losses.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s recognised that most countries around the world lose money on hosting men\u2019s test cricket.<\/p>\n
So, The Detail asked Kinsella what might have to be given up if New Zealand were to afford to play women\u2019s tests, and prepare the White Ferns for this.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy idea would be to repurpose the North-South [Islands] series that we\u2019ve had reinstituted, into a way of preparing our players to play the multi-day format, and for the best players to be challenging the best players to see if they have what it takes to be able to develop those endurance skills and those strategic skills,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Kinsella\u2019s had a long involvement in cricket \u2013 including receiving the Bert Sutcliffe Medal in 2022 for her contributions to the sport \u2013 and has the ear of New Zealand Cricket.<\/p>\n
She says she\u2019ll continue to agitate for change and hold officials to account.<\/p>\n
Penny Kinsella: “They should be playing test cricket.” Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Frankie Mackay, who played 30 one-dayers and 30 Twenty20 internationals for New Zealand, says the White Ferns should play tests, although the issue isn\u2019t simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if you talk to any players they would say, \u2018Of course New Zealand\u2019s representative side should be playing test cricket, just like their male counterparts\u2019,\u201d she tells The Detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there are so many layers that come into it that make it probably not as straightforward as this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no first-class system, there\u2019s no three-day cricket or four-day cricket, no red ball cricket or pink ball cricket being played domestically in New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
She says money comes into it, too. Could it be better spent on development programmes and tours?<\/p>\n
She agrees with Kinsella that the inter-island series of matches could be repurposed to prepare top women cricketers for test matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a pretty hard ask to say to people, \u2018Rock up and play an international test match. You\u2019ve never had any experience in it before and just see how you go\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there needs to be a little more planning that goes in behind the scenes than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Mackay warns against creating a \u201cconvenient excuse\u201d for saying the White Ferns are never ready for a test.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just have a fear that 10 years down the line we might be having the same conversation that says, \u2018well, the White Ferns keep getting offered these test matches and there\u2019s still no red ball cricket, no four-day cricket. There\u2019s no structure towards it, so they keep saying \u2018no\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cPotentially, that\u2019s to the detriment of players in this country and to the detriment of the White Ferns.\u201d<\/p>\n
A decade ago women\u2019s test cricket seemed to be on its deathbed, as only Australia and England played each other in the occasional one-off match.<\/p>\n
But, in recent years India and South Africa have rejoined the multi-day women\u2019s game, while the West Indies were supposed to play Australia this year, only to cancel at the last minute.<\/p>\n
One possibility Mackay raised is that NZ Cricket could use the projected windfall from private Twenty20 leagues to fund women\u2019s tests.<\/p>\n
NZ Cricket says it doesn\u2019t yet have sufficient information to know if that will affect its stance, but it perhaps provides a glimmer of hope that the White Ferns\u2019 test hiatus isn\u2019t permanent.<\/p>\n