Tomlinson to coach Central Districts Māori Wāhine

Central Hinds’ Kerry Tomlinson hits the ball while Wellington Blaze wicketkeeper Rachel Priest is ready to catch a loose ball during the Dream11 Super Smash T20 Cricket match in Lincoln. Gisborne-born Tomlinson is one of two to coach the Central Districts Māori Wāhine cricket team to play at the New Zealand Cricket Māori women’s nationals in Hastings next month.Photosport picture

Former Tairāwhiti cricketer Kerry-Anne Tomlinson has been named as one of two inaugural coaches of the Central Districts Māori Wāhine squad to play in Heretaunga Hastings next month.

Hawke’s Bay and Central Hinds rep Tomlinson (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Porou) will assist the head coach, Nelson’s Dustin Emms-Healey (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha).

The CD Māori Wāhine squad will compete in the ground-breaking New Zealand Cricket Māori women’s nationals — Te Whakataetae Kirikiti Māori ā-Motu mō ngā Wāhine.

Central Districts will host the three-day T20 tournament at Cornwall Park from October 13 to 15, with teams from around the country accommodated at Hawke’s Bay marae.

Emms-Healey, the Nelson Cricket Community Cricket coordinator, represented CD Māori men this year as they competed in their own history-making nationals at Easter, in Whangārei.

Tomlinson, as well as being assistant coach, will also play for the CD Māori Wāhine side.

A contracted Central Hinds player, Tomlinson is an adaptable veteran domestic rep who has played 105 representative T20 and 151 List A one-day matches at a high level. She also represented The Netherlands female international team in 2011/12.

Fresh off several weeks in Vanuatu, where she was head coach of the Samoan women’s under-19 team, Tomlinson was shoulder-tapped by New Zealand Cricket to help mentor that squad at the recent ICC East-Asia Pacific Under-19 World Cup qualifier.

Tomlinson, 33, was selected for NZ Cricket’s Pathway to Performance coaching programme last year, for the 2022/23 intake in a strategic programme to provide development opportunities to emerging female coaches, specifically to those who are coaching at the community level and have aspirations to move into high-performance coaching roles where female coaches have been scarce.

Tomlinson was the CD u19 women’s assistant coach last summer, and was also the first female recipient of NZ Cricket’s Māori Cricket Scholarship that existed before the introduction of the new NZC stable of Māori cricket pathway programmes.

She was also a driving force and player-coach for the Northern Districts Māori women’s team that started up eight years ago and toured the Cook Islands (when she was playing for the ND female domestic team, before her return to CD in 2017).

Tomlinson coached the New Zealand Māori secondary schools girls’ squad last summer.

“That was an awesome coaching experience where I could pass on my knowledge and skills to a group who really appreciated having me there,” she said.

“I enjoyed being in a few new countries and learning about the cultures, and also the amount of fun you have as a group when you’re in a tournament.”

Five female teams will compete at Cornwall Park, Hastings next month.

The five teams align with the traditional major association catchments, with the exception of Te Waipounamu which combines the Canterbury and Otago cricket association areas.