Teenager Fran Jonas has become a weapon for the White Ferns. Photo / Photosport
Kris Shannon details rising New Zealand cricket talents under the age of 21 to keep an eye on.
The White Ferns’ T20 World Cup campaign in South Africa could well begin with the ball in Fran Jonas’ hands.
The 18-year-old has in the last six months turned what had been a defensive tactic into one of New Zealand’s primary weapon in the shortest form, repeatedly proving her ability to strike in the opening over.
Given the speed of her ascension to date, it’s little surprise for Jonas to achieve such prominence.
The left-arm orthodox spinner first wore the white fern in 2021, making her international debut aged 16. The following year, Jonas earned inclusion in New Zealand’s squad for their home World Cup, playing the opening game before building experience from the sidelines.
Jonas was, in other words, on the fast track well before Ben Sawyer took over the side following the World Cup disappointment.
The coach has since furthered her development by throwing her the ball to begin T20 matches, a trend likely to continue in the White Ferns’ opening World Cup game against Australia next month.
“We almost gave Fran a couple of those because that first over’s a little bit easier to bowl,” Sawyer said. “But Fran’s actually changed our thinking on that because she’s nearly gotten a wicket every time.
“So while it was originally to try and protect her a little bit and get that over out of the way, it’s actually become a real weapon for us. She’s definitely done that herself - she’s probably created a role for herself with that first over.”
Jonas has snared 13 wickets in 12 T20Is, boasting an impressive economy rate of 4.08. But aligned with her talent, Sawyer has been most impressed with the teenager’s temperament.
“She’s just the same kid who I first met at the Mount,” he said. “She’s going to come up against hard days, and she has, but she’s taken that in her stride. I’m sure the World Cup’s going to be tough again, but she’s stepped up every time she’s been thrown the ball.”
Craig Cumming waited until age 29 to play the first of his 24 matches for New Zealand. He may not have long to wait until his son betters both those figures.
Jacob Cumming, like his father, is a top-order batsman for Otago. Unlike Craig, a first international cap - and a fair few more to follow - could come for Jacob sooner rather than later.
“Jacob displays one of the best techniques by a top-order batsman coming out of the youth programme,” said Otago coach Dion Ebrahim. “Often young batsmen have the ability to play off the front and back foot, but having good scoring opportunities off the back foot is definitely where Jacob separates himself from the pack.
“He’s a young man with an outstanding temperament - almost unflappable under high-pressure situations. The last season or two he’s come across some of New Zealand’s best bowlers - the likes of Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson - and he seems to have this calmness to him.”
Cumming, who last month turned 19, made his first-class debut for Otago a year ago, having previously been the top scorer in the national provincial A tournament.
The left-handed batsman has played eight Plunket Shield matches - showing enough promise to earn selection for a New Zealand XI team alongside Neil Wagner and Devon Conway - and Ebrahim indicated time in the middle was now the main focus.
“His technique will hold tight against the challenges that come with domestic cricket, so it’s just trying to provide him with consistent opportunities,” the coach said. “As he gets that, he’ll find out how best to craft an innings.
“It’s very much the batsmanship or tempo of first-class cricket - how he can identify the typical ebbs and flows of first-class cricket, and how as a top-order batsman he can navigate his way through that.
“In terms of performances, we just want him to keep enjoying what he’s doing from a playing point of view and learn and feed off a lot of the experienced players that he gets to rub shoulders with.”
When Georgia Plimmer first walked out to bat for the White Ferns, the awaiting challenge was as difficult as imaginable in international cricket.
New Zealand were batting first in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Games against Australia, the best team in the world, and veteran opener Suzie Bates had just been dismissed for a golden duck.
Plimmer, who had turned 18 six months earlier, took strike against Megan Schutt, a fast bowler with more than 200 international wickets to her name, and was promptly adjudged lbw.
But after successfully reviewing that first-ball dismissal, Plimmer began to play her shots.
She walked down the crease and hit Jess Jonassen over mid-off to the fence; she cut Tahlia McGrath beautifully past short third to the boundary; and she again used her feet to smack Schutt for four down the ground.
The cameo was brief - Plimmer was soon dismissed for 17 - and the White Ferns eventually went down by five wickets. But the young batter had shown more than a glimmer of her talent.
“It made everyone stand up,” coach Ben Sawyer said of that innings. “She shows glimpses of that all the time.
“The talent’s definitely there, and she’s someone that we want to try to get the best out of it. I hope that comes soon because she’s working really hard at her game.”
Plimmer has since struggled to replicate the impact she made in Birmingham, experiencing teething issues typical of a teenager. But Sawyer has no doubt that runs will soon flow as smoothly as they did against Australia.
“It’s just about turning those 10s and 15s into 30s and 40s,” he said. “We’ve asked her to play a particular way, and that’s to be attacking, and with that comes risk.
“I don’t want her to go into her shell because we want her to make bigger scores. We want her to play the same way that she does and make big scores. That’s putting a bit of pressure on her, but that’s how good we think she should be.”
With one Indian-born legspinner recently starring in New Zealand’s test team, another may not be too far away.
Adithya Ashok has long loomed an exciting prospect in age-group cricket, touted as the most promising spinner to emerge since Daniel Vettori, and his first-class debut suggested he could soon follow in the footsteps of Ish Sodhi.
The 20-year-old, who moved to New Zealand aged four, has set a goal to play test cricket for the Black Caps, and he showed an immediate affinity for the red ball in October.
Having made his Auckland debut in T20 and one-day cricket in the 2021-22 season, his first-class bow against Central Districts was extremely encouraging.
Ashok’s first wicket in the whites was New Zealand test opener Will Young. An over later, he struck again. By the time he dismissed CD captain Tom Bruce, Ashok had collected 5-106 in his maiden innings.
It’s so far his only innings - the visitors batted once in a big win at Eden Park Outer Oval - but being able to turn the ball both ways, possessing a fearsome googly, there should be plenty of wickets to come.
Ashok first caught the eye while playing for Mt Albert Grammar’s first XI while in year nine. At the national U17 tournament in 2019, he picked up 6-12 against Northern Districts, and the following year he earned inclusion as a 17-year-old in New Zealand’s squad for the U19 World Cup.
He needn’t look far for inspiration to make the next step - Sodhi and Ajaz Patel, another Indian-born tweaker, were the Black Caps’ best bowlers on their last two trips to the subcontinent. Soon, Ashok might be pressing for their place.
A month after turning 14, Kate Chandler was turning the ball past White Ferns batters.
In just her third list A match, the legspinner picked up a five-wicket bag in December 2020, taking 5-41 to help Wellington topple Canterbury in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield.
Including in her haul at Hagley Oval was Lea Tahuhu and Kate Ebrahim, experienced victims as the adolescent bowled a wicket maiden and a double-wicket maiden, while she also caught Amy Satterthwaite to complete a dream outing.
“That was awesome, it was a bit surreal looking back at it. It was one of those days where everything just goes to plan,” Chandler told Newsroom on the eve of this month’s U19 T20 World Cup in South Africa.
Now 16, Chandler is part of a New Zealand team featuring Fran Jonas and Georgia Plimmer, who opened their tournament against Indonesia on Monday morning (NZT).
“I was pretty stoked, it was a bit of a surprise,” Chandler said of her inclusion. “I wasn’t 100 per cent thinking I was going to be in the frame for it so it was pretty cool to get the call.
“Not many girls have gone and played cricket overseas, or had the pressure of playing in a World Cup, so it’ll be good to have [Jonas and Plimmer] there.”
It’s a chance for Chandler to continue a cricket education that began while playing with her three brothers in the backyard. After they helped her learn the art of legspin, she has since played 11 matches for Wellington, taking three wickets in a losing effort in last year’s one-day final.
She snared nine scalps in last month’s national U19 tournament while also impressing with the bat, scoring 255 runs at an average of 63.75.
“I’ve definitely worked a lot on my batting the last couple of seasons,” Chandler said. “[I’m] trying not slip into just becoming a bowler - to really become an all-rounder.”
At least two competitors were knocked unconscious during the inaugural event in Melbourne.