Satterthwaite deserved better

White Ferns great Amy Satterthwaite deserved so much better than this messy ending.

The veteran all-rounder’s 15-year career ended abruptly yesterday after bizarrely missing out on a New Zealand Cricket contract for 2022-23 – subsequently announcing her international retirement.

Satterthwaite earned the right to bow out of the game on her own terms, as Black Caps legend Ross Taylor did this summer.

NZC’s reasoning for her contract omission is perplexing to say the least.

Satterthwaite found out the hard way, told last week in a meeting with NZC GM of high performance Bryan Stronach and chief executive David White.

At yesterday’s press conference at Satterthwaite’s Hagley Oval home, Stronach stressed two major messages.

The White Ferns haven’t performed at the necessary standard, including their disappointing World Cup campaign on home soil, where they failed to make the semifinals.

They wanted to look at youth and the next generation of White Ferns and Satterthwaite, 35, wasn’t part of their long-term vision. The 2022-23 national contract list will be announced today.

Stronach said Satterthwaite was no longer viewed as a frontline White Ferns’ T20 player, which factored into the decision. What a load of nonsense. The White Ferns have a heavy diet of T20 cricket over the next 12 months, including July’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in February.

The White Ferns don’t have the talent or player depth to overlook a player of lock in the top order in any White Ferns’ T20 XI. She was the third leading domestic run-scorer in the Women’s T20 Super Smash this season for the Canterbury Magicians, scoring 313 runs at an average of 31 and strike rate of 106.

Stronach and the NZC decision-makers seemingly didn’t watch her batting masterclass in Canterbury’s penultimate T20 round game against the Northern Brave at Hagley in late January. She blazed 114 from 66 balls, the second-highest women’s T20 Super Smash individual score in history – hitting 18 fours and a six.

Any talk Satterthwaite doesn’t score at a quick enough rate in

T20s or lacks the power game to make an impact is ludicrous.

One-day cricket is clearly her best format, but New Zealand’s third-leading women’s T20I runscorer (1784), behind only teammates Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine, still commands a place in the team.

If there had been outstanding young domestic batting prospects knocking down the White Ferns’ selection door, moving on from Satterthwaite might have been easier to stomach. The problem is there isn’t.

New Zealand women’s cricket has some promising emerging spin talents, like Nensi Patel, Eden Carson, Xara Jetly, Sarah Asmussen, and 18-year-old Fran Jonas, who has played five ODIs. Batting-wise, there are few compelling options outside the experienced names in the World Cup squad who could step into the top order and replace the reliable Satterthwaite.

As one of the few true greats in White Ferns’ history, Satterthwaite deserved to depart on her own terms.

Professional sport can be brutal. Selecting teams and dishing out national contracts isn’t always easy. Tricky decisions have to be made and players who miss out, are naturally disappointed.

The White Ferns, who are in the process of appointing their next head coach, face the cold hard reality where things are likely to get worse before they improve.

Whoever takes on the job – assistant Jacob Oram and former Australian international Jo Broadbent are understood to be two frontrunners – faces a steep task.

Not having the calm, steady presence of Satterthwaite only makes it tougher. If the team continue to go backwards, Stronach and White should face strong scrutiny for this baffling decision.

If there had been outstanding young domestic batting prospects knocking down the White Ferns’ selection door, moving on from Satterthwaite might have been easier to stomach. The problem is there isn’t.