ROSEMARY MAIR will spend the next few weeks training - and hopefully playing for - the Perch Scorchers after having been invited to stay on as a WBBL reserve following the WHITE FERNS tour of Australia.

Mair is among four other WHITE FERNS who will provide injury cover whilst training in the ‘WBBL hub’ in Sydney over the next month, alongside Auckland Heart Katie Perkins (Adelaide Strikers), Lauren Down (Melbourne Renegades) and Holly Huddleston (Brisbane Heat).

The situation sees the players train alongside their allocated team while only available to be selected for any side if a marquee player (i.e. a Cricket Australia contracted or overseas player) becomes injured or unavailable.

Mair said she was looking forward to heading into the WBBL hub.

“We get into Sydney on Monday and I can’t wait to catch up with the Perth Scorchers,” she said.

“It’s a great opportunity to learn more from the Scorchers set-up and how they go about their cricket. I’ll be looking to glean as much knowledge as I can from the staff and players.

“There’s a couple of English internationals in the squad too, so it will be interesting to compare our cricket experiences from different parts of the world.

“Sophie Devine is the captain of the Scorchers and it will be nice to have a familiar face around the nets, although I’m not so sure about bowling to her in T20 mode.”

NZC Head of Women’s High Performance, Ant Sharp, said the opportunity presented itself due to the fact our WHITE FERNS were currently in Australia, and had been operating in a biosecure environment, and would therefore not need to go through a further quarantine period before entering the WBBL hub in Sydney.

“NZC is committed to supporting our centrally contracted players wherever we can,” said Sharp. “By staying on and being exposed to new training environments, alongside other quality players, they will continue to learn more about their game."

The WBBL starts on Sunday October 25 with a full round of matches in Sydney.

Article added: Monday 19 October 2020