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Last year's winners, the Canterbury Magicians will be without Amy Sattherwaite this summer after she announced her retirement at the end of last season. After Kate Anderson’s incredible campaign last summer, she will be looking to build on it and push her way into the White Ferns starting XI.
Frankie Mackay has been one of the standout players with both the bat and ball in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield this season and Isobel Sharp has also performed well with the bat.
With the loss of Sattherwaite, who did perform well for them last season they will be looking for someone to dominate in that number three spot. They have also fielded a few debutants in the HBJ Shield, who if they get a go, will be looking to make their mark on the competition.
Player to Watch - Isobel Sharp - captained the NZU19 side during the World Cup earlier this year and has made 137 runs in the HBJ Shield so far.
Last year's runners-up, the Wellington Blaze were defeated in the final by the Magicians, but they will be looking to grab the title back after winning it in the 2021/22 season and the three-peat between 2017/18 and 2019/20.
They have lost the services of Maddy Green who has returned to Auckland but have dominated so far in the HBJ Shield with four wins in the six games played.
Wellington will be hopeful of gaining the services of White Ferns Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr, Sophie Devine, and Georgia Plimmer this season and they’ll want them to make big contributions. Wellington also has Leigh Kasperek who has regularly performed for them with both bat and ball during the last few seasons.
Jess McFadyen has also done well with the bat and is a quality wicket-keeper for the side. Kate Chandler and Xara Jetly have also done great with the ball.
Player to Watch - Jess McFadyen - she’ll be looking to try and push for a role back in the White Ferns with her keeping and batting abilities.
Otago finished third in the competition last summer, losing to the eventual winners in the elimination final. They have had a relatively good start to the summer with White Fern Eden Carson having taken 10 wickets and Emma Black getting nine so far. They will want contributions with the ball from those two, whilst also looking for runs from Felicity Robertson and Polly Inglis.
Saffron Wilson has got their top score in the HBJ Shield with a century against the Central Hinds and she’ll be hoping to carry this form through to the Super Smash. Having last won the competition in the 2016/17 season, they will need everyone to contribute if they are within a shot regularly. White Fern Suzie Bates will also be a player who they will want to carry on her form from the series against Pakistan.
Player to Watch - Polly Inglis - Wicket-keeper/batter, Polly Inglis is another player who may be on the White Ferns radar and a good Super Smash could well put her in contention for the England A tour.
Auckland has gained a couple of quality players in the off-season with Maddy Green and Brooke Halliday being signed and will look to help the side push for their first Super Smash title since the 2013/14 season.
They are currently sitting third in the HBJ Shield table with Green having starred in two of the victories over the Central Hinds whilst Prue Catton and Josie Penfold got the side up to a defendable total in their other victory against Northern Districts.
Bree Illing is their top wicket-taker so far with eight wickets and will be looking to make her Super Smash debut this season. White Fern youngster Fran Jonas is the second top wicket-taker with five. Lauren Down is unavailable due to personal reasons but the gains of Green and Halliday will be looking to fill the loss of Down.
Player to Watch - Bree Illing - the youngster has performed exceptionally well with the ball for the Hearts and they will be hopeful she can carry this form on during the Super Smash season.
The Northern Brave head into the Super Smash season with the international signing of Chamari Athapaththu and also have Jess Watkin in their side with her moving from CD during the off-season. With the Brave having never won the Super Smash or even made the final, they have a quality squad that could push them to a finals appearance.
They will have a strong top order this year with Watkin, Athapaththu, Caitlin Gurrey, Bernie Bezuidenhout, Nensi Patel, Natasha Wakelin, and Sam Bariball all players with immense power and the majority of them carry international experience with them.
They have a young bowling attack with Patel, Kayley Knight, Marama Downes, Lucy Boucher, Jesse Prasad, and Eimear Richardson all having made their mark in the HBJ Shield and Super Smash over the last few years.
Player to Watch - Chamari Athapaththu - will be bringing some great experience to the side from her experiences in not only international cricket but domestic cricket as well in multiple different countries.
The Central Hinds finished last in the 2022/23 season and haven’t made the top four since 2019/20 when they finished fourth. They did pick up Thamsyn Newton from Wellington but have lost former captain Jess Watkin to the Brave.
Mikaela Greig and Georgia Atkinson have been on fire for the Hinds with the bat so far this year scoring 232 and 202 runs respectively. Claudia Green has been dominant with the ball, picking up 10 wickets so far in the HBJ Shield, including a maiden five-wicket haul against Auckland. Rosemary Mair has picked up seven wickets with a six-wicket bag against Otago that included a double hat-trick.
The Hinds will need to find some consistency from all players in the side if they want to be within a shot of making the top three.
Player to Watch - Rosemary Mair - the seamer will be looking for plenty of wickets this season as she pushes to make a case for re-selection back in the White Ferns side.
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