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Auckland’s Tāmaki Makaurau side has been finalised ahead of the Māori Wāhine National Cricket Tournament, held in Heretaunga from 13th October to the 15th.
5 teams will compete for the Rona McKenzie Taonga in honour of the White Ferns’ first ever Māori captain Rona McKenzie (Ngāti Awa). She played 7 tests for Aotearoa New Zealand, playing for Auckland in domestic cricket and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1975 New Year Honours list for services to women's cricket.
Skye Bowden heads this Tāmaki Makaurau Māori Wāhine team as captain, with Claire Crooks acting as her vice.
Bowden joined Auckland’s U21 and U18 teams in 2016/17, going on to debut for the Hearts in November in 2018. She picked up 7 wickets in her first HBJ Shield campaign. Bowden has seen her role transform in recent years from a bowler to allrounder in a bid to add an extra dimension to her game.
Crooks first made debut in Auckland colours in 2015 for the Under-21s. She’d go on to feature for the age group for another 2 seasons. The right-arm batter was noted for her efforts in the field in her time with the club.
Crooks has since played at club level for Cornwall alongside Tāmaki Makaurau Māori teammate Anika Todd and assistant coach Katie Perkins.
Legspinner Mollie Drumm has been prominent in NZC’s school-level competitions for Remuera and Epsom Grammar School. Debuting for the latter in 2022, Drumm picked up 5 wickets for just 51 runs from 4 games.
Holly Lightbourne, Anika Tauwhare and Christelle McGuire follow Drumm as an Epsom graduate.
Lightbourne picked up 2 wickets for Auckland U19s, with Tauwhare grabbing 8 in the 2022/23 National U19 Tournament.
Anika Todd has been around the Auckland ranks for some time now, breaking into the U19s and A in 2022/23. Prior to that she played for the Māori Schoolgirls in 2021, claiming 3 wickets in the 2 games versus the Governors General XI.
Right-arm allrounder Jess Smith is no newbie to the Auckland or Tāmaki Makaurau Māori teams.
She first featured for the U19s in 2021/22, picking up just 1 wicket. She backed that up in the 2022/23 season scoring 135 runs from 6 innings. She was also selected for Auckland’s A team that took on ND A.
Katie Perkins is assistant coach, the former Auckland Heart retiring this year. She finished 2nd in the List A run-scoring charts (3431) for the Eden Park outfit, just behind former White Fern skipper Emily Drumm.
On top of that, she is Auckland's highest T20 run scorer with 2236 runs, over 1000 clear of second best Lauren Down.
Tāmaki Makaurau Māori Wāhine squad:
Skye Bowden (c) (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi), Claire Crooks (vc) (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi), Sophie Court (Ngāti Awa), Mollie Drumm (Ngāti Porou), Billie East (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa), Kaitlyn Halliday (Ngāruahine), Raiha Jeory Reynolds (Ngāti Porou), Holly Lightbourne (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri), Christelle McGuire (Ngāpuhi), Jess Smith (Ngāpuhi, Tainui), Anika Tauwhare (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāi Tahu), Anika Todd (Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, Te Uri-o-Hau)
Head Coach: Corey Todd (Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, Te Uri-o-Hau)
Asst Coach: Katie Perkins
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