The Northern Districts women's cricket team, previously known as Northern Spirit, is the women's representative

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team of the Northern Districts Cricket Association, based in the northern half of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. They play their home games at

Seddon Park Seddon Park is a cricket ground in Hamilton, New Zealand. It is the fourth-largest cricket ground in the country, and is renowned for its "village green" setting, affording a picnic atmosphere for spectators. History Seddon Park was named aft ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. They compete in the

Hallyburton Johnstone Shield The Hallyburton Johnstone Shield is the premier domestic women's one-day cricket competition in New Zealand. The tournament began in 1935–36, as a first-class competition, but is now played as a 50-over competition, with six provincial teams ...

one-day competition and also the

Women's Super Smash The Women's Super Smash, known for sponsorship reasons as the Dream11 Super Smash, is a women's Twenty20 cricket competition organised by New Zealand Cricket. The competition began in 2007–08 and features six teams, who play each other twice ...

Twenty20 competition, where they are known as the Northern Brave.

History

Northern Districts joined the New Zealand women's domestic structure in 1999–00, finishing bottom of the

in their first year of competing. Northern Districts have consistently been one of the poorest performers in both the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield and the

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

Super Smash, which began in 2007–08, and are the only current side to have not won a trophy. Northern Districts' best finish in the Super Smash came in its inaugural season, when they finished 3rd with 3 wins. In 2019–20, they reached the final of the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield, but lost by 67 runs to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, despite batter

Felicity Leydon-Davis Felicity Carol Leydon-Davis (born 22 June 1994) is a New Zealand cricketer who currently plays for Otago. She took a five-wicket haul on her Women's One Day International Women's One Day International (WODI) is the limited overs form of women ...

scoring 124. Northern Districts'

Caitlin Gurrey Caitlin Ann Gurrey (born 3 May 1995) is a New Zealand cricketer. In January 2019, she was named in New Zealand's squad for their series against India. She made her Women's Twenty20 International cricket (WT20I) debut for New Zealand against Indi ...

was the leading run-scorer across the whole tournament, with 576 runs. In 2020–21, the side finished 4th in both competitions, with 5 wins in the

Shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

and 3 in the Super Smash. On 9 October 2021, it was announced that the Northern Districts Cricket Association were combining the brands of the men's and women's teams for the Super Smash, with both teams becoming known as Northern Brave.

Grounds

Northern Districts' first match was played at St Paul's Collegiate Ground. Their primary ground soon became

Westpac Trust Park Seddon Park is a cricket ground in Hamilton, New Zealand. It is the fourth-largest cricket ground in the country, and is renowned for its "village green" setting, affording a picnic atmosphere for spectators. History Seddon Park was named aft ...

, as well as using Wintech Park in the same city. From 2005, Northern Districts began using

Blake Park Bay Oval is a cricket ground in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty area of New Zealand. The ground was built in Blake Park and opened in 2005. Bay Oval has hosted men's and women's international limited overs matches since 2014. It h ...

Mount Maunganui Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of the Tauranga metropolitan area, located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completio ...

(later Bay Oval) as their main home ground, as well as later using

Cobham Oval Cobham Oval is a cricket ground in Whangarei, New Zealand, next to the Okara Park rugby stadium. It stages daytime-only first-class and List A matches. It is the home ground and headquarters of the Northland cricket team and one of the home g ...

, Whangarei and returning to Westpac Trust Park, now renamed Seddon Park. The side has also occasionally used

St Peter's School, Cambridge St Peter's School is a private, co-educational, Anglican secondary school for Years 7–13 in Cambridge, New Zealand. The school is located on of ground, surround by school-owned farmland alongside the Waikato River. The schools motto, 'Structa ...

, as well as returning to St Paul's Collegiate Ground. In 2021–22, they played the majority of their home games at Seddon Park, as well as two matches at Bay Oval and one at Cobham Oval.

Players

Current squad

Based on squad for the 2022–23 season. Players in bold have international caps.

Notable players

Players who have played for Northern Districts and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets): *

Emily Drumm Emily Cecilia Drumm (born 15 September 1974) is a New Zealand former cricketer who played as a right-handed batter and could bowl both right-arm medium and right-arm leg break. She appeared in 5 Test matches and 101 One Day Internationals fo ...

(1992) * Catherine O'Neill (1993) *

Caitriona Beggs Caitriona Mary Beggs (born 15 July 1977) is an Irish former cricketer who played as a right-handed batter and occasional wicket-keeper. She appeared in one Test match and 61 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Ireland between 1995 and 2008. She al ...

(1995) *

Charlotte Edwards Charlotte Marie Edwards (born 17 December 1979) is an English former cricketer and current cricket coach and commentator. She played primarily as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 23 Test matches, 191 One Day Internationals and 95 Twenty2 ...

(1996) * Katie Pulford (1999) * Donna Trow (1999) *

Kari Carswell Kari Carswell also known as Kari Anderson (born 21 October 1982) is a former Scottish cricketer and coach who was the former captain of the Scotland women's national cricket team. She had established a playing and coaching career with Scotland wo ...

(2001) *

Mandie Godliman Mandie Claire Godliman (born 5 April 1973) is an English former cricketer. She made one Test and 11 One Day International appearances for England between 2002 and 2003. She played domestic cricket for Thames Valley, Sussex, Wellington, Canterb ...

(2002) *

Nicola Browne Nicola Jane Browne (born 14 September 1983) is a New Zealand former cricketer who played as an all-rounder, batting right-handed and bowling right-arm medium. She appeared in 2 Test matches, 125 One Day Internationals and 54 Twenty20 Internat ...

(2002) * Louise Milliken (2002) *

Eimear Richardson Eimear Ann Jermyn Richardson (born 14 September 1986) is an Irish cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and right-arm off break bowler. She plays domestic cricket for Northern Districts, having previously played for Central Districts and ...

(2005) * Ros Kember (2006) *

Elyse Villani Elyse Jayne Villani (born 6 October 1989) is an Australian cricketer who played for the Australia national women's team from 2009 to 2019. She has also played domestic cricket for various teams in both the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) ...

(2009) *

Morna Nielsen Morna Jessie Godwin Nielsen (born 24 February 1990) is a New Zealand former cricketer who played as a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. She appeared in 52 One Day Internationals and 44 Twenty20 Internationals for New Zealand between 2010 and 2016 ...

(2010) *

Natalie Dodd Natalie Claire Dodd (born 22 November 1992, in Hamilton) is a New Zealand cricketer who has represented New Zealand in women's one-day internationals. She made her international debut in 2010 as a teenager in year 12 at Waikato Diocesan School. ...

(2010) * Kelly Anderson (2011) *

Kerry-Anne Tomlinson Kerry-Anne Tomlinson (born 19 January 1990) is a New Zealand cricketer who currently plays for Central Districts. Tomlinson was born in Gisborne and lives in Hamilton. She has played in four women's One Day International matches for the Nethe ...

(2011) * Anna Peterson (2012) *

Holly Ferling Holly Lee Ferling (born 22 December 1995) is an Australian professional cricketer who made her debut for the Australia national women's cricket team in 2013 and currently plays for the Perth Scorchers and Australian Capital Territory in Australi ...

(2013) *

Samantha Curtis Samantha Rae Haereakau Curtis (; born 28 October 1985) is a New Zealand cricketer who currently plays for Northern Districts. She plays primarily as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 20 One Day Internationals and 8 Twenty20 Internationals fo ...

(2014) *

Holly Huddleston Holly Rachael Huddleston (born 11 October 1987) is a New Zealand former cricketer who played as a right-arm medium bowler and right-handed batter. She appeared in 36 One Day Internationals and 16 Twenty20 Internationals for New Zealand between ...

(2014) *

Hayley Jensen Hayley Jensen (born 7 January 1983) is an Australian singer and songwriter who became known after appearing on the second series (2004) of ''Australian Idol''. She was the fourth finalist, leaving the show on 1 November. She spent three years ...

(2014) *

Bernadine Bezuidenhout Bernadine Michelle Bezuidenhout (born 14 September 1993) is a South-African born New Zealand international cricketer who currently plays for Northern Districts. She played for South Africa national women's cricket team between 2014 and 2015 befo ...

(2014) *

Beth Mooney Bethany Louise Mooney (born 14 January 1994) is an Australian professional cricketer who plays for the national cricket team as a batter in all three formats of the game. At the domestic level, she plays as a wicket-keeper-batter for Western ...

(2016) *

Naomi Stalenberg Naomi Elizabeth Stalenberg (born 18 April 1994) is an Australian cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and right-arm medium bowler. She represented New South Wales in domestic cricket beginning in 2013, and in 2016 she played a Twenty20 ...

(2016) *

Amanda-Jade Wellington Amanda-Jade Wellington (born 29 May 1997) is an Australian cricketer. She bowls right-arm leg spin and plays for the South Australian Scorpions in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) and the Adelaide Strikers in the Women's Big Bash Leagu ...

(2016) *

Ashleigh Gardner Ashleigh Katherine Gardner (born 15 April 1997) is an Australian cricketer who currently plays for the national women's team as an all-rounder. A right-handed batter and right-arm off spinner, Gardner also plays for New South Wales in the Wome ...

(2017) * Katie McGill (2018) *

Neisha Pratt Neisha Anne Pratt (born 21 March 1973) is a cricket player, born in New Zealand, who played international cricket for both Hong Kong and Singapore and also NZ domestic cricket for Northern Districts Spirit. She represented Hong Kong between 20 ...

(2018) *

(2019) * Marina Lamplough (2019) * Regina Lili'i (2019) *

Lily Mulivai Lily Sinei Mulivai (born 3 August 1990) is a New Zealand-Samoan cricketer who plays for Northern Districts and Samoa. Mulivai was born in Auckland and is the younger sister of Samoan cricketer Faasao Mulivai. International career Mulivai was ...

(2019) *

Brooke Halliday Brooke Maree Halliday (born 30 October 1995) is a New Zealand cricketer who currently plays for Auckland and New Zealand. Playing career In February 2021, after having played nine seasons for Northern Districts, and in the middle of a breakth ...

(2021) Olympian

Emma Twigg Emma Kimberley Twigg (born 1 March 1987) is a New Zealand rower. A single sculler, she was the 2014 world champion and won gold in her fourth Olympics in Tokyo in July 2021. Previous Olympic appearances were in 2008 (ninth place), 2012 (fourth ...

has also represented the team, fielding as the twelfth man in Northern Districts' final match of the 2021–22 Super Smash.

Coaching staff

*Head Coach: Joanna Broadbent

Honours

: ** Winners (0): ** ''Best finish:'' Runners-up ( 2019–20) *

: ** Winners (0): ** ''Best finish:'' 3rd ( 2007–08)

Notes

References

{{Cricket in New Zealand Women's cricket teams in New Zealand Cricket in Northern Districts Super Smash (cricket)

History

Grounds

Players

Current squad

Notable players

Coaching staff

Honours

See also

Notes

References