NZ women attack record books on successful European tour

New Zealand was a big winner from the unbeaten tour of Europe by the TelstraClear White Ferns in more ways than one.

The women provided New Zealand Cricket with its third tournament-winning team in as many years, after the men's success in the ICC KnockOut tournament in Nairobi, Kenya in October 2000, and the women's success at the CricInfo Women's World Cup at home two months later.

Beaten by 63 runs yesterday, the English women have now lost to New Zealand 15 times in a row. And New Zealand have won 26 of their last 33 One-Day Internationals.

But the long-needed chance to expose the next tier of players to defend the world title in 2005 at last occurred in the touring environment.

This was to have taken place eight months ago, but the lack of security assurances for the proposed tour of India, meant that chance was lost. There was a hastily-arranged series with Australia, but Australian matches are rarely the ideal place in which to develop a large number of new players.

So the opportunity provided by the tour to the Netherlands, Ireland and England has been a success, especially with the pressure that was created when the top order that had largely carried all before them in the earlier games failed in the final, only for the lower order to respond superbly.

The side went 10 games without defeat, a New Zealand record. Their previous best was in 1996/97 when not losing nine games in a row. Both sequences had a no result in them.

But the six wins in a row since the non result in the first game against Ireland, has New Zealand in an excellent position to better their record of eight wins in a row which has occurred three times - in 1992/93-1993, 1999/00-2000/01 and in 2000/01 - the latter two having occurred on either side of the opening game loss to Australia in the World Cup for a run of 16 wins in 17 matches.

Clearly, the outstanding individual in terms of personal performances on the tour was 25-year-old opening bowler Rachel Pullar. She has stepped into the role of kingpin of the attack in fine style and is now set to make her mark on the record books of women's cricket internationally.

Pullar took 21 wickets on the tour at 6.76 runs each.

She now has 64 ODI wickets, which places her third on the all-time New Zealand list behind Catherine Campbell who had 78 wickets, and Katrina Keenan who had 73.

But most significantly she is seventh equal on the international list, overtaking 14 players during the tour, with Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick (95 wickets) and Clare Taylor (81) the only active players above her on the list. Both of them are very near retirement. And with her average of 15.92, only two players who have taken as many wickets as Pullar, Charmaine Mason (13.85) and Lyn Fullston (13.26), have bettered that.

Emily Drumm also achieved some significant milestones, becoming only the second New Zealander to reach 2000 runs in women's ODIs after Debbie Hockley. And she is only the fourth internationally to have reached the mark with Belinda Clark and Jan Brittin the others.

Drumm has moved ahead of Brittin on the list and now has 2249 runs.

In her role as captain, Drumm has supplanted Sarah Illingworth as New Zealand's longest-serving leader, having been in charge for 34 matches, six more than Illingworth. She has also been the most successful captain with a winning percentage of 73%.

Both Rebecca Rolls and Nicola Payne passed the 1000-run mark during the tour, being the 14th and 15th players respectively in the world game to have done it. Payne, as a dual international player scored 631 of her runs for the Netherlands.

Rolls has also moved into second-place on the list of all-time dismissals by a wicket-keeper. She headed Australia's Julie Price when passing 64, and ended the tour on 71, nine behind England's Jane Cassar.