Watson and O'Leary dropped for home leg of women's series

Two members of New Zealand's World Cup-winning women's team have been dropped for the second leg of the home and away series with Australia.

Helen Watson has been replaced by 18-year-old fast bowler Louise Milliken and Anna O'Leary has missed out with the squad being reduced from 13 to 12 for home matches.

The home leg of the series begins at Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln on Saturday.

Milliken will be making her international debut and great interest will be taken in her play as she is a bowler only a little slower than great Australian fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick, who has had bowling measured at 125kph.

Identified early by New Zealand Cricket, Milliken was a member of the CLEAR White Ferns winter training squad in 2001 and in the New Zealand A team that played the Australian Youth side in Australia earlier this month.

Though only 18 and in only her first year out of Waikato's Morrinsville High School, she already has three seasons of State League cricket behind her, representing State Northern Spirit. She is about to enter the New Zealand Cricket Academy at Lincoln as one of four women selected for the 2002 residential intake.

The convener of the women's selection panel, Lesley Murdoch: "It was a difficult decision for the selectors to dispense with the experience of Watson and O'Leary, but with New Zealand 3-0 down after the Australian leg of the Rosebowl we really had no option but to put our most competitive, in-form side on the park for the crucial matches this weekend."

Murdoch added: "Louise is an exciting prospect for the future and she will undoubtedly gain from this exposure to top flight competition. From a selectors' point of view, it's also encouraging to know that currently we have more options to choose from than we have sometimes had in the past."

The full team is: Emily Drumm (captain), Kathryn Ramel (vice-captain), Nicola Browne, Anna Corbin, Paula Flannery, Frances King, Aimee Mason, Louise Milliken, Nicola Payne, Rachel Pullar, Rebecca Rolls, Haidee Tiffen.