Lauren Down, Jess Kerr out of New Zealand's CWG 2022 squad

New Zealand name replacements of Lauren Down and Jess Kerr as the two miss out on the Commonwealth Games 2022, set to take place later this month in Birmingham. The duo will be replaced by Lea Tahuhu and Claudia Green. While Tahuhu failed to bag a central contract this year, Green received her maiden call-up.

Down opted out of the tournament saying she wanted to focus on her well-being before returning to the game, whereas Kerr’s foot injury ruled her out. She got injured during the World Cup match against Pakistan in March 2022, and has not completely recovered, thus she will be out of the squad.

“Our first and main priority is ensuring both Lauren and Jess are looked after – it’s never easy missing cricket tours. We’ve ensured Lauren has the support she needs and hope she’ll be able to join us again soon. We thought Jess would recover in time to take the field in Birmingham, and while this has not transpired, the signs are good for an international return for the West Indies tour in September,” said White Ferns’ head coach Ben Sawyer.

CWG 2022 will be New Zealand’s first-ever outing since the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022

Just like Down, skipper Sophie Devine and Jess Kerr’s sister Amelia Kerr had previously taken a break from the game citing mental health reasons. The New Zealand management did not stop any players and allowed them to take a break, letting them return once they felt good. Now that the two have made their way back to the side, Down will become the third player to take a mental-health break.

“Lea is a familiar face so will be able to hit the ground running at training camp next week. We’ve previously said it’s important not to confuse contracting with selection and this is a good example of why. Lea offers genuine pace and bounce with the ball and her ability with the bat gives us options. Claudia has a similar skill-set to Jess so fits nicely into the squad make-up. Her ability to swing the ball is an exciting aspect of her game and we look forward to having her on tour in England,” Sawyer added.

Tahuhu was the joint-highest wicket-taker for her side in the World Cup this year, even though New Zealand were knocked out of the race early. It came as a shock when she was excluded from the contracted players’ list for the ongoing cycle, given the uniqueness her pace can offer to the assault but NZC had mentioned back then about including the non-contracted players in the squad. New Zealand players will be a part of a camp next week, before flying off to the UK on July 12.

New Zealand Squad for CWG 2022: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Maddy Green, Amelia Kerr, Brooke Halliday, Rosemary Mair, Eden Carson, Hayley Jensen, Jess McFadyen, Fran Jonas, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Izzy Gaze, Lea Tahuhu, Claudia Green