The calls are coming in for test cricket, and before the ‘oldies’ are gone.

In the maelstrom of sporting glory for Aotearoa at the weekend, one triumph soared above the rest: the White Ferns winning the T20 World Cup, brushing off a string of pre-tournament losses to bring home New Zealand cricket’s first white-ball world cup since the women won the one-day international title at home in 2000. 

White ball, however, is all that the White Ferns play these days. The New Zealand women’s cricket side has not competed in a test match since 2004, since which the schedule has been exclusively short-form. Powered by the energy of victory in Dubai on Sunday, however, momentum is building to return the red-ball format to the repertoire, especially given some of the biggest stars are nearing the twilight of their careers as professional players. 

Maia Lewis, a former White Ferns captain who played eight tests in an illustrious career for the national side, thinks it’s time. “I’m just so proud of the girls,” she told The Spinoff. “I mean, obviously they’ve been through a lot of lows, a lot of losses, and they’ve hung in there. Now we need to jump on this momentum and really back them.”

After a 20-year test cricket drought, New Zealand needed to join England, Australia, India and South Africa, all of whom have played test cricket in recent years, in longer format challenges, said Lewis, who was named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2006 for her services to cricket. “Everyone else is playing it. I think it would be right, especially for the oldies, to be able to play test before they finish, whatever that is. Just to have it as part of the calendar when you tour.” 

By “oldies”, Lewis means the likes of Sophie Devine, 35, Suzie Bates, 37, and Lea Tahuhu, 34, who have reportedly taken to calling themselves the “grandmas” of the side. “It’s funny saying the oldies, because I first captained Sophie in the Wellington Blaze when she was 14,” said Lewis. “Ever since then, she calls me Nana, and I call her Skid, which is short for Sophie-kid – Skid  was her Wellington Blaze name way back then. So it’s a laugh to call them grandmas or nanas when that’s what I’ve been called by her. That must make me a great-grandma by now.”

Whatever you call them – senior professionals, let’s go with – missing from the CV of all three, of all the White Ferns playing today, is test cricket. Devine – White Ferns captain and a global cricket superstar – has been a consistent champion for test competition. “During my career I’ve been vocal about wanting to play test cricket and certainly I’d love to see the format that is used in the Ashes and … in the Australia-India series with points carried across all formats,” she said in 2021. 

Devine would leap at “the opportunity to pull on the whites which is something I haven’t been able to do in my longish career”, she said. “You ask any New Zealand player if they want to play a test match or not and I can guarantee you that everyone would put their hand up and absolutely love the opportunity.”

As well as becoming a world cup winner, Bates scored another accolade last week: becoming the most capped woman in international cricket. She has played an extraordinary 334 international matches. That comprises 163 ODIs and 171 T20s, but no tests, and Bates has previously admitted she’s envious of those who get to play the longer form.

Amelia Kerr, named player of the tournament, recalled after the victory that she had written a story when at primary school dreaming of a day when she might play in a World Cup with her heroes, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates. Another aspiration she’s in recent times voiced: playing in a test cricket team with those women.  

The argument most often levelled against introducing test cricket into the women’s schedule is cost. In 2022, NZ Cricket committed to parity, meaning that domestic and international players are paid on the same per-game basis as their male counterparts. That would mean “$10,000 per player for a test”, said Lewis. “So I suppose [the discussion] would be like, would you rather invest, say, $830,000 in one game versus putting that into development, or a north vs south game or an A-series, or whatever. That resource has been limited, and therefore tests, you know, hasn’t been the priority.” However, with coffers boosted in recent times, not least by Indian television money, “they don’t really have an excuse now, in my eyes”, she said. 

There is also the challenge of preparedness, given the absence of longform cricket in the domestic setup. To which proponents respond: great idea, let’s have multi-day four-innings games in the local mix as well as test cricket. “It may just be a couple to start with, that you tag on to the schedule,” said Lewis. “Or play your nearest neighbors. It doesn’t have to be a formal, big competition as such, it’s just a matter of piloting it.”

Irrespective of where you rank test cricket in the different forms of the sport, it offers a different, special dimension, said Lewis. For batters, there was the challenge of building an innings over time and bowlers were tasked primarily with seeking scalps over economy. “Our spin bowlers are doing brilliantly,”said Lewis. “But they never really get to perform their true art, which is being able to really float it or turn the ball, and bowl many, many overs – that’s a tough gig.”

In a column for the most recent Herald on Sunday, Alice Soper issued a challenge NZ Cricket to “recognise participation in the highest form of their game is the next step for women in cricket” and match “their much-lauded pay equity … with play equity”. 

Soper wrote: “For all their shouts of progress, NZ Cricket has stood still on this issue for 20 years. Other nations are waiting at the stumps for us to join in. English Cricket has offered two tests in the last two years. Our stubborn refusal to reignite participation in the longer format as Australia, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa restart theirs has wide-ranging impact. Our dragging of feet could risk dragging the whole of the women’s game down at this crucial moment.”

What message would Lewis hope NZ Cricket is hearing? “Truly invest in women’s cricket in New Zealand, right from grass roots through to the White Ferns. This is the opportunity to do that,” she said. There was a similar amount of attention after New Zealand won the ODI World Cup in 2000, but “we didn’t quite jump on it. So learn from that lesson and really jump on this now. And, you know, get the visibility out there, get the systems and processes and sub structures in place … lessen that gap between domestic and international. Do something with our domestic competition to make it more vibrant.” And chuck a test or two into the mix. “I just see it as exciting. It’s a great opportunity for New Zealand cricket to go forward with women’s cricket.”

NZ Cricket’s head of women’s high performance, Liz Green, herself a former White Fern, said there were currently no plans to reintroduce test cricket. “Our thoughts are that we’re better to concentrate our current resources and investment on T20I and ODI cricket in order to grow the women’s game in New Zealand,” she said. “The limited overs formats have proven to be very effective in terms of attracting and retaining young players, which is a significant factor in the health of the women’s game here. In time, this will provide a bigger base from which talented players will emerge to ultimately play for the White Ferns. Focussing on formats which include ICC global events (such as World Cups) is our preference for now.”

Green added: “That all said, never say never!”