‘Not looking to defend anything’ – Melie Kerr wants New Zealand to start again
New Zealand Look to Start Anew in Women’s T20 World Cup
As the defending champions, New Zealand are not putting too much thought into their previous win, instead focusing on playing a positive brand of cricket that can win them the World Cup. Captain Melie Kerr insists that her team is ‘not looking to defend anything’ ahead of their tournament opener against West Indies on Saturday night in Southampton.
A New Chapter for New Zealand
Kerr will be leading New Zealand at a global tournament for the first time after being named Sophie Devine’s successor as captain in February this year. While the White Ferns are embracing their triumph from two years ago, it isn’t weighing heavy around their necks. ‘I think it’s a really cool opportunity for us to come in having won the World Cup two years ago,’ Kerr said at her pre-match press conference on Friday, ‘and rather than putting too much thought into it, I think what happened two years ago was two years ago, and we start again when we get to this World Cup.’
New Zealand enter the 2026 tournament in much stronger form than in 2024, when they had a run of nine consecutive T20I losses before the start of the competition. This year, they have won eight out of 11 T20Is, plus both of their warm-up matches, against Bangladesh and South Africa. While Kerr was encouraged by her side’s recent form, she isn’t taking anything for granted.
A Challenge from West Indies
West Indies come into the tournament in patchy form. In 2026, they have two wins, six defeats and two no-results in T20Is. Both of their official warm-up fixtures, against India and Australia, ended in defeat, but captain Hayley Matthews is looking on the bright side of those results. ‘We had two tough opponents in the two warm-up matches, we had a game without myself and Stafanie Taylor, second match without Stafanie Taylor as well, so not our full strength,’ Matthews said.
Matthews also strongly believes that tournament cricket can bring out the best in her side, with the 2016 triumph evidence of that. ‘I think history probably shows it quite a bit for West Indies men’s and women’s teams,’ Matthews said, ‘we tend to show up to the occasion. I guess when the energy is around and the vibes are up, and all the noises around, is when we tend to show up a bit more.’
A New Era for Women’s Cricket
The growth of women’s cricket has come a long way since 2016, when West Indies became world champions, and a 16-year-old Melie Kerr made her international debut. ‘I think back to my 16-year-old self who debuted against, I think, Pakistan on a live stream,’ Kerr said, ‘to now doing a press conference and going and playing on the world stage with cameras all around, and media, and the opportunities over those years that cricket’s provided me and how much the game’s grown globally and in New Zealand.’
For Matthews, the pride of that 2016 triumph still burns strong within her, and she yearns for that feeling and the boost it could give West Indies cricket again. ‘I think cricket was certainly a lot different back then,’ Matthews said, ‘I guess just the pride that we felt representing the West Indies badge that year, when we did win the tournament, and the way that it brought the West Indies together, is certainly something that we’d love to do again as a team.’
