Curtis, Huddleston earn ODI recalls for South Africa tour

Top-order batsman Sam Curtis and swing bowler Holly Huddleston have earned recalls in New Zealand Women's squad for the seven-ODI tour of South Africa in October. Middle-order batsman Sara McGlashan, however, was left out of the 14-player squad.

Curtis has played just seven ODIs, the last of which was in September 2014, but had a decent domestic one-day season for Auckland, with a tally of 289 runs from 10 innings with three half-centuries, including an unbeaten 65 in the final they won against Wellington. Huddleston took 5 for 36 against West Indies in her second ODI, but played only four more thereafter. Like Curtis, her last ODI was in September 2014, but she has since done well in domestic cricket. In the recent NatWest Women's T20 Cup in England, she took six wickets in five matches, at an average of 18.17.

Coach Haidee Tiffen said both players had been selected due to their strong work ethic in the off season.

"They've worked hard for their recalls", Tiffen said. "Sam wasn't selected at all last summer but offers us useful top-order batting and spin-bowling value, and Holly's swing bowling is something we see as beneficial to our goal of hitting the ground running at next year's Women's Cricket World Cup in England."

Tiffen also confirmed that as they seek to build a side with an eye on next year's World Cup, the likes of McGlashan and offspinner Anna Peterson unfortunately missed out.

"With the World Cup on the horizon, we've selected both the touring squad and those to be offered annual contracts on the basis of our ODI performance in particular, and in this regard, some players have clearly been unlucky," Tiffen said.

All 14 players in the squad were among those offered new, enhanced contracts for the 2016-17 season, under a new Memorandum of Understanding between New Zealand Cricket and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association. A fifteenth player, Liz Perry, was also offered a new contract but was not included in the touring squad due to a shoulder inury. Neither McGlashan nor Peterson were offered the new contracts.

New Zealand will have a pre-tour camp in Tauranga next month, before departing for South Africa, where the first ODI takes place on October 8 in Kimberley. The first three of the seven ODIs will carry ICC Women's Championship points.

New Zealand Women squad: Suzie Bates (capt), Erin Bermingham, Sam Curtis, Sophie Devine, Holly Huddleston, Leigh Kasperek, Katey Martin, Thamsyn Newton, Morna Nielsen, Katie Perkins, Rachel Priest, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu