Women's cricket set to move forward in New Zealand

Women's cricket in New Zealand got the thumbs up from both the convener of the national selection panel Lesley Murdoch and the national coach Mike Shrimpton.

The pair were speaking at the announcement of the CLEAR White Ferns team to tour India in Christchurch today.

Shrimpton, who has just been on a tour around several centres in New Zealand, said he was heartened by what he saw occurring in the advance of women's cricket.

"The young players who have been selected will ably fill the gap left by the players who have retired," he said.

Shrimpton said there would be ample opportunity on the tour of India for the younger players to step up.

Murdoch backgrounded each player selected for the tour and paid special tribute to the captain of the side, and the captain at last year's CricInfo Women's World Cup, Emily Drumm.

She said New Zealand was the luckiest country in the world to have Drumm as the leader of the side.

Drumm said the tour was a really exciting time for women's cricket, it was a new era and a chance to blood new players.

"They deserve the chance. India is a hard place to tour but it is important to give our players the chance to perform," she said.

What New Zealand needed from the tour was to develop a strong game plan and to perform well in India.

Drumm also hinted that she might look to bowl more often herself, something she has not often done in recent years.

India would be a good test for the team and while they haven't played a lot of international cricket lately they "can really bite you if you don't take them seriously," she said.

Murdoch also said that she was expecting Rachel Pullar to make a big move this year towards the status of a world-class all-rounder, something she believed she was well capable of achieving.

And Haidee Tiffen was shaping as a player capable of stepping into the substantial shoes left by the world's outstanding batsman Debbie Hockley.