Bree Illing and Bella James rewarded with New Zealand contracts

Seventeen female cricketers have been given contracts by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) as 21-year-old Bree Illing and 26-year-old Bella James earned their maiden NZC contracts. The duo , currently touring England with New Zealand A, filled up the contract vacancies left by Hayley Jensen and Sophie Devine.

While Jensen retired earlier this year, Devine is set to bid farewell to the ODI format after playing in the 50-over World Cup in India and Sri Lanka later this year. The latter has decided to continue playing T20Is for the White Ferns under a casual playing agreement.

Illing is a left-arm swing bowler from Auckland, who made her ODI and T20I debut this summer against Sri Lanka. She was Auckland's highest wicket-taker in domestic cricket last season with an average of 21. Meanwhile, James' contract comes after she put in consistent performances with the bat to help Otago to another Hallyburton Johnstone (HBJ) Shield title. She made her ODI and T20I debuts against Australia in December 2024 and March 2025, respectively.

New Zealand women's head coach Ben Sawyer expressed his opinion regarding the two talented cricketers. He highlighted Illing's commendable exploits in the series against Sri Lanka, where she dismissed Chamari Athapaththu on a couple of occasions. Meanwhile, Sawyer opined that James has what it takes to succeed at the international level, mentioning her contributions against Australia last year.

"Bree had an outstanding series against Sri Lanka. To show up the way she did against a world-class batter like Chamari Athapaththu shows she's ready for international cricket," Sawyer was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"Bella's been a consistent performer at the domestic level and had a great debut series against Australia last year. She's got the competencies that we believe will succeed at the international level," he added.

The full list of central contracts, 17 in all, include batters Suzie Bates, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Georgia Plimmer, Izzy Gaze, Bella James, and Polly Inglis, allrounders Amelia Kerr and Hannah Rowe, and bowlers Eden Carson, Fran Jonas, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Bree Illing, Molly Penfold and Lea Tahuhu.