Photo Credit: New Zealand Cricket
Ann McKenna, who passed away in Nelson last week, will be remembered as a multi-talented sportswoman who played a significant role for New Zealand women’s cricket both as a player, and as a coach and mentor.
WHITE FERN No.58, McKenna was a double international in cricket and hockey, an A grade squash player and an accomplished golfer, the latter a sport she continued to play for most of her life.
A proud Cantabrian who represented the red and blacks in cricket across 27 seasons, McKenna played seven Tests for New Zealand between 1969 and 1985 but was unavailable for nine, including the only two the side has won – against Australia in Melbourne in 1972, and against South Africa in Durban the same year.
She was an accomplished Test batter, scoring 465 runs at 35.76 including three half centuries, the best of which was an unbeaten and match-saving 97 against India at Cuttack in 1985.
McKenna also played 14 ODIs for New Zealand, making her debut at age 40 years and 241 days, against England in 1984.
Turning her attention to coaching once her playing days were over, McKenna had stints with Major Association sides Central Districts and Otago before taking over New Zealand, which she guided to its first World Cup final in 1993 (v England at Lord’s) and 1997 (v Australia at Kolkata).
In between she coached New Zealand to win its second Rose Bowl title in 1994, which the side retained after a drawn series in 1995 – the only time the WHITE FERNS have held the coveted trans-Tasman trophy for longer than a year.
Educated at Cashmere High and a product of the St Albans club, McKenna was a key figure in the development of generations of young women cricketers, several of whom would go on to carve out impressive careers themselves, most notably former WHITE FERNS’ captains Amy Satterthwaite and Suzie Bates.
McKenna was named New Zealand Women’s Coach of the Year in 1996, included in Canterbury’s 125th Anniversary Women’s first eleven (1877-2002), and was appointed an honorary member of NZC in 2019.
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Name of Author: New Zealand Cricket
The New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, made their Test debut in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth nation to play Test cricket. After waiting 26 years for their first Test win against the West Indies in 1956, they also played their first ODI in 1972–73 against Pakistan. New Zealand are the inaugural World Test Championship champions (2021) and have won the ICC Champions Trophy (2000). They have reached the Cricket World Cup final twice and the T20 World Cup final once.
