Browne and King added to New Zealand women's team

Northern Districts bowler Nicola Browne and Wellington all-rounder Frances King have been added to the CLEAR White Ferns team to meet Australia in the forthcoming one-day series starting in Adelaide next Wednesday.

They were both in the New Zealand A team and by dint of their performances there, on the New Zealand scene during the State League and in the national Under-21 tournament, the have pushed their case for inclusion.

The side departed for Australia, completely unheralded in the aftermath of the CLEAR Black Caps victory over England in the first game of the National Bank series.

It is the first meeting of the two premier sides in the women's game in the world since their exciting final at the CricInfo Women's World Cup on Bert Sutcliffe Oval in December 2000.

There has been a new twist to this series, the teams are playing for points spread across the six games, with points counting for wins away from home. They are: away wins three points, home wins two points, ties one point, no result one point, bonus point one point.

A bonus point is awarded to a team that achieves a run-rate 1.25 times better than its opposition.

New Zealand has undergone a significant rebuilding phase since the World Cup final after the retirement of Debbie Hockley, Catherine Campbell, Katrina Keenan and Clare Nicholson.

Unfortunately, the side's build-up for the series was marred by the cancellation of their tour to India when security could not be guaranteed by the Indian women's administration after the unease in the region as the result of the September 11 terrorist assaults on the United States.

Browne is included in this year's intake for the New Zealand Cricket Academy while King was the winner of the Trish McKelvey Trophy, awarded for the first time this year, to the most outstanding player at the national Under-21 tournament.

The side has a warm-up match in Melbourne tomorrow against the Australian Youth team and then on Monday will play the South Australian women's team.

The first two ODIs will be played at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday and Thursday, with the final game on the Australian leg at Melbourne on Saturday.

The full team is: Emily Drumm (captain), Kathryn Ramel (vice-captain), Nicola Browne, Anna Corbin, Paula Flannery, Frances King, Aimee Mason, Anna O'Leary, Nicola Payne, Rachel Pullar, Rebecca Rolls, Haidee Tiffen, Helen Watson.