The Rose Bowl will be up for grabs every time Australia and New Zealand meet in a bilateral women’s series, beginning with the NRMA Insurance T20I series at North Sydney Oval from Sunday.
The trans-Tasman rivals will play for the trophy in every bilateral women’s series from now on, not just one-day international series. It means the Rose Bowl will be contested twice this summer, as New Zealand return to Australian shores in March for three ODIs in Canberra and Melbourne.
Australia and New Zealand have played for the trophy in one-day series since 1985, and the Aussies have held it since February 2000.
“The Rose Bowl is such a special part of the rivalry between Australia and New Zealand, and having it up for grabs across all bilateral white-ball series adds another level of excitement,” Australia captain Sophie Molineux said.
“We know how much this contest means to both sides, and we’re looking forward to getting out there and competing for the trophy in front of a home crowd in Sydney.”
If a single tour features both T20s and ODIs, the winner will be decided by the most wins across the two formats. A tie means the current holders keep the trophy. Australia and New Zealand have not met in a women’s Test since 1996, but if a full multi-format series were introduced between the rivals, the same points structure used for the Women’s Ashes would apply.
A trophy with a long history
Many casual followers of the women’s game may not know the Rose Bowl as well as the Women’s Ashes trophy, especially now that trans-Tasman ODI series have become less frequent. Those who have competed for it, however, regard it as one of the sport’s most valuable pieces of silverware. It represents a fierce but friendly rivalry.
For Australia, the trophy has been a fixture in the cabinet for the last 26 years. It stands as a symbol of their dominance in trans-Tasman cricket since Belinda Clark’s team won it back with a 3-0 series sweep in Melbourne in early 2000. Australian players are determined not to be the ones who give it back.
New Zealand, despite its long drought, values the trophy so highly that New Zealand Cricket produced an in-depth docuseries in 2024 tracing its history. Legends of the game relived classic moments in the series.
For New Zealand, the Rose Bowl over the past two decades has been like Halley’s Comet. It has been briefly seen every few years at pre-series captain’s photo shoots and post-series presentations, before returning to Cricket Australia’s Jolimont headquarters. Amelia Kerr is desperate to change that.
“I remember when I first made the White Ferns, playing in the Rose Bowl … it’s something that is extremely special to our group, and I’m sure it’s the same for Australia,” Kerr said.
“It was our next biggest thing after a World Cup, so to have the opportunity to play it more in terms of playing the T20 format, it’s really exciting, and it’s nice to be able to play Australia again.
“It’d be pretty special (to win it back) – 1999 was the last time we won it, so to play against Australia, they’ve just come off a World Cup win, we’d be pretty fizzed to get the Rose Bowl back in New Zealand.”
The addition of the T20 format could help New Zealand reach that goal. They have not won an ODI series against Australia this century, but they have had more success in T20Is, with their last series win coming in 2017.
Across the T20I series ledger, Australia lead 12 wins to four, with one match drawn. Across 45 T20Is overall, Australia have won 26 to New Zealand’s 18.
Australia will host New Zealand for three ODIs in March 2027. Without the T20I addition, the teams would not have met in another 50-over series until mid-2029. The rivals are currently scheduled to next meet in a T20I series in March 2029.
How the Rose Bowl came to be
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, regular series against New Zealand gave Australia’s women a much-needed opponent outside England. These contests helped spearhead the growth of the game across the Tasman.
The trophy was introduced for Australia’s 1978-79 Test tour across the Tasman, when series sponsor Shell of New Zealand, an oil company, donated the silverware. It was originally linked to red-ball cricket, but from 1984-85 onward it was tied to the regular ODI series between the rivals.
For the next 20 years, the Rose Bowl remained a largely annual fixture. The introduction of the ICC Women’s ODI Championship then changed the touring program, and the teams now generally meet every two to four years.
The best of the Rose Bowl
Several iconic moments and performances have defined the trophy’s history.
Meg Lanning’s whirlwind century (Sydney, 2012)
Lanning was still early in her international career when she stunned New Zealand at North Sydney Oval in 2012. The White Ferns had been bowled out for a meagre 177, thanks to spin trio Erin Osborne, Lisa Sthalekar and Jess Jonassen.
The 20-year-old Lanning had already scored two hundreds in her first 13 ODIs, but nobody saw this innings coming. Opening the batting, she faced seven dot balls in her first nine deliveries. Then she attacked New Zealand pace bowler Sian Ruck, hitting three fours and a six in the fifth over of the chase. Lanning was away.
No White Ferns bowler was safe. Lanning reached her third one-day century off just 45 balls. That mark remained the fastest ODI hundred by an Australian until Glenn Maxwell broke it with a 40-ball century against the Netherlands more than a decade later.
Meg Lanning loves Mount Maunganui (2016, 2017)
Lanning had a special affinity for Tauranga’s Bay Oval. She scored three centuries at the North Island ground between February 2016 and March 2017.
In early 2016, the rivals split the first two matches of the Rose Bowl series. Lanning’s seventh ODI century, an unbeaten 114 from 113 balls, levelled the series after New Zealand won the opener. A couple of days later, another century from Lanning sealed the series for Australia in a thriller.
Set an imposing 244 to win, Australia were shackled early by new-ball pair Lea Tahuhu and Morna Nielson, who removed opener Nicole Bolton for a duck in the second over. After a tentative start, Lanning grew increasingly aggressive, scoring 127 from 135 deliveries to guide her team into a winning position.
Her third century there came in March 2017, in a must-win series decider. With the ODI series tied 1-1 and the Rose Bowl on the line, Lanning scored an unbeaten 104 to steer Australia to a final-over, five-wicket victory. It was her 10th ODI century, passing the record held by former England captain Charlotte Edwards.
Suzie Bates’s record score propels the White Ferns (Sydney, 2012)
Then-White Ferns captain Suzie Bates gave her team a winning start to the 2012 Rose Bowl series in Sydney. She struck an unbeaten 122 from 131 deliveries at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Australia had batted first, with Lanning’s speedy 87 and captain Jodie Field’s 51 helping the hosts to 248 before they were bowled out in the 49th over. That target proved well short. After Australia dismissed opener Lucy Doolan for 10, Bates was joined by Amy Satterthwaite. The pair put on 168 for the second wicket. Satterthwaite was dismissed on 98, but Bates batted through to win the match in the 45th over. Her unbeaten 122 remains the highest score by a New Zealand batter in a Rose Bowl ODI.
Ellyse Perry’s breakthrough first ODI century (Adelaide, 2019)
Perry continued her habit of reaching major milestones in dramatic fashion when she scored her first ODI century against New Zealand in Adelaide.
After anchoring Australia out of trouble, she was unbeaten on 95 heading into the final over of the innings. She had finished not out in the 90s three times before in ODIs, and had been dismissed for exactly 90 on another occasion.
She took two singles to reach 97 with two balls remaining, with Delissa Kimmince keeping the strike each time. Searching for a boundary, Perry went big on the second-last ball. She was dropped on the rope by Anna Peterson, and the ball rolled to the boundary, bringing up her first ODI hundred in bizarre circumstances. Perry then hit a six to finish on 107 from 110 deliveries.
Amelia Kerr announces herself (Mount Maunganui, 2017)
Bay Oval has hosted many classic Rose Bowl moments in the past decade. One of the most memorable for New Zealand came in 2017.
A 16-year-old leg-spinner, Amelia Kerr, missed a day of high school and announced herself against the world’s top-ranked team. It was only her second ODI against Australia, three months after her international debut.
She put the tourists in a spin, taking 4-54 from her 10 overs. Her prized wickets included Australia captain Lanning, who was bowled by the first ball she faced from Kerr, along with Beth Mooney, Alyssa Healy and Elyse Villani.
Afterward, Lanning praised the teenager, describing her performance as the arrival of a “star of the future”.
Emily Drumm’s Rose Bowl hat-trick (Adelaide, 1996)
Former New Zealand captain Emily Drumm, who led her team to victory over Australia in the 2000 ODI World Cup final, holds a special place in Rose Bowl history. She is the only player to have taken a Rose Bowl hat-trick.
Drumm’s heroics came in the second ODI of the 1996 series at Adelaide Oval. Australia looked set for a big total after Karen Rolton and Clark scored half-centuries. Drumm, however, curtailed the hosts, dismissing Zoe Goss, Jo Garey and Joanne Broadbent to complete her hat-trick. Australia still made 9-164 from their 50 overs, enough to hold on for a thrilling four-run win.
Belinda Clark’s lone hand sets a record (Auckland, 1997)
Clark produced a remarkable individual performance in the second ODI of Australia’s 1997 tour of New Zealand. Batting first in Auckland, she smashed 142 from 130 deliveries at the top of the order. Her innings ended when she was run out by New Zealand captain Maia Lewis.
Australia’s next-highest contribution was Mel Jones’s 28, as the tourists finished on 5-247. In reply, New Zealand great Debbie Hockley carried her bat for an unbeaten 78. Lewis’s 25 was the next-highest score as the hosts were bowled out for 158.
Clark’s 142 remains the highest individual score in a Rose Bowl ODI.
NRMA Insurance Women’s T20 Series v New Zealand
All matches are played at North Sydney Oval, starting at 7:15pm AEDT. All women’s international matches will be broadcast live on Seven, 7Plus, Kayo Sports and Foxtel.