The Rose Bowl will be up for grabs every time Australia and New Zealand meet in a bilateral women’s series, starting with this month’s three-game NRMA Insurance T20I series at North Sydney Oval, which begins on Sunday.
The trans-Tasman rivals have contested the trophy in one-day international series since 1985, and Australia have held it since February 2000. 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 captain Sophie Molineux said the trophy’s inclusion across all bilateral white-ball series adds another level of excitement. “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,” 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 T20Is 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, the same points structure used in the Women’s Ashes would apply.
A trophy with a long history
For many casual followers of the women’s game, the Rose Bowl is less familiar than the Women’s Ashes trophy, particularly now that trans-Tasman ODI series have become less frequent. To those who have competed for it, however, the Rose Bowl is one of the game’s most valuable pieces of silverware, representing the fierce but friendly rivalry between the two nations.
The trophy was first introduced for Australia’s 1978-79 Test tour across the Tasman, when series sponsor Shell of New Zealand donated the silverware. It was originally linked to red-ball cricket but, from 1984-85 onwards, it was tied to the regular ODI series between the rivals. The Rose Bowl remained a largely annual fixture for the next two decades. The introduction of the ICC Women’s ODI Championship then changed the shape of the touring program, and the teams now generally meet every two to four years.
For Australia, the trophy has been a constant in the cabinet for 26 years, a reflection 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. Any Australian player will say they are determined not to be the ones who give it back.
Despite their long wait, the White Ferns hold the Rose Bowl in such high regard that New Zealand Cricket produced an in-depth docuseries in 2024. It traced the trophy’s history, with a host of legends reliving classic moments.
For New Zealand, the Rose Bowl has been something like Halley’s Comet over the past two decades. It is briefly sighted every few years at pre-series captain’s photoshoots and post-series presentations, before being whisked back to Cricket Australia’s Jolimont headquarters. That is a pattern captain Amelia Kerr is desperate to change.
“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 shortest format could help New Zealand in that goal. They have not won an ODI series against Australia this century, but they have been more successful in T20Is, with their last series win coming in 2017. In all, the T20I series ledger stands at 12 wins to Australia, four to New Zealand, with one drawn. Across 45 T20Is overall, Australia have won 26 to the White Ferns’ 18.
Australia will host New Zealand for three ODIs in March 2027 but will not play them in another 50-over series during this World Cup cycle through to mid-2029. The rivals are currently due to meet next in a T20I series in March 2029.
Iconic Rose Bowl moments
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 posted a meagre 177 all out, thanks to spin trio Erin Osborne, Lisa Sthalekar and Jess Jonassen. Opening the batting at just 20 years old, Lanning had already scored two hundreds in her first 13 ODIs, but few expected what came next. After seven dot balls in her first nine deliveries, she attacked pace bowler Sian Ruck, hitting three fours and a six in the fifth over of the chase. No White Ferns bowler was safe after that. Lanning reached her third one-day century off just 45 balls, a mark that stood as the fastest ODI ton by an Australian until Glenn Maxwell broke it with a 40-ball hundred 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, where she scored three tons 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 the White Ferns won the opener. A couple of days later, another century from Lanning sealed the series for Australia in a thriller. Set 244 to win, Australia were shackled early by New Zealand’s new-ball pair Lea Tahuhu and Morna Nielson, but Lanning scored 127 from 135 deliveries to guide her team home.
The third was a display that was pure Lanning. With the series tied 1-1 and the Rose Bowl on the line in March 2017, she struck an unbeaten 104 to help Australia win by five wickets with an over to spare. It was her 10th ODI century, passing the record held by former England captain Charlotte Edwards.
Suzie Bates’s record score (Sydney, 2012)
Then-White Ferns captain Suzie Bates gave her team a winning start to the 2012 Rose Bowl series in Sydney with an unbeaten 122 from 131 deliveries at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Australia had batted first, with Lanning’s 87 and captain Jodie Field’s 51 helping the hosts to 248 before they were bowled out in the 49th over. Bates then shared a 168-run second-wicket stand with Amy Satterthwaite, who was dismissed on 98. Bates batted through to win in the 45th over. It remains the highest score by a New Zealand batter in a Rose Bowl ODI.
Ellyse Perry’s breakthrough century (Adelaide, 2019)
Ellyse Perry reached her first ODI century against New Zealand in Adelaide in dramatic fashion. Unbeaten on 95 heading into the final over, she took two singles to reach 97 with two balls left. She then went big on the second-last ball and was dropped on the rope by Anna Peterson, and the ball rolled to the boundary to bring up her first ODI hundred. Perry finished with a six, ending on 107 from 110 deliveries.
Amelia Kerr announces herself (Mount Maunganui, 2017)
At Bay Oval in 2017, a 16-year-old leg-spinner Amelia Kerr announced herself against the world’s top-ranked team in just her second ODI against Australia, three months after her international debut. She took 4-54 from 10 overs, including the prized wicket of Lanning, bowled with the first ball she faced from Kerr. Afterwards, Lanning described the teenager’s performance as the arrival of a “star of the future”.
Emily Drumm’s 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, is the only player to have taken a Rose Bowl hat-trick. In the second ODI at Adelaide Oval in 1996, she dismissed Zoe Goss, Jo Garey and Joanne Broadbent to complete it. Australia had been set up for a big total after half-centuries from Karen Rolton and Belinda Clark, but they finished on 9-164. It was enough to hold on for a four-run win.
Belinda Clark’s record innings (Auckland, 1997)
Clark produced a remarkable individual effort in the second ODI of Australia’s 1997 tour of New Zealand. Batting first in Auckland, she smashed 142 from 130 deliveries before being run out by opposing captain Maia Lewis. Australia’s next-highest contribution was Mel Jones’ 28, and they reached 5-247. In reply, Debbie Hockley carried her bat for an unbeaten 78, but 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.
Australia T20I squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
New Zealand T20I squad: Melie Kerr (c), Eden Carson, Flora Devonshire, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis (wk), Bella James, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Nensi Patel, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Izzy Sharp
All women’s international matches will be shown live on Seven, 7Plus, Kayo Sports and Foxtel.