
James, who turns 26 on Monday, gained her first New Zealand cap in Wellington in front of family on December 21, opening the batting and making 27 at a steady clip in a loss to Australia — she got 24 in the second and final one-dayer.
She made the Ferns 10 years to the month after debuting for the Sparks and playing 137 games for them.
Born in Timaru, she moved to Arrowtown when she was little, attending preschool there, then primary school.
She played tennis, like her talented brother Harry, football and touch, and says she followed Arrowtown School sports coordinator Paul Winders around "like a bad smell" so she could get out of class.
She recalls being introduced to cricket when White Ferns legend Suzie Bates and coach Emma Campbell visited the school.
When her family moved to Dunedin, James attended St Hilda’s Collegiate and learnt so much from school cricket coach Neil Rosenberg she made the Sparks when she was only 15.
She captained St Hilda’s 1st XI for two years, was top player at an NZ secondary schools tournament and was the first female to win an Otago Cricket scholarship that paid her uni fees.
She kept wicket too till she was 18, but two knee ops stopped her carrying on.
James says her cricket’s leapt ahead since ex-Black Cap Craig Cumming started coaching the Sparks in 2020.
"He’s an awesome batting coach but he really cares about the person before, I guess, performance, and I’ve done a lot of work around the mental game in the last few years,
"Probably the biggest development is being able to access 360 [degrees around the ground], and now with the women’s game you’ve got to be able to do that.
"I’m more of a probably aggressive player, and I think that’s the way Craig’s kind of helped me — I’d rather go out playing my style than get out being tentative."
James also developed offspin bowling while playing cricket in England in ’22 and ’23, but has yet to bowl for Otago.
She won NZ selection on the back of 293 runs from five Hallyburton Johnstone Shield (HBJ) games — the comp’s second-highest — which also helped the Sparks head the table.
Making the field for the White Ferns was "a surreal moment", but her team-mates, whom she knew from domestic cricket, "were all very welcoming", she says.
James is keen to regain selection for games against Sri Lanka and Australia in March, but first wants to help the Sparks win the Super Smash comp, which they’re leading, as well as the HBJ.
Meantime, though Dunedin-based, Arrowtown remains home — "all my friends and family live there".
Her parents Sarah and Pete moved back about five years ago — "Mum grew up there and my nana".