Big, indigestible lumps.
The kind that stick in the throat.
A bit like the White Ferns.
They have been playing poorly for a couple of years now.
The were soundly beaten in three T20s by England and lost the ODI series 2-1 against the same opponent.
Their only win came in the dead rubber in Dunedin.
They have mastered the art of grabbing a consolation win.
Their last three ODI wins have all come at the end of the three-game series.
They strung together 11 consecutive losses in the format before Amy Satterthwaite struck an undefeated century in Dunedin to help her side clinch a rare win.
It is a very lean run which potentially could get a lot worse.
Australia has arrived for three T20s and three ODIs.
The tour gets under way with a T20 in Hamilton on March 28.
Based on current form Australia will bring the chocolate sprinkles.
So who or what is to blame for the White Ferns’ malaise?
Is it the coaching group of Bob Carter, Jacob Oram and Rob Nicol? They have plenty of experience in high performance sport but are getting the best out their charges?
Carter’s record, since taking over from Haidee Tiffen in February 2019, is not good. He has one win from 12 ODIs.
He can point to a 3-1 home T20 series win against South Africa last year but he also led the side to 2-1 and 3-0 series losses to Australia and England respectively.
That win against Australia came in game three which has been a theme of late.
But the White Ferns’ problems pre-date Carter.
Tiffen stepped down as coach shortly before the three-match Rose Bowl series against Australia in 2019.
That decision was made in the wake of New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) World T20 campaign review.
That review recommended the coaching and support roles be advertised.
Perhaps NZC should have also advertised for some extra batswomen, because it was a lack of batting depth which caused the White Ferns to make an early exit from the tournament.
So are the players good enough?
Is the uncomfortable truth that the Sophie Devine who whacked a 36-ball hundred against Otago is ill-equipped against good international opponents?
In 111 ODIs, Devine has scored 2697 runs at an average of 31.00. But against higher quality opponents such as Australia and England her average drops to 22.85 and 21.73 respectively.
Satterthwaite is another player who has enjoyed wonderful success on the domestic and international circuit.
In 125 ODIs, the left-hander has scored 4067 runs at an average of 39.48.
Her record stands up well against Australia (1373 runs at 37.10) but dips against England (916 at 32.71).
Even Suzie Bates, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury this summer, has struggled against England.
She has forged a wonderful ODI record of 4548 runs at an average of 42.50. But against England she has scored 765 runs at 27.32.
That is quite a big drop off and they are the best players in the country.
Devine, Satterthwaite and Bates are more familiar with bowling of that quality. But for some of the other White Ferns players, the step up from the domestic competition to facing a quality English attack is huge.
They are not exposed to bowlers like Nat Sciver and Katherine Brunt, who can execute their skills and build pressure for longer.
Perhaps that is where the real blame lies — at the standard of the domestic competition. And that is not an easy fix.
