Brooke Halliday

Cricket runs in the family. Halliday was born in Hamilton, and her grandfather, father and uncle all turned out for the same club. She took up the game herself at the age of five.

Her route into the White Ferns came through weight of runs at domestic level, where she finished as the leading scorer in the 50-over competition in 2021. That form earned her an international call-up, and she began against England by passing fifty in each of her opening two matches. The start was impressive enough to bring a nomination for the ICC Player of the Month award, and before 2021 was out she had also been handed the captaincy of Northern Districts.

Although she has usually batted near the top of the order, the national side has often used her lower down. She has handled that shift well, keeping her scoring rate up and adjusting her pace of play to the situation. In 2022 she was in the New Zealand squad for the ICC Women's World Cup on home soil, and later that year she travelled to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games, where the White Ferns took bronze.

Halliday was a key figure when New Zealand claimed the 2024 T20 World Cup, contributing 38 from 28 balls in the final. She carried that touch into the following tour of India, finishing as the highest run-scorer across the three-match ODI series. New Zealand were beaten in the series, but Halliday made 86 in the last game, the best score of her career.