It has been 427 days since the Otago Sparks lost a Hallyburton Johnstone Shield game.
That statistics should provide some comfort as the team comes to terms with their performance in the Super Smash final.
The Sparks looked odds-on to beat Wellington. They were set a modest tally of 105 to win the final but fell eight runs short in a disappointing chase.
Stand-in coach Shawn Hicks said the loss had taken some processing.
"To be honest, it’s been an emotional time," Hicks said.
"I think all of our girls are processing it differently. Some are taking a bit longer than others.
"But, you know, at the end of the day, we know we’re a good team. On that day, we didn’t have a great game.
"But the nice thing that we have now is we can just put our focus into the HBJ."
The Sparks have been in flawless form in Hallyburton Johnstone Shield cricket and will resume the campaign with back-to-back matches against a strong Auckland unit at Eden Park Outer Oval this weekend.
The Sparks (30 points) have won all six games and are one win away from a guaranteed spot in the final. And they might not even need that depending on the results of the other games.
They have double the competition points of their closest rival the Central Hinds (15 points) and a big lead over Wellington (13 points) and Auckland (13 points).
There is still a maximum of 20 points available, but Northern Districts (eight points) and Canterbury (five points) look out of the race.
The Sparks have actually strung together 11 consecutive wins in the format. Their last loss was to the Central Hinds in Invercargill on December 9, 2023.
The Hinds came out on the right side of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations that day.
While it has been an impressive few years for the Sparks, it was not that long ago the team struggled to win in the longer format.
Between 2019 and 2021 they lost 21 consecutive games in a row. Twenty. One.
Former coach Craig Cumming was influential in helping turn around the team’s fortune. But this week he left to take up a role with the Blaze in Nottingham, and Hicks will take over the reins for the remainder of the season.
He has a young family and is unsure whether he will apply for the job when it is advertised at the end of the season.
But he is looking forward to stamping his own mark on the side while he is at the helm.
"I’ve been in this group now for about three years, so I know what makes them tick.
"And obviously, Craig has done such a good job.
" It’s not about actually coming in and trying to reinvent anything.
"It’s basically just continuing with what we have been doing well, but at the same time also, you know, putting my twist on things.
"There’s a few things that I do differently, and I spoke to the girls about that. But in saying that, Craig and I were pretty aligned anyway with the way we coach.
"We do care a lot about the players, and I think our coaching styles are fairly similar."
Hallyburton Johnstone Shield
Eden Park Outer Oval
Today and tomorrow, 10.30am
Otago Sparks: Suzie Bates, Bella James, Caitlin Blakely, Felicity Robertson (captain), Polly Inglis, Olivia Gain, Hayley Jensen, Anna Browning, Eden Carson, Emma Black, Chloe Deerness, PJ Watkins, Molly Loe.
Auckland Hearts: Bella Armstrong, Pru Catton, Lauren Down, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Amie Hucker, Bree Illing, Rishika Jaswal, Fran Jonas, Cate Pederson, Josie Penfold, Molly Penfold, Saachi Shahri.
