White Ferns Amy & Lea OUR DAUGHTER'S OUR BIGGEST FAN!

The Kiwi cricketers are the perfect match on and off the field, and share how their adorable girl Grace is the best mascot a team could have

- Rebekah Hebenton

Playing in a Cricket World Cup on home soil is always a special moment, but for White Ferns stars Amy Satterthwaite and Lea Tahuhu, it means even more as their two-year-old daughter Grace will be one of the fans cheering them on from the stands.

“I take moments during the game to look up and find her in the crowd, and it just brings a smile to my face,” says Lea. "It's pretty cool at the end of the game to be able to go and see Grace, and have a hug because she doesn't care what happens on the field.”

When the Weekly speaks to Lea and Amy at their home in Christchurch via Zoom in the lead up to the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup, Grace has only just woken up from a nap, but is already alert and playful, waving through the camera and happily babbling away in the background. Even over video, it is easy to see how she steals the hearts of everyone she meets.

As Canterbury locals and life-long cricket fanatics, Amy, 35, and Lea, 31, have known each other for most of their lives. They both played together at St Albans club when they were growing up, but it wasn't until 2009, when they were teammates at the Canterbury Magicians, that their friendship turned into something more.

“We kept it to ourselves initially just because of that team dynamic, but we got to a point where it was like, this is who we are. If you make it a big deal, then it is a big deal. So, we wanted to normalise it,” Amy shares.