Women’s T20 World Cup: Trophy a tall ask, but NZ skipper Devine eager to set succession plans in place

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine would love to win the Women’s T20 WC but for a side which has won just one of the 13 T20Is it has played this year, calling that a tall ask is an understatement.

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine. | Photo Credit: AFP

For New Zealand captain Sophie Devine, the best way to sign off from her innings as the White Ferns skipper may be to help the side to the winner’s podium at the T20 World Cup.

However, for a side which has won just one of the 13 T20Is it has played this year, calling that a tall ask is an understatement. 

That said, the possibility of doing something special with the bunch keeps Devine motivated in her final assignment as New Zealand skipper. 

“I’d love to be able to lift the trophy with this bunch of players and it has been a little bit weird. I mean I’m not retiring or anything, I’m just stepping down as the T20I captain but it certainly has made me reflect on I guess my career and the opportunities that I’ve had. Thinking back to the first one in 2009 – which probably shows my age – to see the growth of the women’s game is something that I’m incredibly proud of and I’ve been lucky to be a part of,” Devine said.

Leading a bunch of youngsters and encountering a string of defeats cannot be easy. 

“The last few months have been crucial in terms of understanding what success looks like to us. It has been a bit different, in terms of not always focussing on the results. Don’t get me wrong, we want to win. But sometimes, when you’ve got players that are so young and so inexperienced in their cricketing journey, especially their international cricketing journey, success looks slightly different. It’s about how they’ve grown as players, what they have learned and how they have developed, not just between World Cups, but between series and camps.” 

A major part of that conversation involves being comfortable with the idea of laying the tar for a succession plan to bolster the Kiwis when the likes of Devine, Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu walk into the sunset. 

A decision in that direction was the captain dropping down to give others space to make the top slots their own. 

“I’ve been down the order for close to two years now. It’s part of a broader strategy. I think we’ve been really honest and open about the fact that me and Suzy aren’t getting any younger, and we really want to, I guess, prepare someone like Georgia Plimmer to fill that role, and we think that’s better to do that with her at the top of the order in place of one of us so that when we do call time on our careers, you’re not trying to find two new openers, you need to just fill the one spot alongside her.”

In 23-year-old Amelia Kerr, an international pro despite being so young, New Zealand has the model it wishes to replicate for the outfit in the years to come.

“It’s important to talk about workload with Melie. It’s more off the field than on the field, we need to make sure she’s got that balance right. She’s been really brave in terms of sharing her mental health journey and that’s certainly something I think the White Ferns have been very supportive of. She wants to play as much cricket as she can, so sometimes it’s about us pulling her back a little knowing that she has a long career ahead of her.

“Melie loves cricket. So it can be a bit of a struggle at times, but I think it is important that we’re having those discussions with her, that she’s involved in those discussions and at the end of the day, it’s her career.”

Having been at the helm of the White Ferns since taking over from Amy Satterthwaite in 2020. Despite the official stamp of her leadership role coming fairly late in her career, Devine has been part of the senior think tank alongside Bates, Tahuhu, Satterthwaite (until her retirement) and others for a long time.

A few months ago, Meg Lanning shocked the international community with her revelations of how taxing the top job in Australian cricket ate away at her physical and mental health. Devine thanks the late captaincy for the gig being kinder on her as an individual, particularly when she’s been part of a team that’s had as oscillatory a trajection as New Zealand.

“Alyssa (Healy) actually alluded to it a little bit (at the captains’ day) that we’ve both been fortunate that we’ve come into captaincy a little bit later in our life. That’s really helped in terms of having that balance and knowing ourselves a little bit better than if we were to be thrust into it like I know Meg was at 22, 23.

“I know myself a lot better now than when I did if I was 21, 22. (I was) probably not as mature, but look I think that plays a massive part and you’re right, the demands on the captain are quite often unseen. It is 24/7 job, you don’t switch off, especially coming to events like this. It’s not just about (work) on the field, it’s about all the media and everything that goes around with it, it’s the meeting with the players, it’s about playing conditions, the camels (laughs).

“Every day is a new challenge as captain and as a leader and that’s what makes it really exciting but also it’s really tough. It’s important then to have a support network. In the White Ferns set up, Suzie has been the captain for a number of years. We’ve got a really great leadership group that wraps around not only me but the whole team and I think that’s important to be able to share the load because that’s one of the biggest things I learnt - being able to rely on others as well. can’t be everything to everyone unfortunately, so being able to delegate and to use the strengths of the people around me is probably the most important thing that I’ve learnt in my time as a leader.”

New Zealand will get its World Cup campaign underway against India in Dubai on October 4.