Sophie Devine to step down from White Ferns T20 captaincy after World Cup

Sophie Devine has made the decision to step down from her role as the White Ferns’ T20 captain following October’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

The 34-year-old first led the side during the 2014-15 season, before taking on the captaincy full-time in both limited-over formats in 2020 from Amy Satterthwaite.

Devine’ s record as T20 captain across 56 matches currently stands at 25 wins, 28 losses and 1 tie.

“With captaincy comes an additional workload that, while I’ve enjoyed taking on, can also be challenging at times,” Devine said in an NZC statement.

“Stepping away from the T20 captaincy will take a bit off my plate so I can focus more of my energy on my playing role and nurturing the future leaders.”

Devine will continue to helm the ODI side and has emphasised her desire to continue playing in both formats of the game for New Zealand.

The Wellingtonian made her T20 debut in 2006 against Australia before making her ODI debut on the same tour. Almost 18 years later, she has 147 ODIs and 135 T20s under her belt.

“I’m not ready to give up ODI captaincy just yet,” she said.

“But I won’t be around forever, so I think stepping away from captaining one format at a time gives the next leaders time to find their feet.”

NZ Cricket confirmed that a decision is yet to be made on Devine’s successor as T20 captain.

Melie Kerr stands as the most likely candidate. Already considered a senior leader in the team, the 24-year-old made her captaincy debut for the White Ferns in the final T20 match against Pakistan last December.

The upcoming ICC tournament was to be held in Bangladesh originally, before civil unrest in the country forced the sport’s governing body to shift proceedings to the United Arab Emirates.

New Zealand’s first of four group stage matches takes place October 5 against India. In Group A, NZ will also face Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, needing to finish in the top two to qualify for the semi-finals.

The White Ferns will announce their 15-player squad for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup on September 10.