White Fern captain Sophie Devine won’t be lost to women’s sport when her time is up

Captain Sophie Devine has been the face of the White Ferns at some of their highest and lowest points, and she has taken all of the knocks on the team’s performance personally.

Devine will retire from one-day internationals after this year’s 50-over Cricket World Cup in October calling time on part of her career that began when she was 17-years-old.

The timing is “drawing a line in the sand” for Devine but the decision to step away took her more than a year to arrive at.

“There’s been some ugly tears, there’s been some anger, there’s been some fear, but at the end of the day I just feel really grateful that I’ve been able to do this as a job,” Devine said.

Turning down a central contract with New Zealand Cricket for the upcoming season, in favour of a casual contract that leaves the door ajar for T20 internationals, was an important part of Devine’s approach.

“Being able to take a casual playing agreement, it offers me balance, but it also offers another player the opportunity to be fully contracted which is something that’s really important to me, is that that person can now get more opportunities and more support from New Zealand Cricket. So, I think it’s a win win for everyone involved.

“I think if I was to pull the pin on everything all at once, I’m not too sure how I’d handle that.