White Ferns 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.

"So, to be able to stagger it, I mean, obviously stepping back from the T20 captaincy last year, and now being able to step away from the one day format, it buys me a bit of time and can sort of slowly ease me out of this cricket life that I've lived for over half my life."

For the majority of her 198 appearances for the White Ferns, across ODI and T20s, Devine has been a go-to player that can turn a game in New Zealand's favour.

The 35-year-old admits she felt the burden at different times of being central to their success but she said she had taken pride in that expectation too.

"I want to step up and I want to be the one that performs for the White Ferns.

"I think the great thing about where this programme's at at the moment, where this group's at, there's more and more people putting their hand up and having those match winning performances and that's probably helped my decision in terms of starting to step away, is knowing that this group's in really good hands, that the depth is certainly starting to grow.

"We're getting into a place where I'm happy to walk away knowing that there's people that will take my spot, which I think is a really good sign is that I'll be fighting for my place in this team."

But the future has not always been so rosy when Devine has had to face up to questions from fans and the media when results were not going the White Ferns' way.

"I think you always take performances to heart. I think particularly, even more so being captain of this group the last four or five years, you do take everything personally in terms of those results

"Not just your personal efforts, but also the team as well and it's been no secret that we've had our struggles the last couple of years and so it is hard you certainly take all that on the chin, and you want to be doing everything you can to help this group win, and I guess, to prove people wrong.

"And I think that's what made the World Cup win last year so special was a lot of people had written us off and to be able to lift that trophy at the end of the World Cup was really pleasing for so many reasons.

"That's certainly given me motivation in terms of heading into the 50 over World Cup as well, was knowing that, geez, it would be nice to have two trophies in the cabinet finishing up."

'She's the heart and soul of this team'

White Ferns coach Ben Sawyer acknowledges that Devine is different from her peers.

"She is a once in a generation player and we're just very lucky that she's part of our side," Sawyer said.

"Captain, bats four, bowls - can't offer too much more to a team than that and obviously her leadership off the field. So whilst disappointing she's leaving, super excited she's at least got one more World Cup with us."

Sawyer worked with Devine in franchise cricket, and coached against her with Australian teams, before he joined the White Ferns in 2022.

"I can say as a coach stepping into a foreign team, and coming from outside, she's made my time here absolutely amazing.

"To work with her has been a real privilege and she's the heart and soul of this team.

"We're going to lose a lot when she leaves. There's no papering over that crack, she's going to be a huge loss to us, but I guess this gives us a little bit of time to plan for that.

"Also I reckon I could pick up the phone at any stage and lean on her and ask her questions, and she'd be more than willing to give anything for the White Ferns."

The decision to move Devine to a casual contract with New Zealand Cricket does not open the door for more female players to do the same, Sawyer said.

"I think Sophie is a little bit different. She deserves this thoroughly having played for so long and been a great of the game.

"So I think it's a case by case scenario, but for her and where she's at and now retired from ODI cricket, I think it works well for both parties. She can see where she's at, and then we can make decisions around that T20 World Cup [next year] as well."

Sawyer is pleased Devine gets to leave the game on her terms and that she returned to play after taking a break.

"I think cricket should be the place where maybe you get to forget some of the other things that are going on, and we would love our team to be that place for people.

"So I'm really happy that this is now that place for for Sophie, that she feels like she's at her best when she is in and around this team."

The White Ferns will play defending champions Australia in their opening game of the Cricket World Cup on 1 October in Indore, India.

Not lost to women's sport

Devine has just finished reading former athlete Honey Hireme-Smiler's memoir and said it has inspired her about what is possible beyond her playing days.

"That's probably part of the great thing of sort of the last six months is coming to this decision, is thinking about what does come next and although I'm not 100 percent sure what that looks like, and it's still a little bit daunting at times I certainly feel like I won't be lost to the game, not just cricket but women's sport in general.

"I think it's given me so much over my career and my lifetime that I feel it's only right that I give back in some capacity, whether that's coaching, whether it's managing, mentoring, whether it's commentating. I don't know what it quite looks like yet, but I certainly want to make sure that that I'm around and I can help whoever it is at whatever stage of their careers can help give back in some way, shape or form."

Devine had become aware that her sporting attributes could still serve her well beyond her playing days.

"I think it's really cool to see that athletes now have a whole heap of different paths that they can go down.

"I think knowing that your skills that you've learned in your time in a high performance environment can certainly cross over. I think it's just leaning into that and knowing whereabouts can you use your skills best and offer maybe a slightly different perspective in the corporate world or in the business world, whatever it looks like.

"Although it will be very different to getting up and doing this slog of the running, the gym and the cricket training, I think there's certainly something that we can offer as athletes outside of our sporting codes."