Sophie Devine named as permanent New Zealand captain

Amy Satterthwaite went on maternity leave in the second half of 2019, with Devine initially taking up the role on an interim basis in January as preparations for March’s T20 World Cup built up

Sophie Devine, the world’s top-ranked T20I allrounder, has been named as New Zealand’s permanent captain, replacing Amy Satterthwaite.

Satterthwaite went on maternity leave in the second half of 2019, with Devine initially taking up the role on an interim basis in January as preparations for March’s T20 World Cup built up.

The 30-year-old then led her country at the tournament in Australia as they fell at the group stage hurdle.

Devine spoke of her pride at taking over the post full-time, while praising her predecessor who will return to the fold, having not played internationally since March 2019. New Zealand are due to face Australia in three ODIs and three T20Is in their first post-coronavirus series in late September.

“It's a huge honour and privilege to be awarded the White Ferns captaincy,” Devine said. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time as captain over the past season. It was challenging results-wise at times, but I feel we are moving in the right direction as a team, both with our cricket and our team culture.

“I'm very much looking forward to working with Amy who has an exceptional cricketing brain and I feel we can form a strong leadership partnership in combination with a well-established leadership group.”

Devine was arguably the world game’s in-form player ahead of the pandemic, having entered the World Cup with consecutive scores of 72, 54*, 61, 77 and 105. Beforehand, she was also the player of the tournament in the Women’s Big Bash.

“Sophie is a strong leader, she has her own style and knows what she wants from herself and the team,” head coach Bob Carter added. “It's a testament to her ability as a leader that her performance with the bat last summer went to a new level. She leads with her actions and the team responds well to her leadership style.

“Amy is on the comeback to cricket after giving birth and she is progressing really well. Having her experience, knowledge and leadership working alongside Sophie is only going to benefit the team.”

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