Devine to pull pin on ODIs after World Cup
Sophie Devine. Photo: Linda Robertson
White Ferns ODI captain Sophie Devine has an end date in sight.
The veteran all-rounder will retire from one-day internationals at the end of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup.
The 35-year-old has accepted a casual playing agreement for the 2025-26 season.
Devine is one of the country's most celebrated female players.
She has played 298 internationals over two formats since making her debut in October 2006.
She took over the captaincy in 2020 and led the team to a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and a maiden ICC Women's T20 World Cup victory last year.
The right-handed Devine is one of the most prolific all-rounders in the game.
She has amassed 7421 runs, including eight ODI centuries and one T20 century, and taken 226 wickets throughout her international career.
Devine said it felt like the right time to retire from ODIs.
"I feel very fortunate to have New Zealand Cricket's support in finding a solution that means I can still give to the White Ferns," she said.
"It's important that everyone knows I'm focused and dedicated to giving this group everything I can before I step away.
"I'm really excited by where this young group's going and I'm looking forward to playing my part in the next six to nine months.'
NZC chief executive Scott Weenink said Devine ''has been an extraordinary leader and ambassador for the White Ferns".
''Supporting her move to a casual playing agreement will allow her to continue contributing to the White Ferns environment.
"Her legacy as one of the game's greatest all-rounders and her commitment to nurturing the next generation makes this a positive step for both her and the White Ferns.'
Devine will lead the team at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup starting on September 30, and a decision on her successor will be made before the New Zealand home summer.
The 17 centrally contracted White Ferns will be announced today. — APL
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Photo: Chris Symes / 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. 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"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. Image of Honey Hireme playing at the 2014 Rugby World Cup. Right: Book cover. Photo: Left: Photosport. Right: Bateman Books 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."
