Sophie Devine appointed skipper of White Ferns

All rounder Sophie Devine is set to take over as captain of the White Ferns from Amy Satterthwaite, who, upon her return from maternity leave, will be appointed vice captain.

Devine has shown impeccable leadership skills in the absence of regular skipper Satterthwaite over the last few months, her strong leadership led to her being offered the captaincy on a full-time basis.

About her appointment as full time skipper of the White Ferns, Devine told nzc.nz, “It’s a huge honour and privilege to be awarded the WHITE FERNS captaincy. 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.”

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Satterthwaite said being the WHITE FERNS captain was a great privilege. “I’m looking forward to returning to international cricket and doing my best to support Sophie and the team,” she said.

NZC chief executive David White said, “I want to congratulate Sophie on this appointment. It’s always a great honour to captain your country and especially so in a season in which the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup is being played in your own country. It’s also really encouraging to see Amy coming back into the side and, with other senior players such as Suzie Bates, offering Sophie such strong leadership support.”

WHITE FERNS Head Coach Bob Carter has been impressed with the way Devine has taken the captaincy in her stride over the past season. He said, “Sophie is a strong leader, she has her own style and knows what she wants from herself and the team. 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.”

With the 2021 Women’s World Cup 6 months away, WHITE FERNS are preparing to start training. They will be attending split-squad training camps starting in Lincoln next week.