Flora Devonshire has caught the eye with her batting for the Central Hinds Photo / Kerry Marshall - Photosport
Flora Devonshire has caught the eye with her batting for the Central Hinds Photo / Kerry Marshall - Photosport
It was the call most cricketers wait for but never receive, but on Sunday night Flora Devonshire’s phone rang and she was suddenly one step closer to being a White Fern.
“I was having dinner with my family and I got up and then my phone rang and my brothersaid it was [White Ferns head coach] Ben Sawyer calling,” Devonshire said.
Sawyer promptly told her Bella James wasn’t quite right, and they wanted to call her up for the squad for the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka.
“So that was cool,” Devonshire says.
Back at the dinner table, it was a proud moment for the entire family as she unveiled the reason for the call.
“They were happy, they said well done – they had smiles on their faces.”
The 22-year-old Hawke’s Bay allrounder has now joined the rest of the squad in Christchurch for the series, which starts this Friday night, and it’s not just her that benefits from the call-up.
“I meal prepped for the week just before that [phonecall], because I’ve been working at PWC in Napier, so I made my lunches for the week – I said to my brother he could have them.”
With the domestic season now over, and no cricket scheduled for a while, Devonshire went into work as normal on Monday and spoke to her manager about a sudden change in plans.
“Work were really good about it, they’ve been really flexible. I went into the office on Monday and spoke to my manager and he was happy,” she says.
Flora Devonshire is hoping to get a chance for the White Ferns after being called in as injury cover. Photo / John Davidson - Photosport
Devonshire has been a regular in the Central Hinds side for the past three seasons, with her powerful left-handed batting and spin bowling seeing many sit up and predict further honours for the former Havelock North Primary and Iona College old girl.
Just last week she was called into the White Ferns set-up when they played Sri Lanka in a rained-out ODI in Napier, to provide fielding cover when experienced batter Lauren Down was ruled out with a sore back.
“That was awesome. I wasn’t really expecting to be helping out last week, let alone this week, but I was stoked to be there for Emma [McLeod’s] debut.
“I’ve played a lot of cricket with her, so it was really cool just to see her get her cap and see her get rewarded.”
As well as McLeod, Devonshire will join another Central Hinds teammate, Rosemary Mair, in the squad for a series which is closely followed by another three-match T20 series against Australia later this month.
But before getting too far ahead of herself, Devonshire is just hoping to get the chance to take the field over the next week and fulfil a family prediction.
“When I was younger, my brothers used to tell me I was going to be a White Fern, but I used to get annoyed and tell them to shut up and stop teasing me.”
Hopefully, over the next week, her brothers will be proven right.
