Sophie Devine says she won't stand down as captain, despite criticism from former national selector Kirsty Bond. Photos / Photosport
Sophie Devine says she won't stand down as captain, despite criticism from former national selector Kirsty Bond. Photos / Photosport
White Ferns star Sophie Devine says she's not going anywhere - despite calls for her to stand down as captain after a torrid time with the bat and a string of poor results.
The 31-year-old all-rounder has experienced a slump in form since taking over from Amy Satterthwaite just overa year ago, leading to former national selector Kirsty Bond suggesting Devine make way as captain for teammate Amelia Kerr.
Speaking to the On The Front Foot podcast last week, Bond said the captaincy may be hindering Devine's talents.
White Ferns star Sophie Devine's poor batting form has coincided with the team's torrid run of results. Photo / Photosport
"I do think that maybe, just maybe, that this is the time to be bold. Maybe we need to look at a change of captain, because I know that Sophie has really struggled with her performances since she took over the captaincy. So maybe we need to look at that and be really bold around that."
Devine, however, played the criticism with a straight bat.
"Everyone's entitled to their opinions aren't they?" Devine told the Herald.
"From inside, we're working extremely hard to make sure that we get those performances out on the park. Kirsty was a selector for a long time there and she's obviously got her opinions which is fair enough. But for me, it's about if I'm doing the job for the team, and they're happy with that, then that's all I really worry about."
Of their last 26 games in both formats, New Zealand have won just seven - and have been on the receiving end of series sweeps against England, Australia and South Africa.
The White Ferns' woes have coincided with Devine's own failures - she has struggled since becoming New Zealand skipper, first in an interim capacity in January 2020, and then permanently, seven months later.
Since taking over as caretaker captain, Devine has passed 50 only once in one-day internationals with her second-highest score being just 27. While her T20 numbers make for better reading, she scored her last half-century 10 innings ago.
Devine told the Herald she is spending the week with the Black Caps in an effort to develop her own leadership and understand the environment of the very successful men's side.
Amelia Kerr has been mentioned as a possible successor to Sophie Devine. Photo / Photosport
"They've obviously had a lot of success recently, and it's an awesome opportunity for me to take back to the White Ferns how they go about things," she said.
"There's no set structure to how it's going to look or anything like that, but it's about getting fully immersed in the setup. There will be a bit of pen and paper but also some chats going on. I think for me and that's a really good way to find out things, is to speak, not only with Gary [Stead, Black Caps head coach] and the other coaches, but the players as well and how they prepare for an international cricket match."
Devine's hoping it'll be a catalyst for change within her own side.
"Culture is a big work-on for us at the moment. We've got a great team culture, we've got a really close-knit group of girls but we obviously probably haven't had the performances that we're after from the last couple of series, so if I can learn anything from the boys, I'll take that back."
