Auckland [New Zealand]: New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine has confirmed her commitment to the upcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 after contemplating retirement during her recent break from the sport.
Devine, who last represented the White Ferns in December during an ODI against Australia, is set to make her return for the T20I series against Australia starting in Auckland on Friday.
The 35-year-old cricketer admitted that thoughts of retirement had crossed her mind during her time away from cricket.
“Completely honest? Yep (if retirement was on her mind),” Devine told reporters, as quoted by the ICC.
“Certainly. To be able to have to process through a few of those things. Obviously, I am unfortunately not getting any younger, so they naturally sort of came into mind.”
Despite those thoughts, Devine revealed that her passion for cricket and the upcoming ODI World Cup in India motivated her to continue playing for the White Ferns.
“We have got a pretty big World Cup coming up later this year, which – all going well – hopefully I will be at,” Devine added.
“Certainly the World Cup was probably the biggest one. I still felt like I have got a little bit more to give in the black shirt,” she said.
Devine hasn’t played a competitive match since January 24, when she appeared for Wellington in the Women’s Super Smash. However, her time away from the field strengthened her determination to return.
“So for me, I guess that opportunity was there, but also being okay with the fact that if I was done, I have had a pretty good run of it. But certainly watching the girls over the last couple of weeks, there is certainly a big itch there that is still to scratch,” she concluded.
New Zealand will face Australia in a three-match T20I series starting on March 21.