Sophie Devine is a rare blend of honesty, humility and humour. And that authenticity came through in her confession, “I thought I was going to get through this press conference without crying.”
It isn’t begging for sympathy; it came from a genuine sense of disappointment. New Zealand’s 53-run loss to hosts India on Thursday marked their league-stage exit from the Women’s World Cup 2025, a campaign marred by crushing defeats and frustrating weather disruptions.
Minutes later, Devine struck a careful balance between heartbreak and accountability while reflecting on her team’s performance,
“It’s tough, isn’t it? Because I know I’ve spoken about [how] the weather’s followed us, jokes have been made about it. At the end of the day, you just want the opportunity to play cricket. We had fate in our hands. We lost the first two games, put ourselves under pressure. We lost today. So, it’s hard to reflect when nearly half your games have had weather impacted by it.
“But we haven’t been good enough. And that’s really tough because the work that this group’s put in over the last 12 months has been phenomenal,” the 36-year-old said in Navi Mumbai.
“That’s what sucks about sports sometimes, is you can work harder than anyone in the world, you can do all the right things, but it doesn’t guarantee your results out there when it matters. So that’s probably going to be the hardest pill to swallow about this campaign. I’m not sure what else we could have done as a group to be better prepared, to be fitter, to be more connected, I don’t know.
“But we’ve got to dissect it and figure out where we went wrong and where we can improve, which, yeah, it sucks. Unfortunately, there’s not much other ways to describe it. The work that this group’s put in – no one deserves anything, not just in cricket, but in life – but sometimes you wish that the good guys got the results. But, not to be this time.”
Beyond immediate disappointment, Devine looked at the broader picture, highlighting the systemic challenges facing women’s cricket in New Zealand – from limited supplychain to competition from other sports. While professionalism of the sport has helped build some depth that will carry the team forward, Devine knows it needs more sustained and widespread investment and infrastructure at grassroots to build a strong foundation for years to come.
“I am really excited and it’s taken a lot of time,” the captain said of her mostly youthful side. “That’s something that we’ve got to be realistic about, is these things don’t happen overnight. We’re not like India; we don’t have 1 billion people to be able to call upon. We’re literally a small country at the bottom of the world with 5 million people. And unfortunately, cricket isn’t at the moment the number one sport. So, we’re always going to be fighting for the attention of youngsters coming through.
“That’s what’s really exciting as a selling point to any youngsters in New Zealand at the moment. And that’s not just girls; it’s boys as well. It’s that the opportunities that cricket presents to you should be really attractive. We’re starting to see it now as the depth is starting to grow and it’s going to be a continual process. Just because we’ve brought a few young players through doesn’t mean it’s job done. So, there’s still lots of work to do in terms of our domestic structure, in terms of our contracting system providing opportunities.
“It’s not just about the money. You can’t just throw money at players and expect them to get better. It’s the resources, it’s the structure, it’s the pathways leading into the White Ferns because you can pay the top 15 – 20 players however much you want to, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to be good cricketers and what happens when they all leave. So, yeah, I think that’s the really exciting thing, but it’s also the most challenging thing, is how do you build that? And every country is different. As I just said, you guys have got a billion people here and how you work your domestic systems and structure is going to be very, very different to how we do it back in New Zealand. I’m really excited about where the future of the women’s game goes. The support, the attention that it’s had over here is really exciting and I think India can be at the forefront of where the women’s game can go.”
Before that, New Zealand have got to put up a fight with Devine leading the way one last time in-charge.
“We’ll pull ourselves up, we’ll dust ourselves off and we’ll go bloody hard at these English people and give them a good run for their money. And hopefully we like everything out there on Sunday and we can leave with our heads held really high.”
Devine led New Zealand to an incredible T20 World Cup title last year. ©Getty
The final league game against England in Visakhapatnam on Sunday will also be Devine’s last ODI appearance for New Zealand. This will herald a new leadership era with Devine having stepped aside from T20I captaincy after leading New Zealand to the World Cup title last year, although she wishes to continue as a player in the shortest format. In her five-years in-charge, Devine experienced some incredible highs and equally deflating lows. She also delved into the emotional journey of leading a team at the highest level.
“The really important thing for me is to be authentic, and not just for me or my group, but for you guys as well. Sometimes people forget that we’re human beings and that we do have emotions. We’re not just robots out there that go and play and don’t have feelings and we don’t feel the criticism and we don’t feel the hurt. The words that are said about us, expectations. At the end of the day, we all go back, we all sleep in a bed, we all have families to go back to. So, sometimes it’s really important to remember that, that we’re human beings and sometimes words can hurt.
“But we’ve also got to own up to it. It’s the profession we’re in. It’s a job. And unfortunately, this right now is a bloody tough thing for me to have to do. But I also want to front up and, yeah still be really proud of what this group’s been able to achieve. But it does – I’m not going to sugarcoat it – it sucks. Losing press conferences are probably the hardest ones to do, especially when you’ve been knocked out of a tournament.”
