Published: Jun 14, 2016, 10:27 AM (IST)
Edited: Jun 14, 2016, 10:27 AM (IST)
New Zealand Women‘s vice-captain Sophie Devine has said that their team, known as the White Ferns, is not far behind Australia Women and England Women. The White Ferns did well in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World T20 2016 qualifying up to the quarter-finals where they were handed a defeat by West Indies Women. The team nevertheless displayed good cricket, team’s Suzie Bates remained the fourth highest run-getter of the tournament while Devine, alongside Leigh Kasperek and Deandra Dottin, remained the highest wicket-taker of the tournament. Devine said that though the England Women and Southern Stars are topping the rankings, White Ferns also have potent players. READ: Southern Stars looking to become ‘best fielding side’
Talking to blackcaps.co.nz, Devine said, “It’s a really exciting time for the the women’s game. England and Australia are certainly leading the charge, but we’re not too far behind them and we’ve got some great players, so with similar resources and investment we can stay hot on the heels of those two sides.”
“We want to be number one in the world in both formats and we want to win tournaments. We’ve always been there or there abouts, but we want to kick on now. I’d also love to see the WHITE FERNS become one of the most well known female sports team in New Zealand. We know that performance drives that and if we get the right culture then those things can happen naturally,” she added.
She also spoke about the way the game has changed. “Certainly the professionalism has lifted. There’s a massive emphasis on the strength and conditioning these days that probably wasn’t there in the past and even though the game’s not fully professional or even semi professional, we’re still trying to operate as though it is. Internationally it’s also a much more even playing field with the top six to eight nations far closer than just the the big four of the old days.”
