Young Talent Gets World Cup Opportunity
New Zealand has announced its women’s ODI World Cup squad for India and Sri Lanka, with 22-year-old allrounder Flora Devonshire receiving her maiden ODI call-up. Although uncapped in ODIs, Devonshire brings international experience from her T20I debut earlier this year and her performances on the New Zealand A tour of England.
Her selection came at the expense of left-arm spinner Fran Jonas, who has played 26 ODIs. Head coach Ben Sawyer admitted it was a tough call:
“𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑾𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕 21 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓.”
Fresh Faces and Balanced Squad
The squad also includes Polly Inglis, Bella James, and Bree Illing, who are preparing for their first World Cup campaigns. Illing impressed with four wickets in her debut ODI series against Sri Lanka, while James made her first ODI appearance against Australia last year. Inglis, known for her grit and wicketkeeping skills, provides backup to first-choice keeper Izzy Gaze.
Sawyer highlighted the potential of the younger players:
“𝑰’𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑪𝒖𝒑 – 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒎 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆.”
Alongside the newcomers, the squad retains an experienced core led by Sophie Devine, who will retire from ODI cricket after the tournament. Veterans Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr, Lea Tahuhu, and Maddy Green provide depth and leadership.
Preparations Ahead
New Zealand will first head to the UAE for a pre-tournament camp starting September 13, where they will play warm-up matches against England. Their World Cup journey officially begins on October 1 in Indore against Australia.
The 15-player squad reflects a blend of youth and experience, with Sawyer confident about their readiness:
“𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑, 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏.”
Also Read: Tribe’s Career-Best 181* Keeps Glamorgan on Track