White Ferns captain Sophie Devine has starred on cricket's biggest stage, but now the World Cup is coming home to her backyard.
White Ferns captain Sophie Devine mixes with young fans in Wellington at the launch of the 2021 ICC Women's World Cup. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The dual international can't wait for the Trans-Tasman battle against Australia on February 13 at her home ground the Basin Reserve, but said the ICC Women's World Cup tournament is about showcasing the talent to all of New Zealand.
"It's really important for us to get across New Zealand and get in front of as many New Zealanders as possible and to put our product out there and it's not just as New Zealanders it is the whole world, the exciting thing is I know the standard of women's cricket because I have been playing it for close to 15 years but I want to show the rest of the world and every in the country how great the women's game is at moment and how close the game is getting," Devine said.
New Zealand Cricket president Debbie Hockley played in a total of five world cups and retired after winning New Zealand's only title in Lincoln 20 years ago.
There are good signs for the popularity of the women's game, with over 86,000 turning up in Melbourne for Sunday's T20 World Cup Final.
Hockley said success next year would be measured by more than what is on the scorecard.
"I think it'd be terrific success if New Zealand managed to win it, that would be fabulous for a start, terrific attendances and viewership of the matches and leaving a legacy after of young girls and young boys who want to take up cricket and to stay in the game."
The White Ferns will have the backing of the government as Sports Minister Grant Robertson said the women would get more financial support than normal to chase the silverware.
"In the funding that Sport New Zealand has given, which in the past has gone to the Black Caps for the last few years, that is transferred over now to the White Ferns for the build up to this campaign and there is the major events funding which is about supporting putting the tournament on as a whole, but certainly we want to give the White Ferns every single bit of support we can to have them be competitive in this tournament."
Robertson said the tournament would be a platform to promote women's sport in New Zealand.
"We've still got a long way to go in sport for true equality and equity but having events like this having the International Cricket Council's stamp on an event this means we can take it another step forward.
"I think [this tournament] is incredibly good for the game and incredibly good for women's sport."
International Cricket Council ceo Manu Sawhney said other sports should follow cricket's lead when it came to females in the game.
"As cricket we want to lead the women's sport and make a difference show the people that we can create a structure which has fans going for it, which basically inspires young children and young women and it is also basically something that gets followed up by the sponsors and the other stakeholders."
Sawhney said prize money is only part of the plan to close the divide between the mens and women's game but next year the world's top female cricketers will compete for more prize money than ever before.
In 2021, a total of $5.5million is on the line, which compares to $3.1m in 2017 and $316,000 in 2013.
The final will be played at Christchurch's Hagley Oval on March 7.