A few days ago, Sophie Devine was appointed as the permanent skipper of New Zealand women cricket team. She took up the White Ferns captaincy in an interim capacity last season after Amy Satterthwaite went for maternity leave.
Now, Satterthwaite has returned to the New Zealand squad and has reacted after losing the captaincy of the women’s team. Satterthwaite had taken a break from the captivating game last year as she was preparing to have her first child with her wife and team-mate Lea Tahuhu.
Satterthwaite said that she is disappointed not to carry her role of captaincy, but also expressed excitement on being the vice-captain of the team again.
“If I’m being honest, I was obviously pretty gutted not to be able to carry on. I’ve been vice-captain before, so it’s territory I’ve been in. It’s not unfamiliar put it that way. When you’re in a leadership position, you don’t have to have certain titles behind you to be able to help out.” Satterthwaite told 1 NEWS.
Satterthwaite hasn’t played for New Zealand since March last year. After her return to the net-practice session, the all-rounder stated her nervousness to play the ball.
“I actually was a bit nervous; I sort of wondered if I’d still be able to hit the ball. But somewhere deep in the memory bank, there was that ability to hit it alright,” the Christchurch-born added.
Satterthwaite joined the training as both the women’s and men’s squads gathered for a four-day camp at New Zealand Cricket’s High-Performance Centre in Lincoln for the first time since the break from cricket due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Satterthwaite also stated her excitement for the upcoming 50-over World Cup, which will take place in New Zealand.
“Doesn’t get much bigger than having a world cup at home, does it? We’re really looking forward to that, and we’ve got a lot of hard work to do between now and then, and hopefully going ahead. But we’re really excited about what that opportunity offers us as a group,” Satterthwaite added further.
The White Ferns deputy also spoke about her motherhood experience. She said that it is giving her sleepless nights, but she is loving it.
“Loving it [motherhood]. It’s a big challenge, isn’t it? But it’s been a lot of fun. Makes it worthwhile, those sleepless nights. That’s what brings a different challenge in trying to train as well. Starting to learn the balance in trying to make that work slowly,” concluded Satterthwaite.
