Sophie Devine targets WBBL for injury comeback

Sophie Devine's retirement party hasn't exactly gone to plan but she has set herself a target of the upcoming WBBL for her comeback from the severe calf tear which ended her Hundred campaign prematurely.

New Zealand, the defending champions, crashed out in the group stage of the T20 World Cup in June, Devine's international swansong alongside team-mates Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu. It meant she missed out on a fairytale farewell with the White Ferns, but she was soon back in action at the Hundred.

That was until she injured her calf after just four games captaining Welsh Fire, who conclude an inconsistent season on Wednesday seeking a fourth win from eight group games, in a dead-rubber against London Spirit at Sophia Gardens.

With an expected recovery time of eight to 12 weeks, Devine is hoping to be fit for the WBBL, which is yet to finalise its overseas player recruitment model despite the season starting on October 29. She has participated in all 11 WBBL seasons, five for the Adelaide Strikers and six for the Perth Scorchers.

"It's pretty frustrating," Devine told Cricinfo of her injury setback. "Everyone knows injuries are part of sports and I've been pretty lucky to - there's no point touching wood now - but to have not had too many bad ones. But I've done a fair job of the calf, tearing at a decent grade, 3C, so [I'm] looking at a pretty lengthy rehab recovery for that.

"It is a decent rehab. [I'm] looking at between eight to 12 weeks, so targeting Big Bash is the next thing for me, which is a really good goal, making sure that I get this right.

"I've been told by a number of people - both medical professionals and not - that this is an older-person injury, so I really want to make sure that I get this right and that it doesn't keep popping up. But that's a really good goal for me: to have the chance to get back to the basics, fix my body, and hopefully live another couple of years.

Devine, 36, has stayed with her Welsh Fire team, having joined from Birmingham Phoenix as the joint-highest earner at the inaugural player auction, alongside Beth Mooney, who went to table-topping Trent Rockets for £210,000.

Just two players, Sarah Bryce and Georgia Davis, remain from Welsh Fire's squad which finished bottom in 2025 and Devine sees plenty of potential for the future.

"When we were good, we were very good and when we were poor, we were very poor," was her assessment of the 2026 season. "That isn't through a lack of skill or anything like that, because we saw glimpses throughout this competition of how good we could be. For us, it was simply our inability to provide evidence and consistently perform.

We are disappointed by it. We know that the depth that we've got in this side and the quality of players that we've got throughout, we certainly were hoping for a bit better this tournament, but hopefully if we can keep the core group together and start to really build something, I'm really excited about hopefully having some success in the next couple of years."

A number of young Fire players have impressed Devine this season, including former England Under-19s spinner Sophia Smale, now 21, and seam bowler Grace Potts, currently the side's second-highest wicket-taker this year who took 3 for 24 against MI London in their second match, as well as 19-year-old Durham allrounder Grace Thompson.

"Sophia Smale for me has been incredible," Devine said. "Left-arm orthodox spinners, I don't know what it is in the women's game, but they just seem to have this magic touch and I think she's been super effective.

"Grace Potts, I can't believe some of the spells that she's bowled in this competition, sometimes bowling 15, 20 balls out of a 25-ball powerplay. That's both incredible from a fitness and endurance point of view, but also her ability to keep going at batters.

"I'm really grateful to the Welsh Fire for letting me stay on board and just to be around this group," Devine said. "I've absolutely loved my time. I would have loved to have been out on the park with them.

"We've got a reasonably young group and especially a very different group to what we've had last year, or the last couple of years, so I thought it was really important to be here… Also, to offer support to Georgia Wareham, who I think has done an incredible job stepping into that captaincy space.

"It was kind of a no-brainer for me to want to stay with Welsh Fire because they have been fantastic. Despite the fact that we were unable to advance any further in the tournament, I am aware that this team possesses some extremely encouraging characteristics."

Devine was speaking in support of KP Snacks' Everyone In Fund, which supports the ECB's Cricket Cities programme to remove barriers and create opportunities for participation.