Why Not Start At 10 AM? Sophie Devine Slams ICC's Scheduling After Yet Another Washout

There was plenty of anticipation in lead-up to the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, but thus far it’s proven to be a tournament to forget, thanks to persistent rain. And, in many ways, the blame is to fall on the International Cricket Council (ICC) for scheduling as many as 11 matches in Colombo, Sri Lanka, despite it being the peak rainy season in the country. 

We’ve so far had 9 matches in Colombo and there have been four washouts, with multiple other matches being affected by rain. And no team has been affected more by rain than New Zealand, who have now endured consecutive washouts, putting their semi-final chances in jeopardy.

The latest of the washouts came on October 18 (Saturday) against Pakistan despite the White Ferns being in complete control of the contest, with Pakistan placed at 92/5. The result means that New Zealand will now have to win their remaining two matches and hope that India don’t win more than one. 

A frustrated New Zealand captain Sophie Devine expressed her disappointment in the wake of the washout, and questioned both the ICC’s scheduling and inflexibility.

"You wait four years for a World Cup and to have rain play such a massive part in it is disappointing," Devine said at the presentation, reported ESPNCricinfo.

"I hope that in future editions they think about playing the games earlier in the day. We've obviously seen here that the rain usually comes in the afternoon, so [there is an] opportunity to potentially play these games at 10-11am in the morning and try and get a game in. 

“Because that's what all these teams want, is to be able to play cricket. You've waited for so long and you want to test yourself against the best and to be scuppered by rain, it's a real shame for me."

The New Zealand skipper further added: "I thought we had a little bit of hope seeing the South Africa game [against Sri Lanka] the other night, where they were off for five hours, and managed to squeak a game in. Look, we thought we were in a decent position, we just needed the rain to hold off and unfortunately it didn't happen for us today."

New Zealand are the reigning T20 World champions and would have hoped to go deep in the 50-over World Cup as well, but bad weather has now left their semi-final hopes hanging by a thread. 

Devine admitted that the mood in the dressing room is ‘flat’, but she asserted that the team will go back to India, re-gather, and will hope to win their remaining two matches.

"Oh, look, to be honest, it's pretty flat," Devine said of the mood in the dressing room. 

"I mean, we wanted to play today, we were really up and about for today's match. We just want to be playing cricket, so for us now, we know that the situation's extremely clear. 

“We just need to win both games, starting with India in Mumbai - so, a real big challenge for us - but we're really excited about it. I know that the girls don't need to be pumped up anymore to be able to take them on so, we'll head back to India tomorrow and look forward to those challenges."

New Zealand next take on India in Navi Mumbai on October 23 (Thursday).