The New Zealand women’s cricket team have appointed Amelia Kerr as their new all-format captain. The 25-year-old will take the role replacing Sophie Devine, who led the team to the 2024 T20 World Cup title and the following year took retirement from the ODI format following the Women’s ODI World Cup.
The White Ferns appointed her to the role with key events upcoming, including the T20 World Cup in England, 2027 T20 Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka and the LA Olympics, and finally the 2028 T20 World Cup. Ahead of that, she will lead the team in their upcoming T20I and ODI series against Zimbabwe, scheduled in February.
With 172 international caps to her name, Kerr made her debut for the New Zealand Women’s cricket team in 2017. She is the youngest player to ever debut for New Zealand at the age of 16 years. She is also the only player of the New Zealand team to ever win the ICC Women’s Player of the Year award. In addition to that, she is the third all-time leading wicket-taker (with 201 wickets) and fourth all-time leading run scorer (with 3,757 runs).
So far, in 84 WODIs played, she has scored 2304 runs at a strike rate of 81.84 and picked up 106 wickets at an average of 30.61. Meanwhile, in 88 WT20Is, she amassed 1453 runs at a strike rate of 109.74 and acquired 95 wickets at an average of 20.37.
Talking about her appointment as the White Ferns captain, Kerr expects and looks forward to bringing in value and positive change to the team, along with the skills and experience she gained at a young age of just 25 currently.
Kerr says, “Growing up it was my childhood dream to represent New Zealand and to now have the opportunity to captain my country is a massive privilege. I’m really excited by the growth, the talent and the dedication of this group and the potential of what we can achieve and where we can go together. The captaincy doesn’t change who I am, I am still the same person and will give everything I can to lead this group and hopefully bring our country success.”
Meanwhile, New Zealand head coach Ben Sawyer considers Kerr to be one of the best fits in the captaincy role after Devine.
Sawyer said, “She’s an outstanding leader not only through her performances on the field, but also in the respect she has from the playing group off it. Melie leading this team at this stage of her career ensures we have continuity and stability through the next cycle to 2029. Melie possesses all the qualities of a strong leader at such a young age and we are looking forward to supporting her in her development as a leader.”
