Cricket: Twenty20 World Cup tilt clashes with possible payday for Sophie Devine and White Ferns

Amelia Kerr and Sophie Devine loom as the likeliest Kiwis to be picked. Photo / photosport.co.nz

A few White Ferns would be forgiven for having an eye on India while their T20 World Cup campaign is underway in South Africa.

New Zealand will tomorrow play their first warm-up match against the West Indies, before beginning the tournament with a clash against defending champions Australia on Sunday morning (NZT).

Attentions will then turn to a crucial encounter with the hosts - but skipper Sophie Devine admits a small part of some players’ focus may understandably be elsewhere.

The auction for the inaugural Women’s Premier League will be held in Mumbai on the same day as the White Ferns’ second pool match, as team fortunes collide with individual reward.

Similar to the men’s competition that has made instant millionaires of several Kiwi cricketers, the auction promises to provide the biggest payday in the careers of those lucky enough to be picked.

The sums involved aren’t quite as vast - the five WPL teams will each have $2.3 million to spend, about an eighth of their IPL counterparts - but still potentially life-changing for a sport in the nascent stages of professionalism.

It’s both a momentous occasion for women’s cricket and, as Devine acknowledged, something of a complication in the White Ferns’ World Cup plans.

“[You’d be] naive to think that it’s not going to be a distraction,” the captain said. “It’s the elephant in the room.

“It’s a really unique experience - it’s enormous. You talk about glass ceilings and I think the WPL is going to be the next stage. I am really excited about it.

“As female cricketers, this is something we have never been through before. On every scale, it’s going to be awkward. That’s the word we have spoken about.”

Any awkward feelings are attributable to the nature of the auction. Some players, like Devine and allrounder Amelia Kerr, are almost certain to receive a payday of some size, while others won’t be so fortunate.

Each of the five franchises can select only seven overseas players - one of whom must be from an associate nation - so batter Suzie Bates and fast-bowling pair Lea Tahuhu and Jess Kerr will be among those with their fingers crossed.

Devine left it up to each individual to deal with the distraction - and any disappointment that could arise.

“Some people are going to get picked up, some people won’t,” she said. “You are going to get a value attached to what you are worth, which as human beings, is not the nicest, to be perfectly honest. But it’s also a job and it’s what we’ve put our names in for.”

The day job, meanwhile, will also require plenty of consideration. With two side advancing to the semifinals from each five-team pool, New Zealand will likely have to topple either Australia or South Africa to progress.

Given their transtasman neighbours have won five of seven T20 World Cups - along with the gold medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games - it would be tempting for the White Ferns to target the second match. But Devine pointed out that, to achieve their aims, they’d have to beat Australia sooner or later.

“We’ve got to knock them off - they’ve probably been the benchmark for a number of years now,” she said. “So I think it’s great that we take them on first. We’ve said as a group that to be the best you’ve got to beat the best, so for us it’s an awesome opportunity.”