Adelaide Strikers power-hitter Sophie Devine describes the art of the six
Adelaide Strikers star all-rounder Sophie Devine talks about her six-hitting exploits, the mantra she says to herself, the batting practice she does and if she watches the ball clear the fence.
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Adelaide Strikers star all-rounder Sophie Devine has had an incredible year.
She hit a WBBL record five consecutive sixes earlier this season and now she’ll play in a grand final with the Strikers.
Yet, she revealed the mantra that helps her hit as powerfully as she does.
“All I think is: ‘Watch the ball. Play straight’,” she said.
“They’re the words that usually go round in my head over and over again. It’s pretty simple, but I’m a simple creature.”
Earlier this year, she told The Advertiser that her bowling mantra was: “Rhythm, off-stump, Lee: to make sure I had rhythm running in, off-stump because that’s where I wanted to aim and Lee because I wanted to be Brett Lee.”
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But her batting mantra is just as important. Devine’s unbeaten 85 (from 56), including 30 runs from the final five balls against the Melbourne Stars earlier this season – made global headlines.
The 30-year-old New Zealander said she is happy for her remarkable knock to help promote women’s cricket.
“One of my pet peevs is when people say: ‘Women can’t hit sixes’, It’s not strong’, ‘They don’t have power’ and things like that.
“I hope an innings like that can change people’s perception … we have the skills and ability to play fantastic shots, whether it’s me hitting a six, or (fellow Striker) Bridget Patterson lapping and scooping.
“That’s the beauty of the women’s game, that there are so many delicate, intricacies, especially with batting, that make it a real spectacle.”
But batting didn’t always come easy for Devine. In fact, when she was a teenager, she was always more comfortable with the ball in hand. Then, aged 15, fate stepped in and she found herself on a “wretched run with injuries”.
“I had to lessen the bowling load on the body and so I started to focus on batting … and from there, I really put a lot more time and effort into it and it was done with a lot of help from the coaches and my dad throwing hundreds of thousands of balls down at the local nets.”
Now, it’s all about perfecting the art of the six and she credits New Zealand-based coach Christie van Dyk with challenging her to expect more from herself and value her wicket.
“If you had asked me 10 years ago, people would’ve said I threw away my wicket a lot.
“I had the ability, but certainly, a lot of the mental – the upstairs – has changed lately.”
She says that mental change has been about going back to the basics: ‘Watch the ball. Hit straight’.
Hitting sixes the way she does involves practice and getting out of the nets, onto a centre wicket and unleashing herself.
“When you’re stuck in the nets, sometimes it can be difficult to know angles and height trajectory … so to be able to get out in a big open space and just free the arms and see where the ball’s going is really valuable.”
Then it all comes down to luck on the day. But when Devine really gets hold of a ball she doesn’t watch it fly. The shot will go: swing, hit, turn around.
Is this also a part of the “art of the six?”
“If I know I made decent contact and know it’s going over, then I don’t need to see where it’s going, it’s about focusing on the next ball … getting back into that mindset: ‘Watch the ball. Play straight’.”
Wise words for any cricketer.