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<\/p>\nNew Zealand Cricket has announced the immediate departure of White Ferns head coach Ben Sawyer after four years in the role.<\/p>\n
Sawyer\u2019s contract, that was due to expire in December 2026, has not been extended following a comprehensive review of NZC\u2019s women\u2019s high-performance structure.<\/p>\n
An interim head coach and team manager will travel to Australia next month for the T20 series, with recruitment for new staff to commence shortly after.<\/p>\n
Sawyer was first appointed in June 2022, which was quickly followed by bronze medal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and New Zealand\u2019s first ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup victory in Dubai.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
White Ferns lifting the T20 World Cup trophy in 2024 | Photo: Isuru Sameera Peiris\/Photosport<\/p>\n
Sawyer said it was a privilege to have led the White Ferns.<\/p>\n
“Being the White Ferns coach has been a huge honour and I\u2019m really grateful to have had the opportunity to lead this group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team means a lot to me and I\u2019m really proud of what we\u2019ve been able to achieve in the past four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough I\u2019m disappointed to be leaving, I want to wish the team and NZC all the best.”<\/p>\n
NZC\u2019s Chief High Performance Cricket Officer Daryl Gibson said Sawyer had made a great contribution.<\/p>\n
\u201cBen\u2019s overseen a period of considerable change and progression for the White Ferns and we\u2019re deeply appreciative of the commitment, professionalism and time he invested in the women\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gibson said the White Ferns programme had entered a natural transition phase.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a difficult decision which was not made lightly, but it reflects our view that the next stage of the White Ferns journey requires a different leadership approach to support the future direction of the programme.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
White Ferns captain Melie Kerr | Photo: Marty Melville\/Photosport<\/p>\n
White Ferns captain Melie Kerr reflected fondly on Sawyer\u2019s term as coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hugely grateful for Ben and everything he\u2019s put into this team.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHis preparation was second to none, he poured his heart and soul into the role and left no stone unturned trying to make the team better.<\/p>\n
“Ben played a huge part in a defining moment for women\u2019s cricket in New Zealand. He showed a belief in us that helped propel the team to World Cup victory after a difficult few months and that\u2019s a testament to his character and leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plimmer’s mammoth over sparks the White Ferns! | Cricket Nation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand Cricket has announced the immediate departure of White Ferns head coach Ben Sawyer after four years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-896196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}