Project 'Bonus Year': How Devchand came full circle

For Bhavi Devchand, this is Project: Bonus Year. 

The 31-year-old allrounder has seemingly lived a hundred lives through a long and winding career that started when she debuted for Western Australia in 2011. 

She has been a player, a podcaster, a coach, a mentor – just to name a few. 

Having ventured down several of those different career paths following her final game for Victoria in 2021 (highlights below), Devchand had never anticipated she might end up back on a state contract list. 

Even after dominating WA Premier Cricket for club Wanneroo last summer, taking out the Karen Real Medal as the competition’s best player, the phone call from WA coach Becky Grundy earlier this year came as a shock. 

Devchand was travelling in India at the time, working with local cricketers in a player development capacity through her business The Inside Edge Project.  

"I was on a bus with (English domestic team) Northern Diamonds, so it was a bit bizarre," Devchand told cricket.com.au in the lead-up to the WNCL season. 

"I'd organised to go over and spend a bit of time with the Diamonds and the Sparks over their preseason, as their trip to India matched alongside some of my (Inside Edge) work.  

"The call was a bit surreal ... and I’ll admit, it was a yes immediately from my heart, but my head did take time to work through a few things, especially since I'm in such a good place with work and life outside cricket." 

Devchand’s conflicted feelings were a result of the significant inroads she had made to her off-field careers since leaving Victoria following the 2020-21 WNCL season. 

After a period spent in South Australia – more on that later – she had returned to Perth in April 2022, eager to spend more time with family. 

There, she had continued to develop The Inside Edge Project, something that had started as a passion project and podcast during COVID lockdowns, but under Devchand’s more full-time focus was flourishing into a performance coaching and leadership business, as she not only worked with athletes, but also schools and businesses. 

"To then to go back into cricket with the full knowledge that I'm over 30 and it's not going to last a long time, it can't last forever ... you've got to weigh up a few things in terms of life and how that's all going to fit together," Devchand continued.  

"But my heart said yes, and that's the one thing that I've kept consistent throughout, is that idea of trusting your heart and the rest of the work out.  

"So I did, and here we are." 

This return to WA is a full-circle moment for Devchand, who spent eight seasons on the state’s contract list from 2011 to 2019. 

"It's been a bit of a wild ride the last five, six years," she added.  

"I certainly didn't expect to be playing again but at the same time, I was never stopped chipping away and working and training." 

*** 

Devchand was born in Zimbabwe to parents of Indian descent – her grandparents immigrated to Africa from Gujarat – and her heritage played a major role in her upbringing, not least of all in her introduction to cricket. 

Her family moved to Australia when she was eight years old, and through the encouragement of her father, she joined her brother’s cricket club. 

Devchand debuted for WA aged 19, and while she spent the better part of a decade on their contract list and her talent was undeniable, she struggled for consistency. 

Ironically, it was after finally producing what she believed to have been her strongest season yet in 2018-19 that she got the shattered phone call informing her that she had been cut from their list. 

After throwing her all into trying to crack the cricketing code for her entire adult life up to that point, Devchand was suddenly without a schedule, without a training program, without a goal. 

But after a self-professed period of "sulking", she shifted her mindset, determined to see her changed circumstances as an opportunity to try something new. 

Devchand booked a flight to Ireland and spent six weeks simply enjoying herself playing club cricket for Malahide – an experience she lists as among the best of her life – and when she returned home, she packed her bags once again, moved to Melbourne and joined local club Ringwood. 

There, she rediscovered her love of the game – and soon enough, Victoria came knocking with the offer of a contract for 2020-21. 

Her time in Victoria spanned just that one season alongside a stint with Melbourne Stars, where she did not debut but did manage to be voted ‘Mayor of the WBBL village’ during that strange COVID-bubble summer of 2020-21. 

During her time in Melbourne, Devchand had also started developing The Inside Edge project.  

She had always had a deep fascination with the psychology of performance, and had used her experiences following her departure from WA to help reframe her own approach to the game and reimagine what “success” looked like. 

Eager to explore how others approached elite performance, Devchand launched the Inside Edge Project podcast – something she had been thinking about for years – in August 2020, interviewing the likes of Meg Lanning, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey and AFL umpire Ray ‘Razor’ Chamberlain.  

It would go on to become something far bigger, spanning two cricket-mad countries – but there was a detour to be had in South Australia first. 

*** 

After being delisted by Victoria in early 2021, Devchand was on the move again, this time heading to Adelaide for what she believed was the start of her post-playing career, taking on a coaching role within the SACA pathways programs.  

She was mentoring the state’s under-16 and under-19 female players but could not shake the feeling that something was not right. 

"I think I went into coaching a little bit too early," Devchand explained. 

"I found myself missing home, I'd been away for four or five years at that point, so I was pretty keen on moving back to Perth.  

"I also found when I was throwing balls, I just wanted to be the person at the other end hitting those balls.  

"And the other part of it, from a culture and workplace point of view, it probably wasn't the right fit for me." 

That led to a return west in April 2022.  

Devchand did not immediately become involved with WA Cricket and admitted to initially having mixed feelings about the organisation, left over from her experiences there as a player. 

But it did not take long for her to notice how the culture at WA had changed, and she was quickly drawn back in. 

"I was just playing out at Wanneroo, but then I pretty quickly started to get involved with WA cricket … bits and pieces of coaching within the youth programs here," she said. 

"It's actually changed so much, in terms of the culture and the feel and from all reports, (WA captain) Chloe Piparo and Becky Grundy have worked pretty hard on that culture piece over the years, and it's taken some time, but it's actually a really cool group to be part of at the moment. 

"I think WA cricket has shown what a great organisation can be, in terms of the way they look after their people and the way that everything is run over here.  

"It really is family oriented, and Kade Harvey, the high performance manager's philosophies are around people, process, and then performance, and that real deep focus on people is what drew me back. 

"Behind the scenes, when I've been away, they've done a lot of hard work and difficult work in terms of the conversations, list management, making sure the right people are around. 

"I do things differently, and as you know, I've got different theories and all sorts going on and before, I probably felt I wasn't quite comfortable to speak up about that, or to be myself in the group … whereas now you're actively encouraged to be yourself, and that's matched with a group of individuals that are all working towards a common goal and willing to do the work for that. 

"I'm kind of lucky, I get to come in at the back end of it and actually enjoy the end product, I suppose." 

*** 

While Devchand had been drawn back into WA cricket to a degree, she was still putting most of her energy and time into expanding The Inside Edge Project, a fully-fledged performance coaching business. 

Having studied a Cert IV in Elite Athlete Wellbeing Management, Devchand wanted to use her knowledge and extensive experience to help others. 

As she puts it on the Project’s official website: "The Inside Edge Project brings a counter-intuitive approach to high-performance based on connection, instinct and enjoyment".  

While Devchand’s initial focus was on professional sport, that facet of her career has grown in ways she may not have expected, branching into education and the corporate world. 

"I've gone deeper into the neuroscience and behavioural science behind what we do," she explained. 

"I work for a company called Corporate Sherpas, which basically take flow state and the neuroscience of performance and relationships and culture into workplaces.  

"So it’s not exactly sport, but I absolutely love it ... you're having really great discussions, whether it's about meditation or how you're looking after yourself from a physical, mental, social and spiritual point of view, with people in the corporate world. 

"I never thought I'd be sitting down having one-to-ones with 40- 50-year-old men … but you realise there are things that connect us as being part of human and we can all help each other out.  

"I'm absolutely loving that part of life at the moment, and I think it balances out cricket really well too." 

Alongside her work in Perth, Devchand also recognised a desperate need for athlete support and player development in India. 

At first working primarily with private coaching company Cricket Mentoring, she made several trips to India looking to help players navigate the ups and downs of performance and life in a domestic scene that was beginning to dramatically evolve following the introduction of the Women’s Premier League. 

Since, Devchand and the Inside Edge Project have partnered with non-profit body Go Sports Foundation. Working closely with cricket journalist Ananya Upendran, they are helping to support up-and-coming Indian players navigate the pressures of elite sport. 

"I just saw a massive need for a lot of work," Devchand explained. 

"A lot of them play state programs or for India Under-19s, so they're at an elite level … but we know it's a hell of a lot different over there than it is in Australia in terms of that financial stability (for domestic players).  

"And it’s just providing that player development manager role, where you're helping them with mental side of the game on field, and also managing all the pressures and expectations that come from their support networks.  

"For example, for a couple of the girls that we work with, if they don't score runs in a particular game, they might not get selected for the team.  

"If they don't get selected, they might not get a WPL contract – and a minimum wage WPL contract could mean they’re the highest income earner for their family. 

"So the pressure on that player to perform is something that we can't even get our head around in Australia. 

"We can't get rid of it, it’s not about ignoring it, but it’s about the concept of performing with pressure instead of performing under pressure."  

*** 

Which brings Devchand to where she is now: back at WA cricket, juggling her off-field career with the third shot at elite cricket she never expected. 

She has been granted flexibility from WA cricket and Grundy to combine the two, and while she admitted it could be stressful and energy sapping at times, she "wouldn't have it any other way". 

"They both balance each other out really beautifully, and it allows you to have that perspective away from the game – for someone like me, once I want something, I get quite into it," she continued.  

"It really does help with that perspective piece and then also knowing that when cricket does end, I'm pretty well set up to do something that I'm still really loving at the same time." 

When she spoke to cricket.com.au prior to the start of the WNCL season, she emphasised that she was not placing expectations on herself for this season, and instead was determined to simply enjoy the experience.  

She has asked her WA teammates and coaches to keep her accountable, and to help ensure she does not fall back into old habits of becoming obsessed on external measures of what "success" looks like. 

"One of the main things that I feel I’ve been consistent in over the last four or five years is moving towards doing things for the sake of doing them," Devchand said.  

"It’s very easy to get caught down that rabbit hole again.

"So I'm trying to make a commitment – easier said than done – to enjoy each day for the sake of enjoying each day.  

"If you're having a hit, you’re having a hit because it's fun to bat. Running is not always fun, but you enjoy the process of doing hard things.  

"It’s a subtle shift, but I feel like that shift has unlocked a lot of freedom.  

"Ultimately, we're calling it ‘Project Bonus Year’, in that everything's a bonus.  

"I didn’t think I'd ever be here again – so it's just about allowing that instinct, that freedom, to flow, and we'll see what happens on the other side of it. 

"The worst I can do is give back and help others have an awesome career and hopefully transition out of the game really well too."