The experienced all-rounder Suzie Bates is ready to make a cricketing comeback as she returns on field for some action. She has been out of action since the ODI World Cup in October last year because of her quadriceps injury. Now, she is preparing to return to the game with the upcoming 5 match T20I home series against South Africa women scheduled to begin on March 15 at Bay Oval.
The mishap happened when Bates was fielding for Otago Sparks in a match in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield. While it was not a serious injury, the management chose not to rush her back on field and not take any unnecessary risk keeping her long-term availability in mind. With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England scheduled in June-July this year the management wanted to ensure that she had enough time to recover from the injury.
When Bates was informed about her recovery period it initially made her rethink about a few things, she was told it might take around 16 weeks. When a player has been out of her regular schedule and kept in recovery conditions for so long, it can definitely make a player think about their future in the sport they have given their life to.
“I’m not going to lie,” Bates said about her thoughts during her recovery. “When I got the prognosis and was told it was 16 weeks and off the back of a disappointing 50-over World Cup, it did cross my mind. But I think that lasted about a day and I got back in the gym. And once I had that purpose of being available for selection for this massive series, it was pretty easy really.”
She also mentioned that when a person has been in the sport as long as she has been in the sport, it is natural for them to think about such things during the recovery phase. However, nobody ever doubted her since the potential of returning in time for international series and possibly even another World Cup was a great motivation for her during the recovery phase.
“But I think knowing that the South African series and the potential of going on an England tour and a World Cup was really appealing and it didn’t seem that far away once I got fit,” Suzie said.
Bates was back with the squad in Dunedin, and she said that the feeling was “like a kid in a candy store” as she was on field batting and bowling again. This shows how much Bates missed the game and she was really excited to be back on the field she has played for years and lived the game with all her heart but returning from an injury makes the moment much more special for her.
Bates said that her commitment to the game has not changed. “To be fair, it’s just if I believe I can contribute to the group, that’s what I’ve always kept playing for. If I can contribute with runs and wickets and in the field and just around the group and I’m fit enough to do it, then I’ve loved playing whether it’s the World Cup or whether it’s the home series. Yeah, there’s just still that motivation to keep doing it because I know once I stop, that’ll be it forever.”
This long break from cricket was not very common for Bates, as she has been a regular member of the New Zealand team for years now. In fact, she herself admitted that she felt a little nervous while returning for practice after a long time.
“It’s probably been my longest break in 10 years not playing cricket. So, there was a few nerves actually even coming to training just when you’ve been away from the group. So first and foremost, it’s getting back on that park on Sunday, pending selection.
“And then around that, it’s just making sure that I contribute whatever role that is with Melie (Melie Kerr) as captain, making sure I support her really well on and off the field.”
One of the big adjustments Bates is likely to make upon her return to the team is her position in the batting line-up. So far in her career in T20 Internationals (T20Is), she has been opening the innings for her team, but this time she is likely to bat in the middle order. However, with Izzy Gaze also in great form at the top of the order in the recent games against Zimbabwe, where she scored 66*, 85*, 38* in three innings, this pair is also likely to be together.
Instead of looking at it as negatively she thinks of it as an opportunity for her, Bates feels that it has actually helped her to find new motivation as she said, “To be honest, that’s sort of probably given me an extra bit of motivation.”
“When you’ve been doing something for so long, you can get a little bit complacent and go about your business the same way. But being given that message and real clarity around it, sort of has, yeah, I’ve almost rebirthed myself at 38.”
As New Zealand is excited for a busy schedule of international cricket ahead along with the T20 World Cup with them being the defending champions. Bates has a very positive mindset as she is taking motivation from the India men’s cricket team, as they won the T20 World Cup titles consecutively in the years 2024 and 2026, and Bates is waiting ahead that New Zealand will give their best to defend the title as well.
(Quotes sourced from ESPN)
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