Suzannah Bates made her international debut on 4th March 2006 in an ODI against India. She came into the White Ferns side as a 19-year-old. She has been an outstanding performer for the White Ferns with the bat as well as with the ball over the years.
She has played over 150 ODIs (154), scoring 5383 runs in 148 innings at an impressive average of 40.78 with the bat and picked up 75 wickets with the ball at a strike rate of 41.1. She has also played around 150 T20Is (149). She recently became the first player to complete over 300 appearances across formats for the White Ferns.
As far as the most appearances in the ODIs are concerned, she currently stands at number four on the all-time list. England’s Charlotte Edwards, India’s Jhulan Goswami, and Mithali Raj are the only other players ahead of her. She is already 9 matches ahead of the next best for the White Ferns Amy Satterthwaite (145 matches).
As far as the most appearances in the T20Is are concerned, she currently stands at number two in the all-time list with 149 matches, only the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (155 matches) is ahead of her. She is comfortably ahead of the next best for White Ferns Sophie Devine (125 matches). Not just in terms of the number of appearances, she has outclassed a few of the greatest players in the game in terms of the number of runs scored.
Who would you think has scored the most number of runs in the T20I format? Well, if you had players like Virat Kohli and Brendon McCullum in your mind then you are surely in for a surprise. It is none other than the White Ferns all-rounder Suzie Bates. She has 4021 runs in 146 innings becoming the all-time leading run-scorer in the T20I format recently surpassed Virat Kohli’s 4008 runs when she scored 45 off 42 balls in the fifth T20I on their recent tour to South Africa.
“That’s probably the coolest part of it all, to get put on lists like that with some of the greatest female and male players is pretty cool, and Virat Kohli is someone I’ve always admired. I’ve loved watching how he goes about the game, especially in Twenty20 cricket in pressure situations. He’s a bit of an idol of mine.” The veteran New Zealand all-rounder Suzie Bates expresses her happiness on being a part of the legendary lists of all-time great players in the T20I format alongside speaking about her admiration for Virat Kohli.
However, in recent times, she has been struggling slightly to get amongst the runs and deliver consistent performances with the bat for the White Ferns. But as we know, form is temporary but class is permanent.
“It suited me to a T in those days, just opening the batting and swinging freely. I probably need to find some of that inner young Suzie, the way she batted then.” Suzie Bates speaks about the way she used to express herself with her free-flowing style which reflected in her batting in her earlier days. She looks to get back and trust her free-flowing style of batting in her bid to rediscover herself and get back to making match-winning contributions on the field for the White Ferns.
Right through her journey in international cricket so far, she has achieved a glorious list of accolades for her invaluable contributions to the game. She still has something left to be ticked off from her cricket bucket list.
“There’s always that nagging World Cup win, as a team sport, you want to be world champions. I’ve always felt every tournament I’ve gone to, we’ve had that chance and haven’t done that yet. So that’s still something in the back of my mind.” Suzie Bates speaks about her aspirations of lifting the World Cup during her journey for the White Ferns at the international level.
(Quotes sourced from Sky Sport)