World stage, high pressure as Ferns chase glory
When talk turns to social media bans and tens of millions of television viewers, you know the pressure will be as high as Suzie Bates and her White Ferns have experienced this next month.
‘‘I don’t think we know how big this tournament could get,’’ Bates said, ahead of New Zealand’s Women’s World Cup cricket opener against Sri Lanka at Bristol tomorrow night.
With the International Cricket Council trumpeting unprecedented live coverage into 139 countries, and prizemoney of US$660,000 (NZ$909,000) to the winning side at Lord’s on July 23, it’s on a different level for the eight teams.
‘‘It’s the first time it really has been in the spotlight and from my playing experience we have often gone under the radar,’’ Bates said.
‘‘The way the women’s game is going there’s now more and more media which brings more critique and added pressure. I still think we can go under the radar; the likes of England it may be added pressure or it may inspire them to play even better.’’
England, at home, will be tough to beat, with world No 1 and defending champions Australia the tournament favourites and the White Ferns ranked third and India fourth. The hosts are well aware of managing the pressure levels, too, and banned their players from using Twitter during the tournament.
Bates agreed social media was a talking point as teams look to keep things as level as possible, but there were no directives in the New Zealand camp.
‘‘It’s personal preference; for some people reading those things good or bad - might inspire them to play better and for others it’s just a distraction.
‘‘It has been spoken about but we haven’t had any bans as of yet. Maybe that comes further down the track when we start to read stuff and I say ‘get off your phones’.’’
It’s Bates’ third World Cup. In Australia in 2009, New Zealand lost to England in the final, and four years later in India they stumbled to eventual runners-up West Indies in the Super Six phase, then finished fourth after back-to-back defeats to England.
Her biggest lesson from India was the need to keep opponents guessing.
‘‘We became too predictable. We played the same batting lineup and used the same bowlers and West Indies threw in a No 3 batter that hadn’t batted all tournament and scored some runs and we couldn’t plan for that. For me as captain, the biggest learning is you can’t be too predictable no matter how well the side is going.’’
Bates, the world’s fourthranked women’s batter and allrounder, will be at the core of New Zealand’s title bid. She labelled Amy Satterthwaite ranked third in batting behind Australia’s Meg Lanning and India’s Mithali Raj - as their key player after her stunning home summer of four successive ODI centuries, alongside the experience of Rachel Priest, Katey Martin and Sophie Devine.
Lea Tahuhu will be New Zealand’s main strike bowler and in 16-year-old legspinner Amelia Kerr they have a new threat after taking 10 wickets at 23 from her first seven ODIs.
In their warmup matches New Zealand beat India by seven wickets, then lost to England by the same margin after being skittled for 130. Getting on a roll in the round-robin, where every side plays the other, and hitting the semifinals with momentum was the aim.