No World Cup annoys Bates
Not being able to lead the White Ferns to a title at a major tournament is a major regret from Suzie Bates’ sixyear stint as captain.
New Zealand’s all-time leading women’s run scorer in ODI cricket
(4245 at 43.76) announced she was stepping down as national skipper yesterday, handing over the reins to vice-captain Amy Sattherthwaite.
Bates, who turns 31 on Sunday, will continue to be a pivotal member of the side and has no plans to call time on her outstanding career.
Thoughts about stepping down as captain surfaced during June’s tour of Ireland and England, where the White Ferns struggled, losing five straight T20 and one-day matches to England.
Bates made the final decision three weeks ago after finishing her commitments with the Southern Vipers
T20 Super League side in England, informing White Ferns coach Haidee Tiffen and New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White.
She had not received any outside pressure to stand down as captain, stressing she had made the call to concentrate on being at her absolute best over the final years of her elite career.
The White Ferns’ inability to capture a ODI or T20 World Cup title during Bates’ tenure as captain was deeply frustrating for her and the team.
New Zealand often headed into those tournaments as one of the favourites, but performed below expectations, failing to fire in the crunch matches.
They did not make the semifinals at last year’s ODI World Cup in England, losing three matches in the group stage, which was a poor showing considering the quality and experience in their side.
‘‘That’s probably been the biggest bugbear for me as captain is every World Cup I’ve gone into as the leader I’ve really thought we had a chance of winning,’’ Bates said.
‘‘I think the Twenty20 World Cup in India (in 2016), where we played so well and lost to the West Indies in the semifinal, hit a few of us pretty hard.
‘‘To not even make the semifinals at the (ODI) World Cup in England, we did take a hard look at ourselves and we know as a group we haven’t performed at those big tournaments.’’
Bates has scored heavily with the bat while being captain, notching 10 ODI centuries in her career, the most by any New Zealand women’s cricketer. Otago’s Bates also holds the record for the most T20 international runs by a New Zealand woman, scoring 2755 at 30.27 with one century. She has played 115 ODIs and 101 T20 internationals since making her debut in 2006, and scored a combined 7000 runs for her country.