Suzie Bates

Suzannah Wilson Bates (born 16 September 1987) is a New Zealand cricketer and former captain of national women cricket team. Born in Dunedin, she plays domestic cricket for the Otago Sparks, as well as for the White Ferns. She currently holds the highest score and highest batting average in the New Zealand Women's Twenty20 cricket team. She won the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2013.^[1] Bates again won ICC Women's ODI and T20I Cricketer of the Year 2016.^[2][3]

Suzie Bates

Bates batting for Perth Scorchers during WBBL|02.
Personal information
Full name	Suzannah Wilson Bates
Born	(1987-09-16) 16 September 1987 (age 37) Dunedin, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right arm medium, Right arm off spin
International information
National side	New Zealand (2006–present)
ODI debut (cap 100)	4 March 2006 v India
Last ODI	3 July 2023 v Sri Lanka
T20I debut (cap 19)	10 August 2007 v South Africa
Last T20I	11 July 2024 v England
T20I shirt no.	23
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002/03–present	Otago
2012/13–2014/15	Western Australia
2015/16–2016/17	Perth Scorchers
2016	Kent
2016–2019	Southern Vipers
2017–2019	Hampshire
2017/18–2020/21	Adelaide Strikers
2018–2019	Trailblazers
2019/20	South Australia
2022–present	Oval Invincibles
2022/23	Sydney Sixers
2023–present	Guyana Amazon Warriors
Career statistics
Competition WODI WT20I Matches 147 139 Runs scored 5216 3683 Batting average 41.39 29.23 100s/50s 12/30 1/23 Top score 168 124* Balls bowled 3059 1,185 Wickets 75 55 Bowling average 33.68 23.72 5 wickets in innings 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 Best bowling 4/7 4/26 Catches/stumpings 80/– 77/–
Source: CricketArchive, 11 February 2023
Medal record Representing  New Zealand Women's cricket T20 World Cup 2024 UAE 2009 England 2010 West Indies Commonwealth Games 2022 Birmingham Team

Basketball

Bates represented New Zealand in Women's basketball during the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[4] Suzie played professional basketball for the Christchurch Sirens in the Australian Women's National Basketball League (WNBL), starting 24 games between 2007 and 2008,^[5] before moving to the Otago Gold Rush in 2009 and the Logan Thunder in 2009/10.

Bates joined the Otago Nuggets as an assistant coach for the 2021 New Zealand NBL season.^[6][7]

Cricket

Bates batting for New Zealand during the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

On 8 June 2018, she scored her tenth century in WODIs, with 151 runs against Ireland.^[8] In the same match, she also became the leading run-scorer for New Zealand Women in WODIs, passing Debbie Hockley's total of 4,064 runs.^[9] On 20 June 2018, during the match against South Africa Women in the 2018 England women's Tri-Nation Series, Bates scored her first century in WT20I cricket.^[10] In the same match, she also became the leading run-scorer in the format, passing Charlotte Edwards' total of 2,605 runs.^[11] In the sixth match of the tri-series, Bates became the second woman, after Jenny Gunn, to play in 100 WT20I matches.^[12]

In August 2018, she was awarded a central contract by New Zealand Cricket, following the tours of Ireland and England in the previous months.^[13][14] In September 2018, she stepped down as captain of New Zealand and was replaced by Amy Satterthwaite.^[15]

In October 2018, she was named in New Zealand's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.^[16][17] Ahead of the tournament, she was named as one of the players to watch.^[18] During the tournament, she became the first cricketer, male or female, to score 3,000 runs in Twenty20 International matches.^[19] She was the leading run-scorer for New Zealand in the tournament, with 161 runs in four matches.^[20] Following the conclusion of the tournament, she was named the standout player in the team by the International Cricket Council (ICC).^[21]

In November 2018, she was named in the Adelaide Strikers' squad for the 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season.^[22][23] In January 2020, she was named in New Zealand's squad for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia.^[24] In September 2020, in the first match against Australia, Bates took her 50th wicket in WT20I cricket.^[25]

In November 2020, Bates was nominated for the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade, and the award for women's ODI cricketer of the decade.^[26][27] In February 2022, she was named in New Zealand's team for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.^[28]

In April 2022, Bates was named the Super Smash Player of the Year at the annual Otago Cricket Awards.^[29] In June 2022, Bates was named in New Zealand's team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.^[30]

In September 2024 she was named in the New Zealand squad for the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup.^[31]

Bates was named in the New Zealand squad for their ODI tour to India in October 2024.^[32]

International centuries

As of the conclusion of the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup, Bates held the record for the most Women's ODI centuries by a New Zealander with 12 in total, and was second only to Meg Lanning of Australia overall.^[33][34] She had also scored a single Women's Twenty20 International century.^[35] Her highest ODI and international score was her second ODI century, a score of 168 against Pakistan, at Sydney on 19 March 2009, made during the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup.^[34]

In October 2013, Bates became the sole holder of the record for the most Women's ODI centuries by a New Zealander, which she had previously shared with Debbie Hockley, when she recorded her fifth century, a score of 110 against the West Indies at Sabina Park, Jamaica.^[33][36][37]

One Day International centuries^[38]

No.	Runs	Opponents	City/Country	Venue	Year
1	122	India	Chennai, India	MA Chidambaram Stadium	2007[39]
2	168	Pakistan	Sydney, Australia	Drummoyne Oval	2009[40]
3	122*	Australia	Sydney, Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	2012[41]
4	102	Australia	Cuttack, India	DRIEMS Ground	2013[42]
5	110	West Indies	Kingston, Jamaica	Sabina Park	2013[43]
6	106	England	Mount Maunganui, New Zealand	Bay Oval	2015[44]
7	110	Australia	Mount Maunganui, New Zealand	Bay Oval	2016[45]
8	106*	Sri Lanka	Bristol, England	County Ground	2017[46]
9	101*	West Indies	Lincoln, New Zealand	Bert Sutcliffe Oval	2018[47]
10	151	Ireland	Dublin, Ireland	YMCA Cricket Club	2018[48]
11	106	India	Queenstown, New Zealand	John Davies Oval	2022[49]
12	126	Pakistan	Christchurch, New Zealand	Hagley Oval	2022[50]

Twenty20 International centuries^[51]

No.	Runs	Opponents	City/Country	Venue	Year
1	124*	South Africa	Taunton, England	County Ground	2018[52]

Awards

• ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year – 2013
• Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World – 2015^[53]
• ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year – 2016
• ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year – 2016