Bates does the double

New Zealand Cricket has saluted WHITE FERNS captain Suzie Bates on becoming the first cricketer to win both the ICC Women’s ODI and T20I Player of the Year awards in the same year.

The 29-year-old all-rounder was declared the double winner based on her performances between 14 September 2015 and 20 September 2016.

NZC Chief Executive David White praised Bates for breaking more new ground.

“On behalf of everyone at New Zealand Cricket I’d like to congratulate Suzie on becoming the first woman to win both ICC awards in the same year,” Mr White said.

“We’re all immensely proud of her achievements. To be acknowledged as the best female player in the world in both formats is testament to her professionalism, consistency and all round skills.

“Suzie’s a great leader of our national side and steered the WHITE FERNS to some terrific results this last year, including series victories over Australia, South Africa and Pakistan as well as an unbeaten run to the World T20 semi-finals in India.”

Suzie Bates hits through the covers. Image: Photosport
Bates scored 472 runs in eight ODIs at an average of just over 94 and took eight wickets at an economy-rate of 3.75. She also became just the second New Zealand woman and 10th internationally to pass 3,000 ODI runs.

In the shortest format of the game, Bates was the leading run-scorer with 429 runs at an average of 42.90 and a strike-rate of 115.

WHITE FERNS coach Haidee Tiffen was full of praise for Bates’ achievements and her influence on a young team.

“It’s fantastic news for Suzie and she thoroughly deserves the recognition as she’s been an outstanding performer across both formats,” she said.

“The word “professional” is absolutely one of the words to describe Suzie. She’s stepped into this professional era so well and works incredibly hard on her game and her physical conditioning.

“She’s one of the best leaders in the women’s game and one of the reasons why is because she’s leading from the front.”


Suzie Bates talks with bowler Holly Huddleston. Credit: Photosport
Bates, who is currently captaining the Perth Scorchers in the Australian Women’s Big Bash League, was humbled to accept the accolades.

“It was a bit of a surprise to find out that I had won both these awards. It is always nice to be recognised for performances and after a busy year of cricket, I am pleased to have managed some consistency over both formats,” she said.

“The awards are always nice but the most important thing for me is to make sure I am performing consistently and helping put the team in a position to win more games.”

Bates remembered some particular highlights over the 12 month period.

“I was really proud of how we went about our World T20 campaign and although we lost in the semi-final I thought we played some really good cricket in that tournament.

“The Rose Bowl series against Australia; I managed to score some runs in that series and we went really close in all three games and it was some really good cricket. To play against Australia and perform the way we did as a team was really pleasing going into the World Cup next year.”

Bates was also named in the ICC Women’s Team of the Year for 2016 alongside teammates Rachel Priest and Leigh Kasperek.


Suzie Bates hones her skills at training. Credit: NZC