New Zealand’s star all-rounder Suzie Bates will retire from international cricket following the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in England this year.
Bates’ retirement will conclude a distinguished career during which she earned 362 caps for New Zealand.
Reflecting on her career, Bates said to New Zealand Cricket, “When I look back on the past twenty-plus years, I can’t quite believe how quickly the time has gone. I’m immensely proud to have worn the fern so many times, and I’ve been filled with enormous purpose and joy in striving each day to be a better person, teammate, cricketer, and athlete for this team. Words can’t truly express my gratitude to all my teammates and coaches along the way. I have one final mission: to head to the UK – a place that holds so many special memories for me – and win another World Cup.”
Bates has scored 14 centuries across all formats and taken 145 wickets throughout her international career. Since her debut against India in Lincoln in 2006, she has consistently performed at the highest level, cementing her status with an impressive record.
She will retire as New Zealand’s highest run-scorer across all formats and is one of the few players, along with Australian Meg Lanning (15) and Indian opener Smriti Mandhana (14), to have scored more ODI centuries than her 13 in 50-over cricket. Her highest ODI score of 168 came against Pakistan during the 2009 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, and she also scored a century against the same team at the 2022 edition of the tournament held in New Zealand.
While renowned primarily for her batting at the top of the order, Bates also excelled as a medium-pace bowler, particularly earlier in her career. She recorded four-wicket hauls in both ODIs and T20Is in 2009 and 2011, respectively.
Bates captained New Zealand between 2011 and 2018 and was at the peak of her powers in 2013 when she was named the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year after finishing as the leading run-scorer in the World Cup in India. She received both the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year and ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year awards in 2016 following a dominant performance in bilateral cricket formats.
More recently, Bates has served as stand-in captain when regular skipper Sophie Devine was unavailable. Her notable team achievement came in 2024 when New Zealand won the T20 World Cup for the first time, and Bates finished as her side’s equal leading run-scorer.
As she prepares to retire, Bates aims to assist New Zealand in defending their T20 World Cup title when the tournament begins in June. The White Ferns are drawn in Group B alongside hosts England, Ireland, Scotland, Sri Lanka and West Indies.