Cricket legend Suzie Bates finds her second wind in a new home
It's not that it was a late night for the 37-year-old White Fern, but instead it was a long, long day.
Bates and her teammates played a 50 over match away against Lancashire the day before, at the seaside town of Blackpool. On a good day it's a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Durham, situated in the north-west of England, and the best part of 200 kms. It was the fourth away fixture Bates has played in the Metro Bank One Day Cup since arriving in mid-April, so she's becoming familiar with the nation's motorways.
'It's been very busy. We've had two games a week and there's been a lot of travel. The girls said we've spent 53 hours on the bus so far. I did try and ask how many miles that was, but they hadn't worked that out,' Bates says.
The side travel to fixtures the night before but then look to get home after the game has finished, so they can sleep in their own beds. It's meant Bates, who represented New Zealand in basketball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has had plenty of travel time to watch the NBA playoffs, play lots of cards, and get to know her teammates better.
2025 has seen the beginning of a new era in women's cricket in England, with the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) restructuring the game into a three-tiered domestic competition, calling it 'the next stage in the evolution of women's cricket' as they forecast that there could be an 80 percent increase in the number of professional women players in England and Wales by 2029.
Durham were one of eight counties awarded the highest Tier 1 status, with Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire and it's meant that not only have there been opportunities for domestic players, but also overseas talent like Bates.
With a largely young side at his disposal, and needing an opening batter, the idea of having an experienced player like Bates appealed to Durham's director of cricket, former Australian international Marcus North. In their first season, they also wanted an overseas player who was available for most of the season and with a lack of White Ferns fixtures during their season, Bates was well positioned.
'His enthusiasm and how important he thought the women's programme was going to be to Durham for years to come, was a pretty good selling point and just to be a part of something for the first time is obviously special. They've got a great set-up with the ground, the resources and the training facilities,' Bates says.
'It sounded like a really good fit. They were really excited about having a women's team and I could tell they were going to invest a lot in the programme so that excited me.'
The first stage of the 50-over competition is now at an end, with Durham winning three of their eight matches as Bates accumulated 292 runs at an average of 36.5, including three half-centuries. The competition has been of a high standard, with new England head coach Charlotte Edwards wanting all her top players to participate whenever possible.
'I knew as soon as she [Edwards] got the gig they'd all be playing. I think it's brilliant for that to come from the head coach. I know in New Zealand when you have all the White Ferns, all the contracted players, playing Supersmash or HBJ [Hallyburton Johnstone Shield], it just lifts the whole standard and it helps with everything. It helps with confidence knowing that you've scored runs against the best bowling attacks and selectors have a better gauge of where everyone's at, with everyone playing,' Bates says.
'I think in this era when we're professional cricketers, you get paid to play cricket and there's no real reason at the moment that they can't be involved. Some of the teams have some really strong line-ups and yesterday [against Lancashire] it felt like it was potentially good preparation for potentially facing England in India [at the World Cup] with the likes of Sophie Ecclestone, Kate Cross and Mahika Kaur who's just been selected, so for me it's been brilliant. Charlotte's drawn a line in the sand with that. She'll do a great job, she's been successful everywhere she's gone.'
Just as Edwards and Bates played against each other for their countries, Bates has also played against, and with, her head coach at Durham, Danielle Hazell.
'I've played a lot of cricket against her, probably more one day than T20. She was a wily off-spinner and then in her last season we both played at the Adelaide Strikers, so I've had a bit to do with her and she's coached now for a number of years. She's one of the best woman cricketers that the Durham system has produced. She's been coaching Yorkshire but this is much closer to home for her,' Bates says.
'She's brilliant. She has a really good way about her. She's firm but fair and if you're a young player she keeps you in line but she's also really positive. We've managed to win three games, but with those losses it's about making sure that the younger players are learning and taking the positives so I think she's perfect for this type of group. She has a really good relationship with the captain and myself and the senior leadership group work well together so she's got some really good people around her.'
One competition Bates, as an overseas player, cannot take part in, is the Vitality T20 Women's County Cup. Durham have won their only fixture in the competition to date, but this presents an opportunity for Bates, one that she was aware of before she signed on.
'Part of the conversation I had with Marcus [North] initially was just around my plans for the future. I talked about the 50-over World Cup this year, and the T20 World Cup next year. Obviously, I'm much closer to the end [of my career] than the start, and he talked about coaching and I said it's always been something that I've been interested in,' Bates says.
' I think it's actually quite nice when you're in the thick of it, playing and worried about preparing and performing, to then go to a game and I guess just be around the group to bring good energy and not have to worry about performing, and I'm at that end of my career where I'm thinking about the future, so to be able to dabble in bits of coaching and be on the sidelines has been really nice. It's a nice way when you're still playing to be able to experience some of those opportunities and think about what you would do as a coach. I've really enjoyed this group because they're so young and keen and they listen and they ask lots of questions and you feel like you can, not only with performances, but have impact off the field as well.'
Bates will still see plenty of T20 action, with 14 matches lying in wait for Durham in the Vitality Blast, starting with a game against the Bears in Birmingham on May 31, and finishing against Essex on July 18. Then, she'll have two further 50-over games before finishing and heading home after her last game on July 30.
'It's just been really refreshing at this stage of my career to be in a completely new environment, and I think for such a long stint as well to be able to fully immerse yourself in it, whereas a lot of the franchise stuff, you're in and out and you can't really make much of an impact other than runs and wickets, so yeah, I've loved it and feel like it's just a place where I'll have lots of fond memories and hopefully come back at some point.' Bates says.
Once she's back in New Zealand, she'll have a break in August, head to Abu Dhabi in mid-September for warm-up matches before the World Cup in India in October, as the White Ferns look to add the 50-over title to the T20 World Cup they famously won in 2024.
As we finish our chat, I correctly guess that coffee is likely to be next on Bates' list for the day, and sure enough, she doesn't disappoint. After spending the first weekend looking for a quality establishment, her teammates sent her in the direction of 'Fuel Café', which splits the short drive from her home to Durham's ground perfectly. Their barista, Daryl, will provide the refreshments before Bates heads in for a physio session. With Bates away for a total of 15 weeks, you can't blame her for seeking the comforts of home.
'He went to Aussie for a bit and came back and had learnt how to make coffee properly so every day we're pretty much in there. I have managed to find a decent coffee.'
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