Bates’ Long Career Without a Test Cap
Approaching 20 years in international cricket, New Zealand’s veteran allrounder Suzie Bates continues to hold on to her dream of playing Test cricket before retirement. Despite featuring in 171 ODIs and 177 T20Is, captaining her side between 2012 and 2018, and appearing in nine T20 World Cups, she has never received a Test cap.
New Zealand Women last played a Test back in 2004 against England at Scarborough, 19 months before Bates made her debut. Since then, she has gone on to become the leading run-scorer in women’s T20Is and sits third in ODIs, behind Mithali Raj and Charlotte Edwards.
Speaking about her unfulfilled dream, Bates admitted:
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 [𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕] 𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰’𝒎 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏’𝒔 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏’𝒔 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰’𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕. 𝑻𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒐, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒕.”
Hope Still Alive Despite No Tests in FTP
Currently, New Zealand Women do not have any Test fixtures scheduled in the Future Tours Programme (FTP) until April 2029. However, Bates hasn’t given up hope, suggesting bilateral arrangements could still create opportunities.
She added:
“𝑰’𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚. 𝑰𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏.”
Turning 38 later this month, Bates remains committed to working on her fitness and contributing to New Zealand’s campaign in the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, starting September 30. She admitted that the World Cup remains her primary focus but hinted she would push herself if the chance to play a Test came in the next year or two.
Upcoming World Cup Fixtures
New Zealand open their campaign against Australia on October 2 in Indore, followed by South Africa (October 6, Indore), and Bangladesh (October 10, Guwahati). They will then head to Colombo to play Sri Lanka (October 14) and Pakistan (October 18), before returning to India for their final two matches — against India on October 23 in Navi Mumbai and England on October 26.
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