In search of the old Suzie

Photo: James Allen/ Getty Images

When Suzie Bates brought up her 11th ODI century in the opening game of the five-match series against India at the John Davies Oval in Queenstown on Saturday (12 February), there was a sense of relief that appeared to envelope her. It was the casting aside of months of doubt and frustration; the reassertion of her dominance at the top of the order; a reminder, from one of the game’s greatest, that there is plenty of fight left in the tank.

Bates’ match-winning 106 off 111 deliveries headlined a convincing 62-run win for New Zealand, allowing the hosts to take the opening game in a bi-lateral ODI series for the first time since June 2018. Incidentally, that same series, against Ireland, was when Bates scored her last (tenth) ODI hundred – a mammoth 151 off just 94 deliveries. For a batter of the quality of Bates, the wait was far too long, but after a lengthy injury layoff, the runs couldn’t have come at a better time – heading into a home World Cup. 

“It’s been a while since I scored a century for New Zealand,” Bates admitted in the post-match press conference. “Obviously, having a serious shoulder injury and coming back in the England series and not performing how I would have liked, there was maybe a few self doubts creeping in. So, it’s really nice to have got (runs) in the domestic summer and then here to start off the series so well and, I guess, get a little bit of a monkey off my back with a hundred.”

In the last few years, it has often seemed like Bates was trying to force something – impose herself on the opposition because the rest of the world expected her to. Her batting had too many moving parts – the shuffles down the track and across the stumps, the feints against the spinners, the sudden crouch as the bowler entered her bound… There was too much happening at the same time. It just didn’t seem to flow.

Through that period between 8 June 2018 and her hundred on Saturday, Bates managed 413 runs in 18 ODI innings, averaging a meagre 22.94 and striking under 65. Her form reflected in New Zealand’s struggles in the format – they managed only four wins in the 19 matches she played, languishing sixth on the ICC ODI Championship table.

In the words of former White Fern and current Spark Sport commentator Rebecca Rolls, Bates “looked all over the place”. She was trying too hard to muscle it, and it just didn’t work.

Come Saturday though, everything changed. She was still at the crease; not looking to walk across the stumps or charge down the pitch before she got her eye in. She simply held her ground, picked the length early and trusted her instincts – strong on the drive, quick on the pull, with a powerful sweep shot to boot.
She punched a delivery through cover to get off the mark in the first over, before pummeling a couple of pull shots to settle into her rhythm for the day.

There were, of course, several nervy moments. An in-ducker from her old nemesis Jhulan Goswami that cut her in half, an under-edge pull off Pooja Vastrakar followed by a dropped chance, but as the innings progressed, Bates’ absolutely dominated proceedings. She climbed into the Indian attack any time they strayed. She pounced on anything short from both pace and spin, looking for scoring opportunities around the ground. She pushed the ball into gaps and ran like her life depended on it. She danced down the track looking to power the ball down the ground. And by the time the dinky shots were unveiled, Bates was truly in command. There was no getting out now.

This was the Bates of old, the one who could impose herself on the opposition without even trying. All she had to do was bat naturally.

Up in the Spark Sport commentary box, as his charge raced to a half-century off 66 deliveries with a delightful lofted on-drive off Harmanpreet Kaur, Otago Sparks coach Craig Cumming elaborated on the doubt that had plagued Bates early in the season.

“She actually didn’t start the season well,” Cumming told Craig McMillan on air. “She missed out in three games at the start of the 50-over season. But what was good about that was she spent a lot of time working on her processes and her ability to keep her mind under control, and the mental side of the game.”

“Suzie Bates’ numbers are world class, but behind that there wasn’t a lot of confidence. It has been a hard year for her - she was returning from injury… But also she’s worked really hard on her technique and her game... Going back and trying to find the old Suzie Bates: how did she play when she was on the top of the world? What did she do? You mentioned before how strong she is on the leg-side, but actually, the funny thing is she actually rediscovered her off-side game and let the leg-side game take care of itself.”

“I think with Suzie Bates, because she is so strong on the off-side, teams started bowling straight to her and in some ways, she tried to premeditate lap shots and ramp shots to try and access (those) areas, and she actually lost her ability to hit on the off side,” he reflected.

After an early season blip where she managed only 18 runs in three innings in the Hallyburton Johnston Shield for the Sparks, Bates scored a half-century and century in the competition and followed it up by topping the run charts in the Women’s Super Smash (504 runs in 12 innings). The shackles had been broken; the “old Suzie Bates” had returned.

“There was a lot of technical work and making sure my head was still, so that was, I guess, one part of it,” Bates would go on to elaborate after the game when asked about the work that went into the turnaround. “But I think it was just letting go of the expectations I was putting on myself, and that was at international level, at domestic level... Just expecting too much and not focusing on the process and trusting my game that it was enough and not always searching for something new; just backing what I had was good enough. I think someone like Craig (Cumming) at domestic level really understood that and helped me remember that. And then when you start scoring it just tends to flow a little bit easier and your mind’s a lot clearer, so I guess that’s where I am at the moment.”

The still head was a standout of Bates’ innings on Saturday. It was evident when she tried to hit down the ground, holding her shape beautifully through those lofted shots; when she exposed her stumps and gave herself room to punch the spinners through the off side; and when she tried to access open pockets of the ground with all the different types of sweeps. Her foot movement against spin was immaculate. She camped on the back foot on a track where the ball appeared to "sit up", forcing the Indian spinners to toss the ball further up which allowed her to dance down the track or pull out the sweep. It was manipulation at its very best.

It was only fitting that the 34-year-old brought up her century with a strong pull – a shot she had used well through the day. When Poonam Yadav pitched a delivery slightly short of length on middle stump, Bates went right back into her crease and creamed the ball towards squarish deep mid-wicket. As she completed the run, Bates clenched her fists, raised her bat – once to the dug out and once in the direction of her family – and embraced Amy Satterthwaite. The team rose in unison to applaud what was a fantastic innings, and Satterthwaite beamed at the senior pro and patted her on the helmet.

As far as celebrations go, it was almost sombre – no hop, skip or jump, no fist pump, not even a customary wave of the helmet. But the sigh of relief from Bates was evident. She glanced to the skies as she exhaled. After an agonising wait, Suzie Bates shed the yoke she was carrying... She found her younger, stiller, more fluent self, and now, appears ready to re-conquer the batting world!

“Some people have said, maybe the game has moved past her,” Cumming said. “Well, have a look in the mirror now… Second-most hundreds in ODI cricket!”