Suzie Bates wins ICC award double
Wednesday 14th December 2016
Kent's Player of the Year Suzie Bates has become the first cricketer to clinch both the ICC Women’s ODI and T20I Player of the Year awards, which were announced today.
Between 14 September 2015 and 20 September 2016, Bates scored 472 runs for New Zealand in eight ODIs at an average of just over 94 and took eight wickets with a strike-rate of 22.50 and economy-rate of 3.75.
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 over 115 runs per 100 balls.
The 29-year-old all-rounder also won the domestic double with Kent in 2016, picking up the Cantebury Christ Church University Kent Player for the Year after contributing 446 runs and 21 wickets in both formats.
A delighted Bates said from Perth: “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.
“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.
“For the past one-and-a-half years, our team has been performing very well and lots of different players have stood up and performed under pressure. It is heartening to see that the team is doing very well going into the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 which will be held in England and Wales.”
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson congratulated Bates, saying: “Suzie is a well-deserved recipient of the ICC Women’s ODI and T20I Player of the Year awards, maintaining strong and consistent performances across both formats of the game throughout the 12-month period under consideration.
“2017 promises to be the biggest yet in women’s cricket history with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017 in the United Kingdom. We look forward to watching Suzie and the other stars of the women’s game on the biggest stage of them all.”
Bates captained New Zealand in the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 where her side reached the semi-finals, while she also inspired the White Ferns to a third-place finish in the ICC Women’s Championship which earned them an automatic qualification for next year’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.