Retiring New Zealand legend Suzie Bates may not play a match on her farewell tour after being benched for the team's first two matches of the Women's T20 World Cup. With New Zealand in a precarious position after two losses from their first two matches, and every match a must-win (along with a prayer for other results to go their way), Izzy Gaze has been preferred to Bates at the top of the order and there also appears no room for her lower down.
"We're pushing the team to make scores of 170-180 to help win matches, so we promoted Izzy (Gaze) up to open since February to help generate a high strike rate in the powerplay," Ben Sawyer, New Zealand's coach told ESPNcricinfo when asked about Bates' absence.
Though he did not directly address Bates, Sawyer's suggestion that Gaze offers a higher strike-rate is correct. Across her career, Bates has maintained a scoring rate of 108.35 per 100 balls in T20Is while Gaze's, albeit over a much shorter time span, sits at 119.06. Last year, Bates played in six T20Is and scored 132 runs with a strike rate of 115.78 while Gaze did not play at all. In 2026, Gaze played 13 matches with a strike rate of 131.11, all as an opener.
Initially, New Zealand's plan appeared to bat Bates lower down the order and make use of her bowling and presence in the field. She was carded at No. 8 or lower for the four matches she played in the series against South Africa in March, and batted once at No. 8, where she scored 1. She was also carded there for the warm-up match against them earlier this month.
Bates was in the same position when New Zealand started their pre-tournament series against England, and was understood to have been unhappy about how low down she was being played, and was back to opening by game three. She scored 3 as New Zealand were bowled out for 80 and England won the series 2-1. Bates opened again in New Zealand's first warm-up match against Bangladesh in Loughborough and made 45 off 39 balls, at a strike rate close to her usual of 115.38. Gaze did not play that match.
It may have been that the England and Bangladesh games were a trial to see if Bates could score as quickly as Sawyer wanted her to and she did not make the grade. Since then, Bates has not been named in New Zealand's starting XI and her absence has been noted.
Maddy Green, who scored a quickfire 35 off 22 balls against West Indies was asked about Bates being benched and played it down.
"Suze is a really important member of our squad, and she certainly wouldn't be here if she wasn't. She's got so much to contribute both on and off the field, and obviously she wasn't out there tonight," Green said. "Everyone's ready to go should they be called upon to be out on the field. And you know that Suze is a class player, and she's so great around the group. So we value everything that she brings to the squad and she's a really important member of the squad on and off the field for us."
Reading between the lines, Green's comments may raise questions about whether Bates is being used in a mentoring capacity, rather than with a view to playing her. ESPNcricinfo understands that, all being well, New Zealand planned to play both Bates and Lea Tahuhu, who is also retiring, in at least one game as a farewell.
But all has not gone well and they find themselves needing to win every match, starting with their game against Ireland on Friday. Ordinarily, and especially given Ireland's form, that would be a gimmie but things have changed. The net result is Bates, who told ESPNcricinfo's Powerplay podcast that she felt "grateful" to be going on her own terms, may not be able to do that after all.