WHITE FERNS captain Suzie Bates is soaking up life as an overseas professional in England.
The Dunedinitte arrived in Kent for her first season of county cricket on May 12th and is relishing the new experience.
“The set ups are pretty cool and I’ve been really well looked after. We’ve gone around some of the smaller grounds and they just love their cricket,” Bates told blackcaps.co.nz.
“When I first got here the sun was out for three days in a row, but then yesterday i needed my puffer jacket and now today I’ve been burned because i’ve been out in the sun all day.
“I can’t really complain though as I’ve heard Dunedin has been pretty frosty so I’ve avoided all of that!” she added.
The 28 year old has already begun playing one dayers for Kent, but her main focus will be the newly launched Women’s T20 Cricket Super League which starts on July 30th.
“It’s going to be really exciting,” Bates enthused.
“It looks like there’ll be six pretty even teams and I’d love to win the inaugural competition. I think we’ve got a good enough side to do that. It’s going to get pretty intense once it starts.”
The 16 day round robin tournament will feature 90 players from England and around the world with a finals day at Chelmsford on August 21st.
Bates’ stocks are at an all-time high after being named Wisden’s Leading Women's Cricketer earlier this year, and she’s hoping that may open some doors for her.
“I should actually drop that line and I might get invited to a few more things,” she joked.
“One of the benefits of being friends with (former England player) Charlotte Edwards is that she seems to get invited to a few things - so I’m hoping a Wimbledon ticket might be on the cards.”
Bates has already been into London a couple of times and is looking forward to watching a few of the England v Pakistan internationals over the summer. A possible sojourn to the Greek Islands is on the cards as well.
