WHITE FERNS on fire in the UK
A chance meeting with David Beckham at Wimbledon inspired WHITE FERNS captain Suzie Bates to a maiden T20 century for Kent in the UK overnight.
The Otago all rounder’s been staying with former England women’s captain Charlotte Edwards and it was through Edwards she wound up meeting Becks.
“It was probably one of the best days of my life,” Bates told blackcaps.co.nz.
“I was just in the right place at the right time - she had to take a guest. So there I was in the Royal Box with David Beckham watching Andy Murray play on center court at Wimbledon.
“I was a bit shy to be fair. I was even nervous about asking for a photo, but he was lovely and we had a brief chat. He’d taken his mum to the tennis which was quite cute.
“So I had to score some runs today to repay the favour because I was looked after pretty well the day before,” she added.
And score runs she did - Bates belted 106 from just 51 balls to help her county side Kent chase down 178 against a Sussex side featuring WHITE FERNS teammate Sara McGlashan.
McGlashan had only arrived from New Zealand the previous day, but showed few signs of jet lag as she smashed 88 from 57 balls, including six sixes.
“It’s hard because she’s over here playing for the Vipers and being such a good friend you want her to score runs," said Bates.
"But when she was tonking a few too many I was like ‘that’s enough now you can get out’.
“We had no choice but to go out hard in the first six overs and have a bit of a go.
"We got the target in 15 or 16 overs so yeh I think we must have entertained a little bit!”
Bates and McGlashan will both play for the Southern Vipers in the inaugural Kia T20 Super League.
“Playing overseas is happening more and more in women’s cricket and so there is quite a bit of expectation,” said Bates.
“Initially it’s quite a daunting thing but the more you do it the more you learn to deal with the expectation and realise it’s just another cricket game.”
The Kia Super League begins at the end of July and will also feature plenty of WHITE FERNS, with Sophie Devine, Amy Sattherthwaite, Morna Nielsen and Rachel Priest all signed up for various sides.
