Suzie Bates

Born in 1987 in Dunedin, Suzie Bates learned cricket in the back yard with her two older brothers. Much of her early club cricket days were spent playing alongside boys; however, she was "spotted" playing in a national competition for the Otago Girls' High School. By the time she was 15, she was representing the Otago Sparks in New Zealand's national women's cricket league.

A batting allrounder who plays in the top order, Bates made her international debut in 2006 against India, and has been smashing records ever since. She scored her first ODI century at the age of just 19 and was an instrumental part of New Zealand Women's 2009 World Cup campaign, where they made the final ahead of hosts Australia. Bates took 4 for 7 with her medium pace in the group match against South Africa, but the highlight was her innings against Pakistan: a glorious 168 off 105 balls that included six sixes - the joint fourth-highest score ever in women's ODIs.

Bates initially juggled two sports, representing New Zealand in basketball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, basketball has taken a back seat since she was offered captaincy of the White Ferns in July 2011.

One of standout aspects of Bates' captaincy has been the lack of impact it has had on her batting. In the 2013 World Cup, despite her side's fourth-place finish, she was named Player of the Tournament; later that year, she was named the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year.

Bates scored an unbeaten 94 off 61 balls against Pakistan in the 2014 World Twenty20 - the highest score by a New Zealander in women's T20Is. In the same year, she was selected to captain the Rest of the World, against MCC Women at Lord's.

At 5-foot-8, with an athletic body honed on the basketball field, the attacking style comes more naturally to Bates than most. She spent 2015 consolidating her status as one of the power hitters of the women's game, averaging 129 in New Zealand's ODI series against Sri Lanka in November, which they swept 5-0. Her good form continued in the three-match T20 series - which also ended in a whitewash for Sri Lanka - where she averaged 52.50. Bates ended 2015 fourth on the list of all-time run-scorers in women's T20Is and was subsequently named Wisden's Leading Women's Cricketer in the World.

Bates is among the first women from New Zealand able to consider herself a full-time cricketer, having been awarded one of the inaugural female contracts by New Zealand Cricket in April 2013. More recently, she was selected for the Women's Big Bash League and the Kia Super League.
Raf Nicholson