Suzie Bates steps down as WHITE FERNS skipper; Amy Satterthwaite appointed replacement

Suzie Bates has played 115 ODIs and 101 T20Is so far. She has scored 4245 runs and picked up 74 wickets in ODIs while she has scored 2755 runs and 49 wickets in T20Is. She has led New Zealand in 76 ODIs and 64 T20I after being appointed as the captain of the team in 2011.

She has led the team in two ICC World Cups and three ICC World T20Is. She was the Player of the Tournament at the 2013 World Cup.

Bates expressed that she had reached a stage in her career where she could contribute more as a player than as a captain. "Captaining New Zealand was a great honour and a rewarding experience. I can look back knowing I gave it my all for six years."

She further added, "I know I still have a lot to contribute to the team and international cricket and that the best way for me to do that is by concentrating more energy into my performances on the field."

NZC chief executive David White told that he understood Bates' reasons and supported her decision. "Suzie has made it clear to me that she wants to lift her game to another level and build further on what already has been a stellar career," White said. "She is already one of our 'greats' in terms of New Zealand cricket and we're happy to do anything we can to continue to enable her."

Amy Satterthwaite, the experienced batter of New Zealand now takes charge from Suzie Bates. She has played 113 ODIs and 89 T20Is till date. Having made her debut in 2007, she has scored 3475 ODI runs and 1355 T20I runs so far and bagged 43 and 23 wickets in ODI and T20I respectively.

Satterthwaite too was excited about this new responsibility. She told, "It’s a huge honour to be asked to captain your country and I’m really excited about what lies ahead. Suzie has done an outstanding job captaining the team over the past few years and I’m sure she’ll continue to contribute considerably in the leadership sense."

Bates too thinks that Satterthwaite will be a great captain. She said, "She has my full backing and I am looking forward to supporting her in any way I can." David White, the chief executive of NZC too added that, "Amy will relish the challenge and I'm sure will be a very good captain."

As a skipper, Amy Satterthwaite's first assignment will be the three-match T20I series against Australia from 29th September. Before the tour of Australia, WHITE FERNS will attend a four-day camp in Lincoln, which will start from Thursday.