Between three-pointers and three-figures

On Friday, New Zealand take on England to decide the third and fourth places. But skipper Suzie Bates' restlessness has little to do with the potential outcome of the match. It's actually more to do with what is to follow-the off-season.

The 25-year-old Bates has never really been a fan of inaction. For a majority of her life after all, she's always had her second love to fall back on. But having put her basketball career on hold for the last 18 months, and with the Ferns' next international commitment a few months away, her anxiety is justified.

"Basically I just get bored too easily. When the cricket season is over, I always sit and wonder what to do next. Earlier, there was always basketball during the winter," she says.

And her forced sabbatical from basketball only came about because she'd reached a point, like most dual sportspersons do, where one had begun to affect the other. "I didn't feel I was doing either justice. I was inconsistent with my cricket and not as good at basketball as I could have been," she adds.

Having grown up in a sporting family where both her brothers played cricket and basketball, it was only natural for Bates to try her hand at both. And in 2008, with a cricket World Cup already under her belt, she experienced the ultimate by being part of the New Zealand basketball team at the Beijing Olympics.

"Going to Olympics was always a dream and my whole family went to Beijing. I also had to give up cricket for 18 months," says Bates. It is probably her irresistible need to be in the thick of things that has Bates an omnipresent force whenever the Kiwis are on the field. If she's not making big scores-with 386 runs she's presently the overall highest run-getter in the World Cup-she's bowling heavy balls at the batters.

... contd.

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