I don't actually know if Suzie can dunk....

Apparently it rains in England. Rain played its part in the men's Champions Trophy and what'd'ya know, rain has now played its part in the Women's World Cup as Aotearoa's game against South Africa fell victim to typically English rain.

Rain, rain, go away, so we can celebrate Suzie Bates another day.

And today!

Bates was set to play her 100th ODI game against South Africa, so instead of debriefing the game vs South Africa and giving Bates her props, serendipity struck. Now I am here dedicating a hole thingy-ma-jig to Bates, who not only leads Aotearoa's best cricket team but can also make a strong case for being Aotearoa's best cricketer. Perhaps if the White Ferns played Test cricket (TEST CRICKET IS ONLY FOR MEN! MEN MEN MEN, ONLY MEN CAN PLAY TEST CRICKET), then Bates would dominate Test cricket as well.

Unfortunately for Bates and the White Ferns, kiwi women aren't deemed to be capable of playing Test cricket and in the land of such great equality, wonderful Aotearoa, our wonderful women aren't given the same opportunity - that's all good because those wonderful women will demand the same opportunity and they don't need other people (men) to give them opportunities.

Amy Satterthwaite is also set to play her 100th ODI during this World Cup, she's played 96 games and stands equal to Bates. So Satterthwaite will get her moment as well.

Making her ODI debut in 2006, Bates started off with a series against India in Lincoln and the four games that she played proved to be a microcosm of her career. Bates played in the 1st ODI, batting No.9 and bowling 4 overs (1/20 @ 5rpo), then didn't play the 2nd ODI, before repeating a similar dose in the 3rd game as she batted down the order and only bowled 3 overs, as the last bowler used.

The last two games of this series saw Bates promoted to open the batting alongside legend and fellow dual-international Rebecca Rolls (cricket and football). Bates only managed 4 runs in her first game at the top of the order, but thrived with the ball as she took 2/29 off 8 overs and then took these positive vibes into the 5th game of this series. Rolls is a legend of kiwi cricket herself and as Rolls was dismissed for 2 off 19 balls, Bates made this cricket thing look far easier, hitting 69 off 77; the first of 22 half-centuries.

Aotearoa's top-three in those last two games is noteworthy. Rolls and Bates are not only kiwi cricket legends, they are kiwi sporting legends given their prowess in multiple sports and batting at No.3, guiding Bates to Bates' first half-century and scoring a half-century herself (79), one of her 18 half-centuries, was none other than Bates' current White Ferns coach Haidee Tiffen.

Tiffen was lucky enough to play a Test, back in 2003 in India and that Test also featured current White Fern Katey Martin - the scorecard for this Test comes with a headline that reads 'Indian team rubbishes allegations of poor umpiring'. Rolls and Tiffen then played a Test in England in 2004.

This debut series for Bates reflects her career nicely as Bates emerged as a possible phenom late in the series, coming with her promotion to the top of the order. Bates didn't play any cricket for Aotearoa in 2008 and instead - casually - went to the Beijing Olympics where she represented Aotearoa in basketball and fulfilled her Olympic dream. Whether it's that video above or other articles which highlighted Bates' dream of going to the Olympics, I found myself captivated by Bates' desire and then actions to achieve that dream.

Cricket ain't in the Olympics, basketball was and still is. That Olympic dream is what makes the Olympics so special as someone like Bates isn't doing everything she can, sacrificing the progress she had made in cricket for the superficial benefits that the Olympics offers, the Olympics isn't really about superficial benefits anyway. Bates had a dream to experience an Olympics, to be part of a mass-gathering of the world's best athletes and to compete. Bates achieved it and that's just one of many immense moments of inspiration that you and I can take from Otago's finest.

Splitting Bates' career into two distinct periods makes for an interesting little glimpse into how Bates has progressed, just as she progressed through that debut series. From 2006 to June 1st 2012, Bates averaged 28.20 with the bat and 27.08 with the ball, there were two centuries and four half-centuries, which is solid but not the dominant world-class force that Bates has become.

Then consider that she drifted into the post-2012 period of her career with no 50+ score in 14 games (high-score of 40) and only a single game in which she took 2+ wickets from July 15, 2010. Just as Bates was promoted to open the batting in her debut series, being promoted to captain mid-2011 was then some sort of catalyst for Bates' crazy success in the second half of her career.

Late in 2012, the White Ferns went to Australia and Bates caught fire in four games against the Aussies; 122*, 59, 39, 54.

Expand that out and Bates went on a 12-game streak of double-digit innings from December 12, 2012 to October 6, 2013. This included eight 50+ innings, with three of those innings 100+ and then we've got to ponder that this period included the 2013 World Cup. Bates led all run-scorers at this World Cup with 407 runs @ 67.83avg/76.93sr and she was the only batswoman to score 400+ runs, one of two batswoman to score 300+ runs.

From that series against Australia onwards, it's game over for the rest of the cricketing world as Bates went nuts. Before that series Bates averaged 28.20, after that series to now, Bates is averaging 54.88, with four centuries and 18 half-centuries. There's been a slight dip in Bates' bowling as her average has gone from 27.08 to 34.80, that's all good though as the Ferns have enjoyed greater bowling resources and when your taking your batting average from 28.20 to a career average of 42.32, who cares if you aren't quite the bowling threat you were when you were a youngster?

There's a strong case to be made that Bates is ready to unleash further run-scoring mayhem in this World Cup and the mere thought of Bates being the leading run-scorer in back-to-back World Cups has me fizzing. Not only has Bates started this World Cup with a century, she went into this World Cup in the midst of one of her many run-scoring streaks; since October 24 (2016), Bates has eight-straight double-digit innings prior to this World Cup and that included four half-centuries.

Bates was due for a century as she hadn't hit one since her 110 against Australia in February last year. Again, that's all good because she hit six half-centuries between those two centuries. This recent streak of Bates' saw her started with a 26 in South Africa but the seven innings that followed were in Aotearoa, so how does Bates perform around the world?

In Australia: 15 games, 562 runs, 46.83avg.

In England: 15 games, 431 runs, 33.15avg.

In India: 19 games, 805 runs, 44.72avg.

In Aotearoa: 36 games, 1,385 runs, 46.16avg.

In South Africa: 7 games, 182 runs, 36.40avg.

In West Indies: 7 games, 233 runs, 33.28avg.

Bates does her best work in Aotearoa but there's definitely no weak spot in other countries, which when you compare that to certain Blackcaps makes me chuckle.

Want some more statty-stats? Bates' batting average has dipped below 30 in just two of the 10 years she's played international cricket, Bates has averaged over 40 in five of those 10 years and in the past three years she has averaged; 48.75 (2015), 52.66 (2016) and 74.33 (2017).

And now we are in the midst of a World Cup, in the same year in which Bates has her highest batting average (small sample size warning). That sounds like a recipe for glory, especially as Satterthwaite is of a similar calibre to Bates and we are graced with two cricketers of such quality. All that's left is for Bates to hoist that World Cup trophy and Bates has made a habit of finishing better than she started, it happened in that debut series and it's taken place over the course of her career. Bates hit a century in the first game of this World Cup, so here's hoping that pattern continues.

Shout out to Suzie Bates yo.

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