White Ferns greats Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Lea Tahuhu retire together

For now, it’s time to reflect on three players who have done so much for every side they represented and are genuine greats of the game.

Their stature in the sport certainly wasn’t lost on the England players and their support staff, who set up a guard of honour for all three players as they departed one of the most famous grounds in world cricket, in front of a record-breaking 21,018 supporters, the highest attendance for a women’s T20 World Cup group match.

Bates and Devine stayed in London and attended the most famous ground of them all, Lord’s, less than 24 hours later, as the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) announced that they had accepted its offer to become honorary life members, one of the highest honours a cricketer can have.

Starting as a batter at the age of 8, Tahuhu would go on to become arguably the world’s fastest female bowler. Now 35, she burst into the Canterbury team as a teenager in the 2008-09 season and made her White Ferns debut as a 20-year-old in an ODI against Australia in Brisbane in 2011. With New Zealand batting first, Tahuhu came out at number 11, with her side struggling at 164-9. She hit 11 runs off 12 balls, smashing two boundaries as she showed some of the spirit, power and attacking intent that would define her game over the next 15 years.

Minutes later it was Tahuhu who grabbed the new ball from captain Aimee Watkins, taking her first international wicket in just the fourth over, bowling one of Australia’s best, Meg Lanning.

From there, she consistently appeared for the White Ferns, playing a total of 103 ODIs and 104 T20Is. With 125 ODI wickets, she has the second most of any New Zealander (behind Melie Kerr), and her 100 T20I wickets are the third most (behind Kerr and Devine).

As well as years playing for her beloved Canterbury, she made her mark overseas, playing for the Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder in Australia’s Big Bash League, as well as English sides such as Surrey, Lancashire and, in 2022, the Manchester Originals in The Hundred.

Injuries come with the territory for a fast bowler, however, and Tahuhu had more than her share over the years. But in 2021, she also told LockerRoom about a cancer scare that, in her words, “got me to some low places”.

The next 12 months would see her suffer cricketing lows, but also show her fighting spirit. In early 2022, she battled a hamstring niggle at her third 50-over World Cup, which ended in disappointment as the White Ferns exited as hosts in the group stages. The then 31-year-old was then left off New Zealand Cricket’s central contract list in May that year, with a more youthful group selected, with an eye to the future.

“Not being offered a contract is one thing, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t be selected in the future, so for me that’s something I’m holding on to,” Tahuhu said at the time, having represented her country in 83 ODIs and 61 T20Is.

Two weeks later, she was left out of the Commonwealth Games squad, but after Jess Kerr was ruled out of that event with injury, she got the call-up and helped the side to a bronze medal.

In 2023, Tahuhu showed her battling qualities once again, and regained her central contract, while also being named in the ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year.

In March this year, she called time on her ODI career before confirming in April that this year’s T20 World Cup would be her international swansong.

Devine, 36, went to Tawa College, which applied for a special dispensation to allow her to play in their boys’ side. She was selected to play for the Wellington Blaze in Year 10 – fourth form as it was back then – and shortly afterwards, at 15, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and feared she’d never play sport again. But with the help of her family and medical professionals, she’s gone on to perform at the highest level for 20 years, appearing in 159 ODIs and 158 T20Is.

In 2006, aged 17, she was selected for the White Ferns. Like Tahuhu, her debut came against Australia in Brisbane. Although she came out to bat at No 8 in that T20I, she didn’t even get a chance to take guard, and was run out without facing a ball. Four days later, she batted at No 11 on her ODI debut, making an unbeaten six off 29 deliveries.

Devine didn’t just have cricket ability in her repertoire. Growing up, she played basketball, football, netball and hockey, and at university she juggled the cricket and hockey seasons. She went on to become a Black Stick, representing New Zealand at the 2011 Champions Trophy in the Netherlands, in an away series against the United States and at home against Australia.

But after playing in the 2012 Champions Trophy in Argentina, she missed selection for the London Olympics. When she was offered one of the first women’s professional cricket contracts in New Zealand in 2013, she recommitted to cricket and retired from hockey.

Her first ODI after a two-and-a-half-year absence from the White Ferns was against South Africa in February 2013, in the opening game of that year’s World Cup. Batting at No 4, she scored 145 off 131 balls, an innings that included 13 fours and six sixes, as New Zealand won by 151 runs. She’d go on to score 4279 ODI runs and 3817 T20I runs, the fifth most of any woman in the shorter format of the game.

But it wasn’t just with bat in hand that Devine was making an impact. She ended up with 111 ODI wickets and 130 T20I wickets and had that all-important knack of being able to take a wicket at a crucial time, or bowl at the end of an innings.

Like Tahuhu, Devine was signed by several overseas sides, playing for the Adelaide Strikers and more recently the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League, as well as English counties Warwickshire and Yorkshire, and the Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred. She’s also made an impact in India’s Women’s Premier League, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, who went on to win the competition in 2024, and earlier this year Gujarat Giants.

In 2020, Devine succeeded Amy Satterthwaite as White Ferns captain, a job she carried out until the end of the 50-over World Cup in October 2025, when she retired from that format of the game. Earlier that year, she was named as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Bates, 38, was born in Dunedin and started turning heads when playing for Otago Girls’ High School in the national secondary schools competition. She first played for Otago at the age of 15 and, just three years later, made her White Ferns debut against India in an ODI at Lincoln. She took one for 20 from four overs against India and wasn’t required to bat as New Zealand wrapped up the contest by seven wickets with 16 overs to spare.

Little did the world know that Bates would go on to score 10,740 runs over the next 20 years, after 184 ODIs and 186 T20Is. Her 4758 T20I runs are the most by any woman.

Like Devine, she had a sporting decision to make. She played professional basketball for Christchurch in the Australian National Women’s Basketball League in 2007 and 2008, starting in 24 games, and in 2008 represented New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics.

In 2011, aged 24, she took on the White Ferns captaincy, which brought an end to her days in competitive basketball. She would go on to captain her country in 76 ODIs and 64 T20Is before Amy Satterthwaite took over the captaincy in 2018.

As well as her batting achievements, Bates excelled with ball in hand and in the field. She has the most catches in ODIs (94) and T20Is (98), and if any batter dared to try and hit the ball to mid-off against New Zealand, they were likely to be in big trouble. Bates set the highest standard for fielding throughout her international career.

With a total of 145 wickets, she was an all-rounder of the highest order, and even though she bowled less towards the end of her international career, captains such as Devine and Melie Kerr would never hesitate to throw the ball to her in high-pressure situations.

Bates was named player of the tournament at the 2013 ODI World Cup, and later that year she was named the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year. Three years later, she won both the ICC Women’s ODI and T20I Cricketer of the Year awards.

She, too, had an extensive career overseas, with spells at the Perth Scorchers, Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, as well as Kent, Hampshire and Durham in England, and The Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred.

Bates announced in April that, after 20 years at the top, she would retire after the T20 World Cup. Before she could start the tournament, she, like Devine, was named as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Birthday Honours.

The achievements of Tahuhu, Devine and Bates are beyond considerable, but the chemistry they had on the field was even more than the sum of those parts. It was an intangible magic that gave comfort to teammates and supporters alike. It’s no coincidence that, when all three came together for the last two matches of their T20 World Cup campaign earlier this month, there was an air of calm confidence that had been missing from New Zealand’s earlier group games.

Of course, their crowning glory came together in 2024, as the self-named “grandmas” helped New Zealand to win the T20 World Cup in Dubai.

In the semi-final, the West Indies needed 15 off the last over to win. It was at that moment that captain Devine threw the ball to Bates. She hadn’t bowled an over in the competition, but there was a look exchanged and it was down to business. As Bates took out the leg stump with her third ball, Tahuhu came racing in to embrace her. Three balls from a place in the final. Not a problem. The White Ferns won by eight runs.

On to the final and the three pillars of New Zealand cricket would have their deserved glory, defeating South Africa by 32 runs. As their emotional former teammate Katey Martin said in commentary, they had scaled their Everest.

“This means everything to us,” Bates said. “We’ve played team sport for so long and, when you play team sport, you want to be a world champion, and we have fought our way back to the top. It was a real team effort. It just makes you so satisfied as an athlete for it all to come together, and this moment is something I’ll never forget.”

A special moment for three special women.

Thank you, Lea, Sophie and Suzie. Thank you for everything.

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