During the second innings of the White Ferns game against England at the weekend, a heavy shower descended over The Oval in South London and as the players left the field, a rainbow appeared above the ground.
It seemed significant on the night that three legends of New Zealand cricket left the international stage, because the pot of gold that Lea Tahuhu, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates brought to the game of cricket is one that will be lovingly remembered for generations to come.
When the action resumed again, it was England that had the win, chasing down the target of 164 with nine wickets in hand and 16 balls to spare.
It was a result that saw the White Ferns miss out on a semi-final spot, after winning just two of their group games, but the reviews into that will follow in due course.
For now, it’s time to reflect on three players who 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 announced that they had accepted their offer to become honorary life members of MCC, one of the highest honours a cricketer can have bestowed on them.
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Starting as a batter at the age of eight, Tahuhu would go on to become arguably the fastest women’s bower in the world. 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 and 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 that grabbed the new ball from captain Aimee Watkins, taking her first international wicket in just the fourth over, bowling one of Australia’s best ever, Meg Lanning.
From there, she consistently appeared for the White Ferns, playing a total of 103 ODI’s and 104 T20I’s. 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 for her country (behind Kerr and Devine).
As well as years playing for her beloved Canterbury, she also 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 fair 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 following 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 of players 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 ODI’s and 61 T20I’s.
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 contact whilst 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 swansong for her country.
Devine, 36, famously went to Tawa College, who applied for a special dispensation for 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 the age of 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 in159 ODI’s and 158 T20I’s.
In 2006, aged just 17, she was selected for the White Ferns. Like Tahuhu, her debut came against Australia in Brisbane. Although she came out to bat at eight 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 number 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, soccer, netball and hockey, and when she was 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 and 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 number four, she scored 145 off 131 balls, an innings which included 13 fours and six sixes, as New Zealand won by 151 runs. She’d go on to score 4,279 ODI runs and 3,817 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 a number of overseas sides, playing for the Adelaide Strikers, and more recently the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League, as well as English counties Warwickshire, 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 team 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 a total of 10,740 runs over the next 20 years, after 184 ODI’s and 186 T20I’s. Her 4,758 T20I runs are the most by any woman in the history of the game.
While Devine could have chosen between cricket and hockey, Bates also had a 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 her country in the sport at the Beijing Olympics.
In 2011, at the age of 24, she took on the White Ferns captaincy, which brought an end to her days in competitive basketball. She would go onto captain her country in 76 ODI’s and 64 T20I’s before Amy Satterthwaite took over the captaincy in 2018.
As well as her batting achievements, Bates also excelled with ball in hand and in the field. She has the most catches ever in ODI’s (94) as well as T20I’s (98) and if any batter dared to try and hit the ball to mid-off against New Zealand, they were very likely to be in big trouble. There’s no doubt Bates set the highest standard for fielding all the way through to the end of her international career.
With a total of 145 wickets, Bates 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 the 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 Bates 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. But before she could start the tournament, she too, like Devine, was named as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Birthday Honours.
The achievements of Tahahu, Devone and Bates are beyond considerable, but the chemistry that the three players 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 players 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 their earlier group games.
Of course, their crowning glory came together in 2024, as the self-named ‘grandmas’ helped New Zealand to T20 World Cup glory in Dubai.
In the semi-final, the West Indies needed 15 off the last over to deny the White Ferns. It was at that moment that captain Devine threw the ball to Bates. She hadn’t bowled a single 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, it was Tahuhu that came racing in to embrace her. Three balls from a place in the final. Not a problem. The White Ferns won by eight runs.
Onto the final and the three pillars of New Zealand cricket would indeed 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. 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,” Bates said.
A special moment for three special women.
Thank you Lea, Sophie and Suzie. Thank you for everything.
