Wake up call for Kiwi women`s cricket: captain Bates

Mumbai:After a disappointing fourth-place finish at the ICC Women`s World Cup concluded yesterday, New Zealand skipper and player of the tournament Suzie Bates feels the team would not do well if her country`s cricket board does not put in resources to arrange more tours.

"I think if we take a hard look at the way the women`s game is going, then in four years` time, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies are only going to get better. If we don`t start putting resources for playing more tours and playing more cricket, we are going to fall behind," she said. "I think in terms of exposure it`s a huge blow for people watching the White Ferns. Maybe it`s a wake up call to New Zealand cricket that if we don`t make the changes, we may fall behind. I guess that it is one way to look at it," she said. "But I still believe we had a team that was competitive and could have made the final of both the events (World T20 held last year and the 50-over World Cup). We just weren`t consistent or we didn`t perform when we needed to," she added. Bates scored 407 runs in the tournament to bag the player of the tournament award. "We came fourth and no one wants to be watching a final, but from a personal point of view, I am pretty proud to receive the award with some pretty good players. It is a bit of a funny feeling but any trophy is better than none." She credited neighbours Australia, who won the World Cup for the sixth time, for consistently playing good cricket but was not happy with the lukewarm crowd response in the final. "It is a huge shame. When we played in Cuttack we had a loud and energetic crowd, which really made the game, especially when Sophie Devine scored 145, and they loved every minute of it. I guess it has been a bit disappointing with number of people on this ground. "But a number of matches have been televised, which is a positive. Hopefully the more games are shown on TV, the more people are aware and we can get a bigger crowd in future," she said. PTI