Maybe this T20 World Cup will be the last one.
Perhaps it will be the next.
Either way, White Ferns veteran Suzie Bates is making the most of every opportunity.
The 35-year-old has played in all eight previous tournaments, including two finals.
All going well, the Otago all-rounder should extent her lead at the top of run-scoring chart in the ninth edition of the event which is being staged in South Africa.
The right-hander has scored 929 runs in 32 games at an average of 30.96. She needs another 71 runs to reach the 1000 runs milestone, not that it will be on her mind.
Runs will be a priority, of course, but enjoyment holds down the No1 ranking.
The retirements of former captain Amy Satterthwaite and the long-serving wicketkeeper Katey Martin last year were a good reminder that nothing lasts forever.
"I haven't made any decisions and I promised myself that I wouldn't think about finishing until I knew that I was going to, but this could be my last World Cup; we just don't know," Bates told cricinfo.
"I'm really aware that every opportunity now could be my last, whether that's by my own choice or by someone else's."
Martin left on her own terms, but Satterthwaite was not offered a central playing contract and opted to retire from international cricket. Bates took Satterthwaite’s exit hard.
"I found it really difficult because I believed [Satterthwaite] was still good enough to be contracted and carry on. She's been one of the greats and someone I've played alongside and always looked up to and I felt I had to sort of sit back and watch that unfold.
"It gave me another wake-up call about how quickly this game can be taken away from you and I had a little bit of an experience with injury.
"But it just reminded me once again to never take the game for granted and I promised myself from that point on that if I was going to keep playing, I was going to enjoy every game and until I stopped contributing to this team and stopped enjoying it. That's when I know I've had enough, but right now I feel like I'm still doing both."
Bates got a glimpse of life after cricket. She required shoulder surgery in December 2020 and was sidelined for the lion’s share of 2021.
She struggled to find form initially and some doubt crept into her game. But she worked her way through a lean patch and was back cracking the ball through midwicket.
The shoulder injury brought a fresh approach to her bowling. She had been flirting with giving up on her medium-pacers and bowling a bit of off-spin for years.
But that idea firmed into concrete action after the injury.
The White Ferns have a trio of spinners to lean on in the form of Melie Kerr, Fran Jonas and Otago’s Eden Carson. But if conditions suit, and the warm-up games suggest they might, then Bates might have another role to play as a spinner.
"I think if you look at women’s T20 cricket, historically spin has dominated and we’ve got three quality spinners and one part-timer at the moment."
Bates might see herself as a part-timer, but she is a real competitor and has nabbed four wickets for Otago in the Super Smash this season at an impressive economy rate of 6.06.
But it is her role at the top of the batting order which may determine how deep the White Ferns go in the tournament.
They play defending champion Australia in their opening group A game on Sunday (NZ time).
"It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. It's a massive first match and we know we have had the wood over the Australians in first games at World Cups in the past.
"I think it's the best time to play them sometimes. We're definitely as well prepared as we can be and we've been over in these conditions, so we're giving us the best chance.
"We know they're world class and they've won every pinnacle event in the last three to four years that I've been part of. They're a quality side, but with that comes pressure and expectation, and we know we've competed well against them recently."
