South Africa heading to Cup as ‘dark horses’
‘We’re taking it seriously, and I think that shines through.’
FOR A good chunk of her now decade-long international career Mignon du Preez was the face of women’s cricket in South Africa.
For a good chunk of her now decade-long international career Mignon du Preez was the face of women’s cricket in this country.
Besides her ‘normal’ duties as the then captain – that included pre and post match press conferences – she did all the TV talk-shows, radio, she appeared on magazine covers and held as high a profile as any female sportsman in this country. She enjoyed the spotlight – and still does – but these days, she’s no longer the only player associated with the national women’s team and for that she’s very glad.
“It’s nice to see the girls taking responsibility,” smiled 28-year-old Du Preez. “In the past they shied away, but now we are more professional we’ve said you need to be ready to build your own brand. In the past there were a few who didn’t really like speaking to media, or they were shy. We’re giving everyone an opportunity to be in the limelight. I’m happy to share it with others.”
Sune Luus, current skipper Dané van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail now all have much higher profiles. That’s not to say they’re as well known as their male counterparts, but there is increased awareness of their abilities, something which will grow even more if, as they believe, they can have a successful World Cup.
Du Preez will be playing at her third World Cup and kicks off the tournament with a landmark game – her 100th – when South Africa face Pakistan at Grace Road in Leicester on Sunday.
In her time in the team she has seen them go from also-rans to this year being viewed by many as a “dark horse”.
“Ten years ago we played about one or two games a year, since (last) August I’ve played between 20 and 30 ODIs. It’s chalk and cheese,” explained Du Preez. “It boils down to the investment of Momentum, CSA having a fully contracted team, having girls become a lot more professional. We’re taking it seriously, we’re doing it as a job now, it’s no longer just a hobby and I think that shines through.”
There are increased expectations of what the team can achieve in England, not so much from the public, but the team itself.
“We’ve done extremely well in the Champions League, and the ICC Womens Championship. It’s the best we’ve ever played. We’ve competed well against England, New Zealand, and we’ve beaten them in one form or another. Australia is the only team we haven’t beaten, but we got a tie and lost off the last ball (in the series played Down Under last year).”
That five-game series played in November last year – which the Aussies won 4-0 – is seen as the major reason why South Africa are seen as dark horses. Van Niekerk and Kapp are well-known to the Australians because of their performances in the Women’s Big Bash League and Ismail – who missed that series – is highly regarded as the fastest bowler on the women’s circuit. Du Preez reckons there are a number of reasons the current world champions are wary of South Africa. “Some people have said they’re just trying to shift the focus off themselves, but I took it as ‘wow, I’m glad they know what’s coming’. They know we gave them a run for their money and that they had better watch out because we might just take that World Cup from them this year.”
South Africa’s achilles heel remains the batting. Although they are a talented unit, they’ve failed to match that talent with consistency – the latter an oft-used phrase when speaking to the players.
“We’ve been open and honest – we’ve said that’s an area where we’ve struggled. We’ve had a lot of discussions, as a unit we’ve talked about different options,” said Du Preez.
“We know we’re good enough, it might be a lapse of concentration, bad shot selection...just watching Bangladesh (against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy) where they were 30/4 and two batters stuck in there and won the game. We said ‘we’ve got that in our team’ – it’s a mental shift, we are good enough, if it doesn’t happen up front then the rest of us can still do it.
“I think you’ll see a lot more good performances at this World Cup.”
As the side’s most experienced player a lot is expected of her, and since giving up the captaincy, she’s been free to mentor some of the younger players.
“The batting...I’m really enjoying where I’m at. I’ve worked really hard and over the last year, the performances have been better – they’re not yet where I want them to be, not as consistent as I would like them.”
As for her own goals for the tournament, Du Preez is clear.
“I just want to be a consistent run-scorer for the team. One of the goals, in an ideal world, would be to score a 100 in my 100th game.
“The team goal is to win the World Cup. In the past we’ve gone, where we sat and said ‘ya we can win the Cup,’ but then when we got there, we weren’t prepared,” said Du Preez.
“It’s the best prepared I’ve gone to a World Cup, we’re really excited. We’re no longer going there as under dogs, but as ‘dark horses’.”