SA’s cricket women deserve our praise
WITH the Proteas men’s squad enduring a torrid summer in the United Kingdom across all formats, the cricket-loving public in South Africa has desperately needed a “pick-me-up” – and the women’s team has delivered it.
From their first game at the ICC Women’s World Cup, Dane van Niekerk’s side have played with a refreshing sense of exuberance and excitement that has seen them progress to the semifinals with one round-robin match left.
The magnitude of this achievement cannot be taken for granted. South Africa have not qualified for the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup since 2000, when Daleen Terblanche led her group of trailblazers in Australia.
That, though, was a different era in women’s cricket. The sport has been revolutionised over the past few years with the major nations replicating the Australian and English models – they remain the powerhouses of the women’s game
– by remunerating their players through central contracts and providing significant support in terms of specialised backroom staff and high-performance preparation camps.
Cricket South Africa and one its premier sponsors, Momentum, deserve praise for “putting their money where their mouths are”, for it has increased the professional levels of the women’s game three-fold. The camaraderie and spirit within the team has been evident in each performance, with rookies like 18-year-old schoolgirl Laura Wolvaardt and the experienced Lizelle Lee forming a special opening partnership.
The pace bowlers have been excellent too, with Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp relishing their responsibility of leading the attack.
In keeping with the spirit of this team, they realise their mission is not over yet.
“No goal is achieved yet though. We are here to win a World Cup and we’ve still got one match left against Australia and then the semis, so still lots of work ahead,” Van Niekerk said. With that attitude they may yet go where no men’s Proteas squad has gone before, and bring home a major ICC limited-overs trophy. We wish our women all the best for their semi-final.