PROTEAS LEFT TO PONDER WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
THE Proteas’ women’s team have been left to ponder how they failed to give their best in the biggest game of their lives in yesterday’s World Cup semifinal in Christchurch, New Zealand.
It will be scant consolation that they were outplayed by an opponent whose own performance is peaking at the most critical time.
This was a team that was supposed to be playing for the nation. For every gogo, single mother and little girl, a column on these pages stated in the build-up to this much-anticipated clash.
Maybe the responsibility of being pioneers – no South African women’s cricket team has qualified for a World Cup final before – was just too much.
The quest will of course now continue, but when the dust has settled, which may take longer for the veterans in the squad, South Africa should still look back on the competition with a degree of satisfaction.
Of course, they will always regret losing to England in a second consecutive World Cup semi-final, but they should still be able to reflect that reaching the play-offs in the manner in which they did – with a game to spare – is progress in its own right.
It was not simply bluster from their captain, Sune Luus, when she spoke of “a brilliant campaign” and how “all the players have stepped up at different times, and it’s been amazing to see the growth in each and every player”.
Luus’s philosophical approach is probably due to the fact that for South Africa to eventually scale their Everest, the structures at home need to begin resembling those of finalists Australia and England.
The foundation has been laid with the contracting of the national squad, but the challenge has now been put to Cricket South Africa to capitalise on the excitement generated over the past month with the creation of opportunities for more female cricket players.
The birth of a women’s professional domestic cricket league is a muchneeded intervention.
The moment must be seized if South Africa is serious about eventually celebrating as World Cup champions.