Women’s cricket on the up – KZN bowler

KZN COASTAL Women’s team bowler Dheyanka Naidoo believes that this is a great time to be a female cricketer.

The 27-year-old from Westville, who won the KZN Women’s provincial player-of-the-year award in 2019, is preparing for her 11th year of provincial cricket. She made her debut in 2009.

“There are so many opportunities for players now and hard work really does pay off.

“You can now make cricket your profession by being paid as a national player.

“There is the Cricket South Africa (CSA) women’s super league, national academy, South Africa-A team and CSA regional camps,” said Naidoo, who captains the KZN Coastal T20 side.

Women’s cricket in South Africa has been on the up in recent years and the Proteas women’s team excelled at the T20 World Cup in Australia earlier this year where they were narrowly were defeated in the semi-final by the hosts who went on to win the tournament.

Naidoo believes there is room for improvement in getting more young females to play the game in KwaZulu-Natal.

“I think we have a lot of hidden talent in the province, and we need to find a way to include more girls in our structures, starting from high school leagues where more teams should be encouraged to enter.

“This will create a stronger pipeline feeding into our provincial levels and senior level.

“We can then compete at a higher level around the country,” said Naidoo, who plays club cricket for Chatsworth Sporting.

Naidoo grew up at a time when there was less emphasis on women’s cricket, and she had mostly male icons like Shaun Pollock and Dale Steyn to look up to.

“I am envious that the younger generation get to grow up watching their female counterparts and have the opportunity to meet and play alongside them.

“It’s a great stepping stone for women’s cricket,” added Naidoo, who discovered her love for cricket in 2003 after she joined Simplex Cricket Club in Reservoir Hills.

Naidoo’s love for the sport led to her starting a youth coaching programme as a part-time job, while she was studying. She has since completed her CSA level 1 and 2 courses.

“I was introduced to it at provincial level by Dinesha Devnarain. She wanted to empower us players and involve us in the selection process and coaching of our provincial girls’ schools team (U-13, U-16, and U-19).

“It’s been a great experience seeing how the younger generation looks at the game and being able to pass on knowledge and personal experiences about cricket. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to give back.

“I have been lucky to travel as a player and it’s a completely different opportunity to travel as a coach around the country with a group of girls who are hungry to grow in the game,” said Naidoo.

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