‘Let’s do it for coach Moreeng’
Proteas fast bowler Shabnim Ismail wants the team to win a major international tournament as a tribute to coach Hilton Moreeng, who has played a pivotal role in the development of women’s cricket in SA.
Moreeng was reappointed last year as the head coach of the side for a further three years to continue working on the women’s programme that he has been busy with since taking the job in 2012.
The other reasoning for his reappointment was for the sake of continuity, with the 2021 ODI World Cup in New Zealand and the 2022 T20 World Cup in SA looming.
“Coach Hilton has been around the team for a number of years and it actually feels like he has been here forever,” said Ismail, who has flourished under Moreeng’s guidance.
“He is a positive guy who is always pushing us to perform to the best of our ability and he has been with the team during the good and difficult times. It is nice to have a coach like that and one of his strengths is that he brings a lot of positiveness. I hope that we will win a major competition for him before he leaves.”
During his eight years in charge, Moreeng has overseen two heartbreaking semifinal exits at the 2017 World Cup in England and the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia.
He has also steered the team to automatic qualification for the 2021 ODI World Cup in New Zealand.
“Obviously winning a major tournament will not only be for the coach but also for us, the players. One of my dreams is to go out there and win the World Cup for my country and be known as a world champion.
“We have learned from our past mistakes in Australia and England where we lost in the semifinals but I think our time to shine is coming and I am sure that we will be able to handle big moments. We have been playing some really good cricket in recent months against Pakistan and India.
“We beat Pakistan in both the ODIs and T20s at home and we came here to India and beat them in the ODI series. Hopefully we can carry on with that momentum into the T20 series. It was our goal to win a series here in Pakistan because the ODI World Cup is coming next year.”
At the age of 32, Ismail is approaching the twilight of her career but says her body is still going strong.
“I am hoping to go on for at least three more years but my coach says I can go for seven more because I am fit and my body is responding well to the challenges of international cricket. I told him that my worry is that by the time I retire everyone might just be calling me ‘auntie’,” she concluded with a laugh while adding that she is enjoying the responsibility of being a member of the leadership group and helping the younger players.