From successfully hosting the first-ever Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup in January to staging one of the best editions of the senior Women’s T20 World Cup a month later, it is safe to say that women’s cricket in South Africa has seen a major shift this year.
The two showpiece events were followed by women’s domestic cricket turning professional, a monumental step taken by Cricket South Africa and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in an attempt to grow the code in the country.
On the field of play, the Proteas Women have enjoyed what has undoubtedly been their best year, and the fact that coach Hilton Moreeng’s side are the first and only senior South African team to have reached a World Cup final in February speaks volumes about the year they have had – despite them going down by 19 runs to Australia in the Newlands title decider.
We went down memory lane and highlighted two players who have excelled in the green and gold this year...
Laura Wolvaardt
The newly appointed all-format captain takes the top spot in our list, having been a consistent performer in her almost decade-long career. Her teammates call her ‘Wolfie’ – however, there is nothing that resembles a wolf in how Wolvaardt marshals her troops on the field of play.
A dominant wolf is almost always seen strolling from behind its pack ensuring that no member of the pack is left behind. However, Wolvaardt always leads from the front, setting the tone and blazing a trail for her teammates to follow.
As an opening batter across all-formats, she always lays the foundation to ensure that the middle-order batters come in with freedom to set big targets or chase down scores with relative ease.
A quick glance at the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup stats shows that Wolvaardt’s name is at the very top of the run-scorers’ list in the whole tournament. The right-handed batter averaged 46 runs per innings, which in the T20 format is almost unheard of.
The batter enjoyed a healthy strike-rate of 106 in the tournament, meaning she was scoring at more than a run a ball – exactly what any coach would ask for from an opening batter in the shortest format of the game.
The opening batter smashed 230 runs in the Proteas Women’s historic World Cup campaign, and reached the half-century mark on three occasions as she took opposition attacks apart with her impeccable batting technique and picturesque cricket strokes.
Beyond the World Cup, Wolvaardt led the Proteas Women with distinction during a historic tour of Pakistan in August, returning home with the ODI series trophy.
Beyond the boundary ropes, the 24-year-old Wolvaardt continues to be an inspiration for young girls and boys who want to pick up the sport as a career.
Marizanne Kapp
In South African cricket, Kapp already carries the status of a legend, having completed her 14th year as a Proteas Women’s player with the same enthusiasm that the all-rounder had on debut back in 2009.
With over 200 international matches under her belt, Kapp’s experience has been key to the success of the team.
When the side were faced with challenges that could have easily led to their demise, the 33-year-old all-rounder stood her ground and put the team first.
The biggest challenge that the team faced this year was that of the exclusion of former captain Dané van Niekerk from the SA T20 World Cup squad, a dramatic saga that could have seen Kapp walk away from international cricket, seeing that Van Niekerk is her spouse.
However, Kapp chose the team, continued turning out for South Africa and put on performances that only a few all-rounders in the world are able to replicate.
With ball in hand, Kapp took nine wickets in the World Cup, two wickets shy from taking the top wicket-taker honours in a home World Cup.
Just recently, Kapp smashed a massive century in the toughest of conditions in Pakistan, and played a vital role in ensuring that South Africa won that ODI series.
Taking the new ball and batting in the top-four is no easy task, but year-in year-out, Kapp gracefully takes on the role of being the backbone of the team.
IOL Sport