The message is clear from both Head Coach and Convenor of Selectors, Clinton du Preez. This is the squad that is going to deliver South Africa’s first-ever senior World Cup.
There is no other reason why the effervescent Shabnim Ismail would have been coaxed out of retirement. She has the X-factor that the coach clearly feels is missing in the bowling attack that he has been given by CSA’s development pipeline.
Our highest wicket-taker and the fastest-ever women’s international bowler is up for the challenge, wearing the green and gold with pride: “I don’t think that words can describe what it feels like to wear the Proteas badge again.”
In her interview with CSA, Shabnim says that it is nice for her to come back, she’s really happy to have got the call, and has the full support of her family and partner, Trisha Chetty. She doesn’t necessarily think that the team needs her, based on their current performance, but the passion is still there for her to help the team to get to Lord’s and raise that elusive trophy.
Shabnim is looking forward to tackling the opposition with long-term opening bowling partner Marizanne Kapp, with whom she has played 77 T20 Internationals and 99 ODI’s. Kapp is a key member of the squad and will be returning from illness which kept her out of the tour to New Zealand and the inbound T20Is against India. Coach Mashimbyi is happy with the progress and fitness of his premier all-rounder, with a lot of work being done by Marizanne, Dané van Niekerk and Shabnim at CSA’s High-Performance Centre.
Dané, another player whose retirement from international cricket was reversed, showed glimpses of her batting brilliance after being recalled to the SA team for the visits of Ireland and Pakistan. She missed out on the NZ leg of the tour when she sustained a calf injury early on that trip and has now fully recovered. The coach and convenor are backing their big guns to bring home the bacon, and Van Niekerk and Kapp will undoubtedly form the backbone of what was a mainly misfiring middle order for almost the entire summer.
Take away the magnificence of the captain, Laura Wolvaardt, and the consistency of Suné Luus, and the batting has looked brittle. Tazmin Brits has been backed to reverse her slump in form, and all Proteas fans hope that we will see her bringing out the ballerina again in the World Cup.
So Dané and Kappie will be the go-to 4 and 5, likely to start against Australia in the opener. Sinalo Jafta will take the gloves, but might not bat as high as 6, with the other 2 all-rounder slots to be shared between Dercksen, de Klerk, Reyneke and Tryon. The bowling trio of Khaka, Mlaba and Ismail complete the starting eleven, and are also likely to play every game.
It is a squad that combines youth and experience but leans towards experience in the likely starting XI. It seems that Kayla Reyneke will be carrying drinks the entire tournament, except perhaps for the match against the Netherlands. Why do I say that South Africa’s latest T20I sensation will be mostly a spectator? Well, it’s in the coach-speak. When asked about the impact that Reyneke could make, Mashimbyi was quick to say that “if the opportunity presents itself…”, a clear message that she is not in his first-choice team.
The likely bench-warmers will be Reyneke, Sekhukhune, Dercksen and Meso. No doubt this will once again be a great experience for them, but it does mean that 8 of the starting XI will be 30 or over, with Mlaba the youngest member. Mashimbyi was pressed on the impact of an ageing fielding outfit during the team announcement, and he might be trying to convince himself more than anyone else, but he was effusive in his praise for the fitness and ability of his chosen players.
He, Du Preez and the coaching staff will be judged by the performances on the field. It will be a team that will not contain several players who represented South Africa in the past season. Players such as Hlubi, Klaas, Bosch (all with national contracts), Marx, Tunnicliffe, Smit, Shangase, Goodall and Jones. Some of these players were given extended opportunities, while others were not. Perhaps the younger members of this group will get their opportunity in the future, along with Wyngaard, Cowling, Candler, Naidu, Mkhize, Nini and others.
It is not necessarily a settled squad that travels to England, but it is one that contains all the big names that have represented South Africa so proudly and, more recently, successfully. This could be the last hurrah at ICC tournament level for many in the squad. Let’s hope it’s a big one.
One thing that is for certain is that there will be millions of South Africans rooting for our ladies, which is a testament to how far Women’s cricket has come in South Africa in a very short time. The Proteas ladies have grabbed the attention of the nation in a way that the men seemingly could never do. Their togetherness, enthusiasm, fun and enjoyment are always on display. This is a package deal that undoubtedly is enhanced by their larger-than-life, charismatic coach.
This is his team, architected from what is available to him, right now. Whilst I may not be 100% convinced that all the cornerstones in his design are steady, I guess the only thing that matters in the end is whether the trophy cabinet in the lounge is filled. Go well, Proteas, and bring the big silverware home!