Laura Wolvaardt has been formally designated captain of the South Africa Women’s all-formats team, and the 15-man Twenty20 International selection for the white-ball series against Bangladesh that the CSA will host next month has also been announced.
Following a successful tenure as interim captain during the recent home series against Pakistan and New Zealand, both of which South Africa won 2-1, Wolvaardt, 24 years old, assumes the position of captain on a permanent basis. She has represented her country in 86 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 59 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), amassing 3421 runs with 30 fifties and four hundreds in 50-over cricket and 1313 runs at an average of 32.82 with nine half-centuries in the shortest format. Wolvaardt debuted in the Test when South Africa resumed red-ball cricket during their tour of England last year.
Although Wolvaardt will be in command of his first season as full-time captain, there will be few notable absences. The T20I series commencing in Benoni on December 3rd will be without centrally contracted athletes Ayabonga Khaka (knee injury), Chloe Tyron (groin), and Nadine de Klerk (side strain), all of whom are fast bowlers.
Conversely, Marizanne Kapp, an experienced all-rounder, has been excused for the Twenty20 Internationals and will make her return for the pivotal One-Day International series comprising the Women’s ODI Championship 2022-25. In due course, the squad for the ODI series that commences on December 16 in East London will be disclosed.
“Having Laura Wolvaardt as the official captain, together with a blend of young and experienced players bodes well for our succession planning,” said the Convenor of Selectors, Clinton du Preez. “It will also assist within the excitement we have around the squad in giving young players an opportunity and therefore we are looking forward to seeing them put up their hand and make impactful performances in this upcoming tour.
“We are excited to provide an opportunity to our extended identified group, especially on the back of some injuries. This allows us to have an indepth look at players for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup taking place next year in Bangladesh.
“The inclusion of Ayanda Hlubi and Eliz-Mari Marx gives great confidence to rewarding performances at the professional level. They have been instrumental with their domestic performances in the past season for their respective provinces,”
Hilton Moreeng, head coach: “From our standpoint, it is essential to build upon the positive progress that has already been made. We are cognizant of the fact that Bangladesh has recently returned from a highly successful tour against Pakistan.
“For the T20Is, this is where we are going to look, where possible, to blend in youngsters and give an opportunity to expose them at this level to keep growing the base. Overall, we have a lot of good youngsters coming through and the squad is becoming stronger and stronger every day with a more challenging environment, so we as a team are looking forward to that.
“It’s another opportunity for some of these youngsters to show what they can do while not losing sight of what we want to achieve overall when it comes to the entire tour,” he concluded.
