Cricket South Africa has announced a 17-player squad for the upcoming tri-series that will feature India and the West Indies slated to begin on 19th January 2023 and will go on till 2nd February 2023.
This series will serve as practice for the teams who will ideally look to try out strategies and different combinations ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup that will kick off on 10th February 2023. Clinton Du Preez, the selector ahead of the series was quoted saying, “As we go into our final preparation for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, I believe that the tri-series is a great opportunity for us to close out the squad. We are quite excited and looking forward to the tri-series and the players that have been included in the squad. It’s (also) a great opportunity for everybody to really come out and stake a claim for the World Cup.”
Here is the 17-member squad chosen:
Suné Luus (Captain), Chloé Tryon (Vice-Captain), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Tebogo Macheke, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Delmi Tucker, Laura Wolvaardt
Takeaways:
The squad features two uncapped players with Annerie Dercksen and Tebogo Macheke making it in the squad on the back of dominant performances in the domestic circuit.
The squad features the return of the famed duo of Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp who were a part of The Hundred’s second-time successful team, The Oval Invincibles and with the same duo besides Chloe Tryon, Laura Wolvaardt who also plied their trade in the WBBL added a lot of firepower to this side.
In a surprising move on the grounds of fitness, Dane van Niekerk missed out on getting selected as she was not able to match up to the national standard in the physical battery assessment. Her game was affected by a freak injury that sidelined her for a significant period of time in the past year and continues to haunt her. Commenting on the same in a press release, Convenor of Selectors, Clinton du Preez was quoted saying “Dane has progressed very well and it’s a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, she did not meet the minimum national standards and therefore is ineligible for selection and we will continue working on her fitness as we continue through the tri-series, to assess her eligibility for the World Cup.”
A look back at South Africa’s past performances is not very promising as they have been unable to advance past the knockouts of the major multination tournaments in recent years and make it big. This T20 World Cup appears to be an ideal opportunity for them to make history by capitalizing on their home advantage. In the first game of the tri-series, they will face India. The Women in Blue, who came second at the CWG 2022, enter this series after a 1-4 setback to Australia at home last month.
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.
