Zaahier Adams
Laura Wolvaardt relishes any form of responsibility. She has done so ever since childhood when every form of leadership, from head girl to chief scout, was placed on her slight shoulders. But even for someone of Wolvaardt’s temperament, the last 12 months have been utterly exhausting.
It was November last year that she was appointed full time Proteas Women’s captain across all formats. Since then she’s needed to mould together a fractured squad that was divided straight down the middle after long-serving coach Hilton Moreeng had moved to the US after 12 long years at the helm.
This all had to be done without a full-time replacement with bowling coach Dillon du Preez performing the duty on a part-time basis.
It seemed like the relationship, along with batting coach Baakier Abrahams was working symbiotically, which resulted in the Proteas reaching a successive T20 World Cup final in the UAE back in October.
The T20 World Cup campaign would have been mentally draining, especially with the Proteas suffering defeat to New Zealand after being touted as heavy favourites heading into the showpiece due to their demolition of defending champions Australia in their semi-final.
But, instead of taking some time out to reflect on the defeat, Wolvaardt was required by her Australian Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) team, Adelaide Strikers, within a couple of days after the heartbreak in Dubai. It is little coincidence that her return at the WBBL was not up to the usual lofty standards that had seen her finish as the leading run-scorer at the T20 World Cup.
The hangover continued through to the T20I series against England at home where the skipper failed to make an impact, leading to concern that Wolvaardt may be in need of an extended break just to recharge all the batteries.
However, with a major ODI series against England starting at Kimberley today, and once-off Test to come, Wolvaardt feels she is in the right space for the challenge that lay ahead.
“Yeah, it's been a long couple of months. I think it's been a lot of back-to-back, but it's nice coming back to South Africa. It's nice to be back at home now. With the Big Bash all sort of connected, so I haven't been back to Cape Town yet,” Wolvaardt said.
“But coming back into this environment feels a lot more comfortable for me. Obviously, knowing everyone here for years and years, it's like my second home.
“So, I felt a bit of a new kick of energy when I joined up with the squad. I think, you know, in the past, we'd always asked for more cricket. So, now we have a lot of cricket.
“I'm just trying to enjoy it as much as I can, even though it is pretty busy at the moment. This is a big series for us, every game counts in the championship and we want to end as high as we can on the log.
“Obviously, looking to get a win, I think we disappointed ourselves a little bit in the T20 series so we're definitely looking forward to bouncing back in this one. But yeah, it's been a good few months and I have some time off after this.”
The England series will also usher in a new era for the Proteas Women’s team with new coach Mandla Mashimbyi having met the squad for the first time last night. Although Wolvaardt admitted she was not consulted regarding Mashimbyi’s appointment, she was looking forward to working with the former Titans’ Men’s coach.
“Yeah, very excited, he's obviously gotten a lot of experience as a coach, being very successful with Titans over the years.
“I've never worked with him personally but I've heard a lot of good things, and definitely keen looking forward to that introduction and to hearing what his view and his vision is for our team moving forward. Definitely, very excited.”
PROTEAS WOMEN’S SQUAD TO FACE ENGLAND IN KIMBERLEY: Laura Wolvaardt (capt) , Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder, Lara Goodall, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Chloé Tryon