Ongama Gcwabe
WITH the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup a little over three months away, the Proteas women will look to turn their ship around following what was a poor summer in the shortest format of the game.
South Africa played in five T20 series last season – away to Pakistan Australia and at home against New Zealand, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – and did not win a single series.
This is a season after the side became the first senior Proteas team to reach a World Cup final when they played Australia in the T20 World Cup decider in Newlands last year. The question is: how did the side regress so much?
“Making the World Cup final at home was very special for us. Bringing cricket to South Africa was a big thing for us and getting our name out there as female cricketers, that was a big high for us," Proteas all-rounder Chloe Tryon told Independent Newspapers.
“How did we go from such a high to a low?” she asked.
“The team has changed quite a bit from then. We’ve got a lot of youngsters coming into the squad and players that have left. I feel like the transition phase is happening.”
The side did have record-breaking achievements last summer, including their first victory against Australia when they beat the World Champions in a T20 match at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.
The side also played good cricket during series draws against Bangladesh and New Zealand only to spoil the season with a series loss to Sri Lanka and tainted what would have been a decent season in the format.
“I think we still played good cricket in patches. We’ve just been really high in one game and completely different in the next,” Tryon said.
“If we can just get consistency, that would be a plus for us. That’s the big thing for us at the moment.
“We’ve reflected a lot on the season itself but we’re starting afresh now with the big series coming up (the tour to India) and we’re just making sure that we’re taking the lessons that we had last season.”
On the positive side, South Africa faced really good opposition last summer and were tested to their limits.
That is what makes the events of last season ideal for a team that is preparing for the World Cup, knowing they have played against the best teams in the world. Moreover, the Proteas Women played against three subcontinent teams and are set to face yet another subcontinent team in India next month.
This is exactly what they need building up to a World Cup that will be staged in the subcontinent, knowing that they have faced teams with game plans and skills suitable for the conditions they will face in the World Cup in Bangladesh.
“This has been the best preparation (one) can get,” Tryon admitted.
“We know the World Cup will be in the subcontinent, (played on wickets) which will be a lot more slower and turn quite a bit.
“I think India will be a big series because it’s the subcontinent, the wickets are slower, it’s quite hot as well over there and those all play big factors. We need to figure out what’s going to work for us as a team and adjust to the conditions.”