Unique experience for Proteas as they prepare for historic T20 series against Zimbabwe

Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt admits she is facing a new learning curve as the leader of the national team, as the SA side prepare to face African opposition for the first time in a historic opening game of a five-match women’s T20 International series against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Friday (1.30pm start).

The second-string national squad included four uncapped players: Caitlin Wyngaard, Luyanda Nzuza, Nthabiseng Nini and Jae-Leigh Filander, who was called up as a replacement for injured player Sinalo Jafta.

And with a long list of first-choice players missing from the squad, with youngsters being given a chance against their lowly ranked opposition, Wolvaardt said she looked forward to testing her skills as the Proteas skipper.

“I think with senior bowlers it’s easy to sort of fall into a routine. They know the fields, we’re on the same wavelength and we almost don’t need to speak about it … so I think this will be a little bit different,” Wolvaardt said.

“I’m still trying to get to know a lot of the new young bowlers. We’ll see on field how it goes. How players react under pressure is all very different, so there are a lot of things for me to learn as a captain, but I’m excited for the opportunity and to work with some new players.”

Close to home

The tour to Zimbabwe, which was set to include five T20 games in Bulawayo, was a unique experience for Wolvaardt and her teammates in more ways than one.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve played in a new country at a new venue against new opposition, so that’s pretty exciting,” she said.

“I think at the start of your career you have a lot of those opportunities, but now when we play against the likes of India it’s the sixth or seventh time we’re playing against them, so this has been really cool. I’m looking forward to seeing how the wicket plays and how the conditions are.

“And it’s really close to home and there are a lot of similarities to home. Some of the stores are the same, some of the TV channels, the food, so it’s a bit of a weird feeling how similar it is even though we’re in a different country.”