OBAKENG MELETSE
The Proteas Women are fine-tuning their skills at a six-day camp in Durban ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, kicking off their final preparations for the showpiece event.
South Africa hosted the last T20 World Cup last year, losing by 19 runs against six-time winners and defending champions Australia in the final in Cape Town. Laura Woolvaardt led a resilient Proteas side to their maiden Women’s T20 World Cup final and the hope will be to go one better later this year.
South Africa’s finest have risen to the occasion! 🏏🏆🇿🇦
Who will be crowned the best of the best? #CSAawards2024 #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #AlwaysRising pic.twitter.com/aKR2m5Gl7n
South Africa’s finest have risen to the occasion! 🏏🏆🇿🇦
— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) August 23, 2024
Who will be crowned the best of the best? #CSAawards2024 #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #AlwaysRising pic.twitter.com/aKR2m5Gl7n
Interim coach Dillon du Preez had a full-strength squad available for the camp that started yesterday, with the tournament starting on October 3. Last week, the International Cricket Council (ICC) moved the tournament from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to political instability and security concerns in Bangladesh.
The Proteas recently toured India, and even though things didn’t go according to plan in the ODIs and one-off Test, the 1-1 draw in the T20 series gave a lot of perspective ahead of what is expected will be similar conditions in the UAE.
Du Preez highlighted the importance of the camp in ensuring the readiness of the team, as well as getting a clearer picture of the final team that will be selected for the tournament.
“We also have Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp back from The Hundred and they will be joining us at the camp. Unfortunately, Delmi Tucker will miss out due to an operation on her shoulder and will only return early next year.”
“The camp will give us a final opportunity to assess all the players and to start finalising their roles,” he said.
“With the World Cup only five weeks away, this training camp becomes important for us just to make sure things start falling into place from a skills, team culture and conditioning perspective. We’re very close to finalising our World Cup squad and the camp will give us some time to assess the players, looking at form, fitness and overall readiness before we make a final decision.
“The outcome of the Durban camp will be crucial to help us ensure that we have the best possible squad ready for the World Cup, with the camp largely focusing on match scenarios.”
The 42-year-old Du Preez confirmed that all-rounder Delmi Tucker’s World Cup dream has been ended by injury, while the star duo of Marizanne Kapp and Wolvaardt will be back from their duties elsewhere. All-rounder Nadine de Klerk will also be in camp as she continues to recover from an Achilles injury.
The pair of Kapp and Wolvaardt are in good form and well travelled, featuring in a lot of tournaments around the world, including the Women’s Premier League in India, and they will once again be required to play crucial roles in the top and middle order, respectively.
“We also have Wolvaardt and Kapp back from The Hundred and they will be joining us at the camp. Unfortunately, Tucker will miss out due to an operation on her shoulder and will only return early next year,” Du Preez concluded.
Their training camp began yesterday at Kingsmead in Durban.