“I knew from a very young age that I love playing cricket and that I wanted to represent my country.”
Getting to know Mieke de Ridder, the new lady on the block.
The depth and quality of a talent pool is always tested when there are multiple retirements and this time, South Africa’s talent pool is going to be tested. The Momentum Proteas have lost quite a few of their senior players to retirement and for every retirement, opens a spot for someone else. It is unfortunate that the players who have retired are players who formed the core of them but, like they say, “The show must go on”. With retirements and injuries being something that exist, selected squads are likely to have one or two new kids on the block and, this time, for the Momentum Proteas, it is Wicket-keeper batter, Mieke de Ridder.
The biggest challenge with women’s cricket in the country is that fact that you really have to follow women’s cricket in order to know the players. However, with domestic matches hardly ever being covered, you might still end up not knowing them.
I took the opportunity to have a chat with Mieke de Ridder about her journey in and with cricket from when she started till date.
Mieke (27) was born in Cradock but moved to then Port Elizabeth (Now Gqeberha) when she was a few months old. She grew up in Gqeberha where she was schooled at Charlo Primary School and Hoerskool DF Malherbe. She is one of two siblings.
Unlike most women and girls I have spoken to, Mieke’s story of how she started playing the game does not involve a big brother nor an uncle. She explains how she got into cricket, “My father used to play cricket at school and at club level and I saw his equipment at home and me being sporty and always being busy grabbed the kit and wanted to play with it.” Seeing her father’s equipment did not only get Mieke interested in the game but, also prompted her parents to buy her what she calls, “typical cricket starter kits”, which had little stumps, little bat, and a ball. This also led to some more father-daughter games in their yard as Mieke describes how she nagged her father to throw for her so she could bat. Perhaps a bit of a break for her father as she later started playing mini cricket.
What started as just another interest for a then young Mieke later become something serious as she grew older and progressed through the ranks of cricket. The 27-year-old currently plays for the Garden Route Badgers women’s team, where she will be playing her second season. She has been around for a while and has played for several teams, from representative cricket where she played For Eastern Province U-19 and SA u-19. She has also bid some time playing club cricket as she started off at Old Grey Ladies 1st before moving to a developing Madibaz ladies 1st side, where she was one of the first players. She later moved to Jendamark United Ladies 1st before relocating to where she now plays for Union Stars Ladies 1st team. Other teams Mieke has played for include, EP senior women’s team, Starlight WSL 4.0 and the National Academy side which led to her maiden Momentum Proteas call up.
Anyone who follows women’s cricket will have an idea of how tough it is for the women. I have seen a number of ladies give up on the way for multiple reasons but, Mieke has kept going and that has yielded results for her.
Mieke describes her journey, “Very interesting journey to say the least. I knew from a very young age that I love playing cricket and that I wanted to represent my country. I was fully driven/committed in achieving this. After matric I had to make the tough decision to take a break from cricket to pursue my studies in Architecture. After completing my studies, I took up cricket again as the passion I had for cricket was still there. I played for EP Women’s Team for a season or 2 before the Garden Route Badgers made me an offer to come and play for them (they play top 6 league which is the league you want to be playing in to improve and be seen, EP plays lower league). After my first season with the Badgers, I got selected to play in the Women’s Super League for the Starlight’s team from where I got invited to the National Academy of 2023 as well as being invited to National Camps with the Protea Ladies. After attending the most recent camp I got my call up to represent the Proteas vs Pakistan in Pakistan. So yes, quite the journey.”
According to Mieke, playing cricket back in university, where she played for Madibaz cc is what kept the passion going as she probably would have been in an office somewhere if she had not been playing cricket. She further mentions how playing for Jendamark United helped her get back into a more competitive environment and praises the club’s “family like support system.”
“At first it was a huge adjustment for me. I moved to a different Province, new town not knowing many people and leaving my loved ones behind. But the people at SWD made me feel very welcomed and before I knew it, I was part of the SWD family.” In sport sometimes, all a player needs is a different scenery or environment and this is something that has worked for a number of players. Moving to SWD helped Mieke get recognition and with that came more, better opportunities.
I asked Mieke which coach has had the biggest impact on her, and her response is one that particularly made me happy. As a women’s coach myself, I have found that a lot of girls look up to males mostly in cricket and it is not because there are no women in the sport but, they are not accessible to them.
Mieke credits Claire Terblanche and says, “Claire Terblanche. She coached me at a young age, and she played a massive role in me becoming a wicket keeper batsman. She was my coach at EP u/19 and then later on at the EP Women’s Team too. She drilled me to be better each day and to continue working hard no matter what challenges you faced nor what you have achieved.”
Mieke says her trust in God and the belief that she can achieve the goals she sets out for herself along with her drive to succeed is what keeps her motivated.
A word from Mieke de Ridder to aspiring cricketers (Girls)
“I believe that cricket is genuinely a career option for females. Things has changed drastically over the last few years and there is a lot of exciting things on the way. If cricket is a passion of yours and you would like to pursue it, I would say commit fully and enjoy every second of it.”
Fun fact about Mieke – She is also a qualified Umpire.