The Women's U19 World Cup could aid the growth of Women's cricket in South Africa.
5 key players for the SA Women's U19 side and a brief look at how the world cup could benefit South African women's cricket.
“Better late than never” a wiseman once said, and perhaps the ICC too may say in its own defence. The first ever edition of the men’s u19 world cup was held in 1988 in Australia and the first edition of the women’s tournament is only going to happen next year. 35 years later. It is however, a good thing that the women’s game will also have a youth World Cup although the women’s u19 World Cup will be in the form of a T20 tournament. Initially the tournament was set to take place in 2021 but was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19. It was later announced that South Africa would host the tournament just before the main Women’s t20 tournament. The U19 tournament would then serve as a curtain raiser for the main tournament.
Having a youth world cup for women’s cricket will be good for women’s cricket in its entirety and will also aid many if not all the countries in the growing of women’s cricket. South Africa definitely stands to benefit from this tournament in terms of looking to grow women’s cricket and strengthening it at the same time. Having a youth world cup has proven to be very important as we have seen in men’s cricket. The experience and exposure that these players get is invaluable. Players like Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Dewald Brevis(the list could go on and on) all played an U19 cricket world cup. This is a stage where some players made names for themselves. The tournament will present an opportunity to the best u19 female cricketers from the participating countries to showcase their talent and skill in a global tournament. It can never be bigger than this. A youth tournament also contributes to broadening a country’s talent pool and enables a country to have a few players that they can earmark as their next best stars even though national selection will not be exclusive to them.
Even in a South African context, this tournament will play a massive role in growing women’s cricket. South Africa is lacking in terms of development, and it is something that has been a concern for a number of years. For the Momentum Proteas to be able to sustain their position as one of the best in the world and to be able to always compete against the likes of England and Australia, the development of women’s cricket will have to improve and be taken seriously. The U19 World Cup will provide CSA and everyone involved in cricket, women’s cricket in particular with an opportunity to start investing more time and funds into the development of women’s cricket. I wrote an article on Cricket Fanatics Magazine a few months ago suggesting that maybe having a Director of Women’s cricket could best serve women’s cricket in the country. Having someone with a passion that is specific to women’s cricket could ensure that women’s cricket gets the attention it needs.
Currently in South Africa, not many girls have interest in cricket and this could be pinned on a number of different of factors. However, having an U19 tournament could make cricket attractive to young girls and draw their attention whilst making those already involved in cricket want to stay. As mentioned above, the men’s u19 World Cup has served as a stepping stone to many male cricketers and could serve as a stepping stone to many female cricketers too. With all being said, the fact that 13 year olds and 16 year old girls in South Africa will see girls in their age group participating in a World Cup will also contribute to more young girls taking up cricket. The fact that they will have people they can relate to will entice them more. This is a big opportunity for South Africa to take steps in the right direction as far as women’s cricket is involved. Hopefully, the tournament will be properly marketed and that many aspiring cricketers will have access to it.
squad for the world cup has not been announced but Coach Dinesha assembled a strong and an exciting squad last month after a TAP camp. The squad took on Namibia U19 and did really well, winning all their matches. It will be interesting to see who makes the final World Cup squad considering the fact that the World Cup is only early next year. These girls could be the next generation of Momentum Proteas so seeing how they progress from hereon is something to look out for.
The world cup is still a bit far off but there are some pretty exciting players that are most likely to make the final squad if fit.
1. Elandri Janse van Rensburg – Interesting enough, I picked Elandri in my top 5 players to look out for in an article for Cricket Fanatics magazine. Elandri is an aggressive top order batter who plays for North West. She is arguably one of the most exciting youngsters in South African cricket at the moment. She recently won U19 girls week player of the tournament.
2. Karabo Meso – The Lions Wicketkeeper-Batter, diminutive in stature but a very classy batter who runs really well between the wickets.
3. Kayla Reyneke – A hard hitting top order batter just like Elandri. Kayla plays for Western Province and bowls some off spin as well. Her offspinners could play a massive role for the team together with her exciting batting.
4. Refilwe Moncho – Another Lions youngster. I saw Refilwe for the first at the U19 girls week. She bowled with decent pace but what caught my attention more was her accuracy and her ability to bowl yorkers. She would definitely be my first pick of all the seamers.
5. Madison Landsman – An allrounder from Easterns, Madison also made my top 5 pick for Cricket fanatics magazine. Very classy batter who can also take the game away from opposition. She bowls leg spin and has played in the CSA Women’s T20 tournament.
Even though there was a squad of 15 selected for the series against Namibia, picking the final squad for the World Cup will not be easy for the selectors. There is a large group of quality young girls and each one can easily win you a game on their day. However, I do not expect the squad to change much unless there are any injuries because ideally, as a coach you would like to have some continuity. The fact that most of these girls have played some senior provincial cricket will also work in their favour and in the favour of the team heading into the tournament.