Cricket questions for Proteas women to answer ahead of World Cup

Johannesburg — And now for the World Cup. Actually, now for 10 days of quarantine, then practice, warm-up games and then the World Cup.

The next month is both busy and not busy but will be quite long for the South African team that journeyed to New Zealand on Monday. They go into the 50-over World Cup classed in the category of ‘strong contender.’ They would have been second favourites behind the Australians, but Dane van Niekerk’s injury-induced absence really is that big a blow that it drops the Proteas’ chances down a notch.

Nevertheless, under the astute leadership of Sune Luus, they pulled off a come from behind series win against the West Indies, to provide a necessary boost in confidence after four months of not playing. In addition the absence of Lizelle Lee and Marizanne Kapp for the entire series, showed the depth in the squad while also providing an indication to the rest of the players that they could perform even with some big names not around.

Kapp, who missed the series with a shoulder injury should be fit for South Africa’s first match against Bangladesh in Dunedin on March 5. She bowled a few deliveries during the lunch break on Sunday, and looked close to her best, but the team’s head coach Hilton Moreeng said later that management would continue to treat her carefully in the build up to the tournament. Lee is now over her bout of Covid and is set to resume her partnership at the top of the order with Laura Wolvaardt.

The big question with the batting unit is who will play at no.3. Lara Goodall seems like the primary option for that spot, but did little in the two matches she played to inspire confidence. It did seem strange that given she was going to the World Cup, that she didn’t play the last match