Former England World Cup-winning captain and current Titans team manager Karen Smithies has urged Cricket SA to carefully overhaul the senior national women’s team.
The Proteas were completely outplayed by England in the semifinal to crash out of the ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand this week after they impressed by winning five nail-biting matches during the early stages.
The 53-year-old Smithies — widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the women’s game — has intimate knowledge of the state of women’s cricket in SA, having worked in the country for almost 20 years.
Asked to review the team’s performance, Smithies, who holds a Level-3 coaching qualification, said it was disappointing the way they lost to England but focus must be on rebuilding the team.
“I have heard that this will be the last tournament for players like Mignon du Preez (32) and a few others,” she said.
Some of the senior players that went to the World Cup include Marizanne Kapp (32), Trisha Chetty (33), Shabnim Ismail (33), Masabata Klaas (31), Lizelle Lee (30) and Tazmin Brits (31). Captain Dane van Niekerk (28) missed the tournament due to injury.
“This was their time to try and win the World Cup but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. They had a massive chance ... simply because of the build-up they had where they won five matches.
“The only thing that was missing was their leader (Van Niekerk), but to be honest this felt like their moment. Some of these senior players we mentioned can still play international cricket, it is just a matter of finding the right balance by mixing them with the younger ones.”
This was their time to try and win the World Cup but unfortunately it wasn’t to be
Smithies said the team should be built around players like Lara Goodall (25), Suné Luus (26), Sinalo Jafta (26), Laura Wolvaardt (22), Tumi Sekhukhune (23), Anneke Bosch (28), Nadine de Klerk (22) and Raisibe Ntozakhe (25).
“I think Lara Goodall has good potential, she is the only left-hander in the line-up and they have to give her a run from here on. Mignon might not be in that top order going forward, so there is a need to evolve around Lara as the anchor in that top order.
“Tazmin Brits has been around although she didn’t really perform and, moving down the order, players like all-rounder Nadine de Klerk and Anneke Bosch must be looked at.
“There have been some whispers about Delmi Tucker from Western Province who played for the Emerging Squad against Bangladesh. There is also Nondumiso Shangase and Nonkululeko Mlaba who have been around. This is the time to give them a run.”
About the future of coach Hilton Moreeng, Smithies said: “He has been there for a long time and he has done a great job. He has taken the team to places they never felt possible. They won a series 4-1 against India away from home, which is massive, but I guess the only thing that will complete his journey will be a World Cup trophy in the bag.”
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