Runners-up of last year’s T20 World Cup have had to reboot with impetus on data a part of it
Shashank Kishore03-Oct-2024Laura Wolvaardt was an epitome of calm. On captains’ day in Dubai, she was unmoved by the commotion that’s not unusual during pre-tournament media drills, sitting in a quiet corner and soaking in the magnitude of what she’s likely to experience over the coming three weeks.The calmness remained through some intense questions on pay parity, the game’s administration, the weight of expectation and captaincy. The only ever time she hesitated was when asked to sit on a camel for the grand photo shoot.Over the past week, Wolvaardt has spent considerable time in the team room – with South Africa’s coaches, pouring over various data points, plans and strategies around spin and powerplay scoring among other things. Beyond the team’s meeting room, there has been plenty of media commitments. All of this packed around two intense practice games.Related
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“At the last World Cup, I remember speaking to her [then captain Sune Luus] and she said that it was a lot of extra stuff that she had to do off field; I never really believed her, but I’ve seen it first-hand now,” Wolvaardt said. “It’s been a lot this week. A lot of interviews and appearances and a lot less free time than I’m used to heading into a competition.”But yeah, I think it comes with the job. It’s just going to be a very busy two or three weeks and if I can give it all my focus in these three weeks, then I can have some time off after that. So it’s all good. It’s good to have other senior players around me as well to help integrate coaching staff and management too. So, I’m not all alone in the meetings, it’s been good to have the support.”Earlier this year, South Africa’s long-standing coach Hilton Moreeng stepped away after 11 years in the role. Dillon du Preez, the former Free State fast bowler, is now steering the ship. For the first time, the team also has full-time batting and fielding coaches. This has obviously meant a slight reboot in terms of methods, which, coupled with Wolvaardt being a first-time captain at a World Cup, has meant slightly longer hours of planning.”Yeah, it’s obviously a bit different now,” Wolvaardt said about the change in coaching setup. “I think most players have never played under anyone besides Hilton. But Dillon, who has over, has been with us [in the system] for four or five years [as Moreeng’s assistant]. So he still kind of knows how things were.
“I think our domestic setup at home isn’t quite at the level yet where you can sort of just seamlessly make the transition into the national side. So, I think wherever we get the chance in a series, we need to try and play youngsters.”Laura Wolvaardt
“And we’ve actually got a batting coach and a fielding coach now this season for the first time officially as well. So, everything just feels really well organised at the moment. And it’s been great just getting a lot of information from a lot of different coaches. So it’s been good. We usually just had a coach and assistant. Even just to have the extra hands in training, just to have specific groups doing specific things, has been awesome.”Du Preez has impressed upon CSA to bring a software partner on board, to help facilitate easy access to data to help with the planning. This data has helped identify areas to improve on and, coupled with fresh ideas on the coaching front, has helped the team go in the direction they’ve wanted to take; a number a players last year expressed a desire to CSA for change on the coaching front, which eventually played a role in Moreeng’s exit. One of the ideas has been Luus turning to offspin (from her current legspin) in a bid to manage herself better and stave off injuries that have hampered her over the years. And it has fitted organically into the team’s plans.”I think it’s good. I think even better than expected with Sune’s offspin coming out really nicely,” Wolvaardt said. “I think that’s sort of been something that we’ve been lacking in the past two years, an offspinner that’s sort of in the side regularly.”And just to have that offspinner in the top four or five, it just gives us that different dynamic if there’s left-handers [in the opposition], just helps a bit with match-ups, because previously we’ve sort of just had the two left-armers and makes it difficult if there’s two left-handers in, for example. So yeah, it’s nice to have that option.”I know she’s been working very closely with Paul Adams who’s come on board a couple of months ago. They’ve been working pretty closely, and they’ve been doing a lot of real technical sessions. And yeah, I think, obviously, she’s been a spinner her whole life, so the switch shouldn’t be too big. I think she understands angles and game-plans and stuff like that. So yeah, it’s been a really good addition.”Another aspect to South Africa’s planning was to integrate talented players from their age-group setups and give them exposure on senior tours. For this World Cup, they handpicked legspinner Seshnie Naidu and seamer Ayanda Hlubi straight out of the Under-19s; the pair played the inaugural women’s Under-19 World Cup last year and both of them were part of the senior team’s recent Pakistan tour.The captains of the ten teams at the T20 World Cup strike a pose – with Laura Wolvaardt on her camel off to the left•ICC/Getty Images”I think obviously there’s nothing that sort of beats international experience,” Wolvaardt said. “I think our domestic setup at home isn’t quite at the level yet where you can sort of just seamlessly make the transition into the national side. So, I think wherever we get the chance in a series, we need to try and play youngsters because at home the level at domestic cricket is not quite where it should be yet. But it’s definitely being worked on.”They’ve introduced new contracts, but it’ll take a year or two before it gets to where it needs to be. So yeah, just giving them exposure, giving them a feel for conditions, for what it’s like playing international cricket. I think the more that we can do that, the better. I think we’ve given a lot of opportunity to youngsters this past season, which has been really good for our development.”Ringing in a shift in mindset and plans have of course led to a few mistakes and, as a result, losses. However, since taking over the captaincy, Wolvaardt’s own form and numbers have skyrocketed.In 19 T20Is since taking over the captaincy, she’s made 686 runs in 17 innings at an average of 45.73 and a strike rate of 127. This is a marked improvement from her previous numbers: average 30.82 across 49 innings with a strike rate of 109.”I just don’t think about my batting as much [after taking over the captaincy], which is a good thing,” Wolvaardt laughed. “I tend to be a bit of an over-thinker in my hotel room. So I think it [captaincy] just distracted me a bit on the field and sort of made me think about the game in a different way. I think more about bowling plans and conditions and that sort of thing.”On Thursday, against West Indies, and beyond that, Wolvaardt and South Africa will hope all the work that has gone into their reboot will bear fruit. They’re in Dubai and Sharjah with added expectations, having finished runners-up at the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup. It may seem like all this adds up to big pressure but, in Wolvaardt, South Africa have a calm leader capable of riding out the storm.