South African batter Laura Wolvaardt

• Laura Wolvaardt has been confirmed as the new captain of the Proteas Women.
• The 24-year-old will be South Africa’s permanent captain in all three formats.
• Cricket SA also named a 15-player T20 squad set to face Bangladesh on home soil in December.
• For more sports news, go to the News24 Sport front page.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Friday confirmed that Laura Wolvaardt will be the permanent captain of the Proteas Women in all three formats of the game.

Wolvaardt takes over the reins full-time after a successful tenure as interim captain during the recent tours against Pakistan and New Zealand. She led from the front with the bat, helping her team to back-to-back 2-1 ODI series victories.

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Wolvaardt, 24, took over from Sune Luus, who captained the SA women during the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Luus had stepped in for former skipper Dane van Niekerk, who struggled for form and fitness and subsequently retired.

Wolvaardt has already appeared in 86 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and 59 T20Is, scoring 3 421 runs with 30 fifties and four hundreds in the 50-over format. In T20s, she’s scored 1 313 runs at an average of 32.82 with nine half-centuries. 

CSA, meanwhile, also named a 15-player T20 squad set to face Bangladesh on home soil.

In the T20I series, to be played from 3-8 December, Wolvaardt will oversee a squad blended with youth and experience. SA U19 and SA Emerging stars, Ayanda Hlubi and Eliz-Mari Marx, will also earn their maiden international call-ups in the shorter format. 

Returning to the national fold for the first time since injuring her hand during the winter is Garden Route Badgers all-rounder Annerie Dercksen, who gets a reward for solid performances at domestic and Emerging level at the start of the new season. 

Among the centrally contracted players not available for the T20I series are fast bowler Ayabonga Khaka (knee injury) and all-rounders Chloe Tryon (groin) and Nadine de Klerk (side strain). Meanwhile, experienced campaigner Marizanne Kapp is rested for the T20Is and will return for the crucial ODI series. 

The Proteas Women squad for the three-match ODI series will be announced ahead of the 50-over encounters which are being held in East London, Potchefstroom and Benoni between 16-23 December. The ODI matches form part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 (IWC) in pursuit of qualification for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025. 

“Having Laura Wolvaardt as the official captain, together with a blend of young and experienced players bodes well for our succession planning. It will also assist within the excitement we have around the squad in giving young players an opportunity and therefore we are looking forward to seeing them put up their hand and make impactful performances in this upcoming tour,” convenor of selectors, Clinton du Preez, said.

“A few of our senior players are not available for the T20-leg of the Bangladesh Tour due to injury and those returning from the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). We are excited to provide an opportunity to our extended identified group, especially on the back of some injuries. This allows us to have an in-depth look at players for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup taking place next year in Bangladesh. 

“The inclusion of Ayanda Hlubi and Eliz-Mari Marx gives great confidence to rewarding performances at the professional level. They have been instrumental with their domestic performances in the past season for their respective provinces.”

SA women’s head coach Hilton Moreeng added: “From our perspective, it is about continuing the good work that has been done. We know we are playing against Bangladesh who just came off a very successful tour against Pakistan.

“For the T20Is, this is where we are going to look, where possible, to blend in youngsters and give an opportunity to expose them at this level to keep growing the base. Overall, we have a lot of good youngsters coming through and the squad is becoming stronger and stronger every day with a more challenging environment, so we as a team are looking forward to that. 

“It’s another opportunity for some of these youngsters to show what they can do while not losing sight of what we want to achieve overall when it comes to the entire tour.”