Proteas Women star Nonkululeko Mlaba signs with Jamaica Empress in WCPL

Mlaba will jet off to Barbados on Tuesday to link up with her teammates at the newly established team, which is part of the reason she won’t be travelling with the national team to Zimbabwe for a T20 International series.

The left-arm spinner says she would have loved to do duty for the Proteas Women, but also believes it’s a good opportunity for younger players to gain some international experience.

"No I'm not really rested, I think if I was gonna be available I was gonna play as well because I love representing my country. It's just that there's an opportunity you're gonna see soon but it's always good to see the youngsters coming up and having them getting an opportunity and experience,” Mlaba said.

“It's also gonna help a lot in provincials that they are getting the experience and come back with experience."

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The 26-year-old brushed off suggestions that there’ll be more competition for places when she returns, and was confident of her spot in coach Mandla Mashimbyi’s team. 

She added that as long as she’s on top of her game, the rest will take care of itself.

"And when it comes to competition, I'm not really a person who thinks that way I like to do what I normally do best and put out the performances for the team and competition is not something I should worry about and I should focus on. If I can focus on myself, the rest will follow,” she added.

Mlaba is in fact hoping some of the youngsters can also provide more options for left-arm spinners like herself and Chloe Tryon, with the scales tipped more in favour of the off-spinners in the team. 

The Proteas Women will take on Zimbabwe in a historic first ever T20 International series between the two sides from Friday September 11.