By
Proteas Women captain Laura Wolvaardt says preparations for the ODI tri-series against Sri Lanka and India have gone as well as can go, as the team prepares to depart for Colombo today, where they'll face off with the two nations from next week Tuesday.
The last time the senior team was in action was back in December, when they were soundly beaten by England across all formats of the game here at home. Speaking to SABC Sport, Wolvaardt says she is confident that the four month break and the couple of national training camps they've had this year will stand them in good stead in the island nation.
"I think prep has been very good. We had a bit of time off to reflect and recover from quite a hectic year. Since then, the girls have had two camps.
"This last camp was very match scenario-based, but I think the tour in itself is great preparation for the ODI World Cup later this year, and I'm really glad we have this tour to prepare for that," outlined the Proteas Women captain.
In the absence of experienced campaigners like Marizanne Kapp due to a load management programme, there will be ample opportunities for younger players to stake a claim within the team on the tour. Coach Mandla Mashimbyi named three youth internationals in Karabo Meso, Seshnie Naidu, and Miane Smit as part of the travelling party, with the latter having been a part of the ICC T20 World Cup last year as a reserve.
"Yes, we have a couple of youngsters in the squad. Some of them have been around the group for quite a while, with 'Smitty' (Miane Smit) being at the World Cup, Seshnie and Karabo have also played games before. So it's not like they're entirely new to the set-up.
"They're settling in pretty well. We just want to make them as comfortable as possible and give them the best opportunity to display their talents," explained Wolvaardt.
The ladies have come to within a hair's breadth of winning the T20 World Cup on two occasions in as many years, losing to Australia and New Zealand respectively in each decider. Wolvaardt believes this shows they're not far off in quality and can hold their own amongst the best in the world.
Article by Benjamin Leshoro
