South Africa Captain Acknowledges Challenge of Adapting to Test Format
South Africa women’s cricket team captain Laura Wolvaardt has expressed concerns over her side’s lack of preparation for the upcoming Test match against India in Chennai. Wolvaardt highlighted the challenges of “coming straight into an international multi-day game” without any recent experience in the longer format.
“It’s obviously a challenge for most of us having any sort of preparation in the format,” Wolvaardt said. “Just coming straight into an international multi-day game is difficult. For example, balls that I’ve been cover-driving my whole life, I now need to leave, which is difficult for me because it just happens on instinct and I have to fight the way that I’ve been batting for my entire career.”
Wolvaardt emphasized the need for South Africa to either play more Test cricket domestically or “just leave” the format altogether, as the lack of red-ball preparation makes it extremely tough to adapt. She hopes that conversations are ongoing within Cricket South Africa to provide more opportunities for women to play domestic long-form cricket.
The captain also acknowledged the challenge of batting on the spin-friendly Chepauk pitch, which is vastly different from the conditions the team is used to at home. However, Wolvaardt is hopeful that their talented spinners, such as Nonkululeko Mlaba, can make an impact in the Test.
South Africa are scheduled to play three Tests this year, including the upcoming match against India and a one-off Test against England in Bloemfontein in December. This increased exposure to the longer format is something Wolvaardt and her team have desired for a long time.
“I think getting opportunity to play more Test cricket is awesome and something that a lot of our girls are really looking forward to is playing more Tests. Obviously having three scheduled in a calendar year is pretty cool and something that I’ve wanted to see for a long time.”
Despite the challenges, Wolvaardt and her team are eager to embrace the Test format and hope to adapt to the conditions in Chennai to put on a good show.
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