Photo Credit: Ashley Vlotman / Cricket South Africa
Cricket South Africa (CSA) are pleased to announce the fixtures as well as the three domestic squad ahead of the 2022 CSA Women’s T20 Super League (WSL) being hosted at the Six Gun Grill Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town between 12 – 16 December.
A host of recently capped Momentum Proteas and SA Emerging (High-Performance) players, including some of the standout domestic cricketers and rising stars, have been named to represent the Coronations, Starlights and the Thistles in this season’s premier T20 extravaganza.
The SA U19 Women’s side, which will be the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup squad and the WSL squad (with an additional three players) will be announced on Wednesday, 07 December.
During the five days of the competition, there will be four triple header days to make up 12 T20 matches, with rest taken on the third day.
The matches will get underway at 09h00, 13h30 and 18h00 SAST, with free entry for all supporters at the stadium. The games will also be streamed live via CSA’s YouTube Channel, with updates available on ProteasWomenCSA on Instagram and Facebook.
All four sides will be led by a female head coach, with Martelize van de Merwe mentoring the Coronations, with the Starlights and the Thistles under the tutelage of Claire Terblanche and Yolandi van der Westhuizen. This is in addition to SA U19s’ Dinesha Devnarain.
When looking at the teams, the Coronations possess Proteas Women stalwarts, Suné Luus and Ayabonga Khaka along with fellow national players, Lara Goodall, and Nadine de Klerk. They will also have talents and experienced players such as Nobulumko Baneti, Saarah Smith and Kirstie Thomson to call upon.
The Starlights’ 13-player squad is headlined by South African captain, Dané van Niekerk, who will be making her long-awaited return to domestic cricket. She will be flanked by Proteas teammates Tazmin Brits, Masabata Klaas as well as Anneke Bosch and Delmi Tucker, with notable domestic cricketers, namely Leah Jones, Izel Cilliers and Jané Winster making up a competitive contingent.
Meanwhile, the Thistles will be able to count the likes of Proteas trio, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Andrie Steyn and Tumi Sekhukhune amongst their ranks, including the versatile and durable quartet of Faye Tunnicliffe, Tebogo Macheke, Paulinah Mashishi and Olympic silver medallist Sunette Viljoen-Louw.
Notable omissions from this year’s WSL include those who competed at the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia, specifically Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp as well as Chloé
Tryon and Mignon du Preez. Wicketkeepers, Trisha Chetty and Sinalo Jafta will also miss out due to injury and personal reasons, respectively.
CSA Convenor of Selectors, Clinton du Preez commented:
“The identification of the players is a process. It’s followed by the selection panel in conjunction with the High-Performance Coach, trying to find the balance between available national and high performance players but then also rewarding players for the past season’s performances with intentions of strengthening the pipeline and ensuring succession planning.
“Importantly, it’s looking at players in a different environment, to see how they perform in various matchups,” he added.
“Consistent performance remain a high priority. It is important to have a sustainable and strong pipeline as this provides an opportunity of a bigger base to select from.
“Planning for the World Cup started a few years ago and we have a group of identified players. We also have to be prepared for all scenarios and the door for selection is never shut. This was proven in previous World Cups and bi-lateral tours where we have been impacted by injuries or players’ unavailability.
“As a selection panel, we need to ensure that we have sustainable options to select from and therefore a competition like the WSL is key for future events,” du Preez concluded.
WSL 4.0 Squads (13-player squads):
Coronations –
Nobulumko Baneti (Hollywoodbets Dolphins, Jade de Figuerido (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Nadine de Klerk (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Lizri de Villiers (North West Dragons), Lara Goodall (Six Gun Western Province), Julia Hoal (Boland), Ayabonga Khaka (DP World Lions), Lerato Langa (Eastern Storm), Tabitha le Grange (Boland), Suné Luus (Fidelity Titans), Asakhe Nyovane (Eastern Cape Iinyathi), Saarah Smith (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Kirstie Thomson (DP World Lions),
Head Coach: Martelize van der Merwe, Assistant Coach: Neo Sekokotla
Starlights –
Anneke Bosch (North West Dragons), Tazmin Brits (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Izel Cilliers (North West Dragons), Mieke de Ridder (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Ghandi Jafta (Fidelity Titans), Leah Jones (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Masabata Klaas (North West Dragons), Palesa Mapoo (DP World Lions), Khayakazi Mathe (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Raisibe Ntozakhe (DP World Lions), Delmi Tucker (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Dané Van Niekerk (Eastern Province), Jané Winster (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers)
Head Coach: Claire Terblanche; Assistant Coach: Byron Fraser
Thistles –
Micaéla Andrews (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Annerie Dercksen (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Alyssa Erxleben (North West Dragons), Tebogo Macheke (Fidelity Titans), Eliz-Mari Marx (Fidelity Titans), Paulinah Mashishi (Fidelity Titans), Nonkululeko Mlaba (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Verunissa Reddy (Eastern Storm), Nondumiso Shangase (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Tumi Sekhukhune (DP World Lions), Andrie Steyn (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Faye Tunnicliffe (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Sunette Viljoen-Louw (Fidelity Titans),
Head Coach: Yolandi van der Westhuizen; Assistant Coach: Shaun Pretorius
WSL 4.0 Fixtures at Six Gun Grill Newlands Cricket Ground:
Monday, 12 December:
09h00 SAST – Starlights vs SA U19
13h30 SAST – Coronations vs Thistles
18h00 SAST – Thistles vs Starlights
Tuesday, 13 December
09h00 SAST – Starlights vs Coronations
13h30 SAST – Thistles vs SA U19
18h00 SAST – Coronations vs SA U19
Wednesday, 14 December
Rest Day
Thursday, 15 December
09h00 SAST – Thistles vs Coronations
13h30 SAST – Starlights vs Thistles
18h00 SAST – SA U19 vs Starlights
Friday, 16 December
09h00 SAST – SA U19 vs Thistles
13h30 SAST – SA U19 vs Thistles
18h00 SAST – Coronations vs Starlights
