JOHANNESBURG: For the first time since the completion of the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, the Momentum Proteas will reassemble for a demanding two-week national training camp, beginning on Thursday at the Cricket South Africa (CSA) High Performance Centre in Tshwane.

The camp between 05 – 20 May will include fitness assessments and technical skills sessions with two red-ball, inter-squad matches scheduled, as the Proteas Women prepare for their first Test match in eight years in their upcoming multi-format tour of England from 27 June – 25 July.

That tour will be preceded by three T20 Internationals and three ICC Women’s Championship (IWC) One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against Ireland between 03 – 17 June in the city of Dublin.

Ahead of the team’s return to the training ground collectively, head coach Hilton Moreeng shared his goals for the camp.

“We took a lot of positives from the World Cup, and it was important for us to give the players a well-deserved break after almost 90 days away from home, to give them time to regroup and spend time with family.

“There are two boxes we would like to tick (during camp). The first one would be fitness and rehabilitation assessments and then also make sure we touch base with the overall squad, including the high-performance and national academy players,” he added.

“We are also now looking at how we can address the red ball because this will be our first Test match after a very long time, so this camp will be giving everyone an opportunity to play red-ball cricket, which as you know in the country, is not a format that we’ve played a lot. It is going to be new for most players and this will be a good opportunity for them to get exposed to that so we can be ready for the Test match when we get to England,” the coach continued.

An expanded squad of 27 players will see a number of promising talents from the South African Emerging squad, including Nondumiso Shangase, Delmi Tucker and Leah Jones train with the Proteas stars who travelled to the global showpiece in Aotearoa in March.

Five contracted players in Shabnim Ismail, Laura Wolvaardt and Ayabonga Khaka, Including Suné Luus and Marizanne Kapp, as well as Mignon du Preez, who recently retired from ODI and Test cricket, will miss the camp due to their involvement in the inaugural FairBreak Invitational in Dubai.

Captain Dané van Niekerk will briefly join the squad for a medical assessment as she continues to recover from an ankle injury, while all-rounder Anneke Bosch returns from the injury on her right thumb that kept her out of the World Cup 18-player squad.

Clinton Du Preez, the Momentum Proteas’ Convenor of Selectors said:

“We have a few players away at the FairBreak tournament in Dubai and therefore it poses a great opportunity for the emerging and the provincial players who have done well in domestic cricket to attend the national camp to put themselves out there with the rest of the nationally contracted squad,” he commented.

Following the Ireland and England tours, the ladies will then turn their attention to their historic campaign in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, getting underway from 29 July with the gold medal match on Sunday, 07 August. South Africa are drawn in Group B with England, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka.

“We have to ensure that we balance the outcomes of both formats as we prepare for the Women’s Championship and also the T20 focus as this will be our inaugural participation in the Commonwealth Games, which will also be great preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup to be hosted in South Africa in 2023,” du Preez noted.


Momentum Proteas National Training Camp Squad (27 Players):

Anneke Bosch (Senwes Dragons), Nobulumko Baneti (Border), Tazmin Brits (Senwes Dragons), Trisha Chetty (Hollywoodbets KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Nadine de Klerk (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Annerie Dercksen (Free State), Lara Goodall (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Sinalo Jafta (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Masabata Klaas (Senwes Dragons), Lizelle Lee (Senwes Dragons), Nonkululeko Mlaba (Hollywoodbets KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Raisibe Ntozakhe (Imperial Lions), Tumi Sekhukhune (Imperial Lions), Nondumiso Shangase (Hollywoodbets KwaZulu-Natal Coastal) Andrie Steyn (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Chloé Tryon (Hollywoodbets KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Delmi Tucker (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Faye Tunnicliffe (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Jane Winster (SWD), Leah Jones (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Nicole de Klerk (Hollywoodbets KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Micaela Andrews (SWD), Courtney Gounden (Hollywoodbets KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Elize-Mari Marx (Titans Ladies), Tebogo Macheke (Limpopo), Anri Grobbelaar (Six Gun Grill Western Province). Paulinha Mashishi (Titans Ladies)

Momentum Proteas upcoming fixtures:

Ireland Itinerary:
T20 International Series:
Friday, 03 June – 1st T20I – Ireland vs South Africa (Pembroke, Dublin)
Monday, 06 June – 2nd T20I – Ireland vs South Africa (Pembroke, Dublin)
Wednesday, 08 June – 3rd T20I – Ireland vs South Africa (Pembroke, Dublin)
One-Day International Series:
Saturday, 11 June – Ireland vs South Africa (Clontarf, Dublin)
Tuesday, 14 June– Ireland vs South Africa (Clontarf, Dublin)
Friday, 17 June – Ireland vs South Africa (Clontarf¸ Dublin)

England Itinerary:
Only Test –
Monday, 27 June – Thursday June 30 @ 11h00 local time – Once-off Test – England vs South Africa (Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton)
One-Day International Series –
Monday, 11 July @ 14h00 local time – 1st ODI – England vs South Africa (The County Ground, Northampton)
Friday, 15 July @ 14h00 local time – 2nd ODI – England vs South Africa (Bristol County Ground, Bristol)
Monday, 18 July @ 14h00 local time – 3rd ODI – England vs South Africa (The Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester)
T20 Series –
Thursday, 21 July @ 19h00 local time – 1st T20 – England vs South Africa (The Cloudfm County Ground, Chelmsford)
Saturday, 23 July @ 14h30 local time – 2nd T20 – England vs South Africa (Blackfinch New Road, Worcester)
Monday, 25 July @ 18h30 local time – 3rd T20 – England vs South Africa (The Incora County Ground, Derby)

[Submitted by Kevin Rademeyer]