South Africa's captain Laura Wolvaardt previews their t20 WC opener against Ireland

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South Africa's captain Laura Wolvaardt previews their t20 WC opener against Ireland  03/10/2024  Dubai International Stadium, Dubai

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Proteus Women's

00:03pre-match press conference ahead of the opening game against the West Indies

00:07tomorrow. Top of the table we've got Proteus Women captain Laura Vorfart, ready to

00:11take your questions. Can I please just ask you to raise your hand and then we'll

00:15go in that order. Lavanya, please go ahead. Hi Laura, before we get into the cricket I

00:23have to ask you, yesterday's captain's photo that came out was very interesting.

00:27We saw you pacifying that camel. Can you just take us through what that

00:31experience was like with birds and the camels and just the photograph of it all.

00:35Just take us through what happened there and who picked the animals. Yeah, it was

00:39definitely one of the stranger things that I think I've done on a cricket field.

00:41I think Lita might have stitched me up a bit to put me on that camel. But no, it

00:47was good fun. It was very unexpected and light-hearted and fun and the

00:53video came out very cool. We look quite badass with the camels and the

00:56birds. How much were your legs shaking? A little bit. I'm not the

01:02biggest sort of wild animal type of person, so it wasn't my first choice of

01:06thing to do. But yeah, it was alright. They're really like tame and well behaved

01:10and they're really sweet animals. Got it. So when you were doing this and

01:15assuming the team had some time off to just ease out after the warm-up games

01:18and things like that, what's just the conversation around the team with West

01:22Indies and how you guys are going to be approaching this game? Any lessons from

01:25the warm-up fixtures that you've had? Yeah, obviously warm-ups is just mainly

01:29about assessing conditions, trying one or two different things, making sure

01:33everyone has a run in the conditions and that could be, you know, get exposed to a

01:38game later on. So yeah, it's just that. Obviously had some good chats this

01:43morning about the opposition. It's definitely not a team that we can take

01:46lightly. I think you never really know what you're gonna get with the West

01:50Indies. They can either, you know, chase down 250 in a T20 when Hayley Matthews

01:55and Deandra Dutton are on song. So yeah, I think we're definitely gonna have to play

02:00our best cricket and we've had a lot of good chats about their players.

02:05Hi Laura. Just from the observation from yesterday, looking at you on that podium,

02:14sitting just, you know, minding your own business till it actually began, it just, you know,

02:19it just gave the very, you know, first captain, first big tournament vibes.

02:25So just wanted to check with you that, you know, the last World Cup was obviously at

02:29home for you guys and Sunay was the captain there. So has there been

02:34like that sort of discussion between the two of you? In bilaterals it's still, you

02:38know, just one team you're focusing on. So from captaincy and leadership

02:42perspective, have you had a word with Sunay or maybe any of the

02:45other previous captains in terms of how to, you know, take it at a World Cup, at a big tournament,

02:51especially when there are, you know, massive expectations from South Africa?

02:56Yeah, I think at the last World Cup I remember speaking to her and she said that it was a lot of

03:00extra stuff that she had to do off field and I never really believed her, but I've seen it

03:04firsthand now. It's been a lot this week. A lot of sort of interviews and appearances and

03:09a lot less free time than I'm used to heading into a competition. But yeah, I think it

03:15comes with the job. It's just going to be a very busy two or three weeks and if I can

03:19sort of give all my focus in these three weeks and I can have some time off after that.

03:24So it's all good. It's good to have other senior players around me as well to help

03:28integrate coaching staff and management too. So I'm not all alone in the meetings and

03:34stuff like that. So it's been good to have the support.

03:37And since the India series, since we last spoke, you've tried out a couple of fresh spinners in Pakistan

03:44especially in pretty similar hot conditions and then had a couple of games here with them as well.

03:51How is the spin attack specifically shaping up, given this is what we are expecting in

03:56most of the games here?

03:57I think it's good. I think even better than expected with Sune's offspin coming out really nicely.

04:03I think that's sort of been something that we've been lacking in the past two years is a

04:07off spinner that's sort of in the side regularly. And just to have that off spinner in the top

04:13four or five, it just gives us that different dynamic if there's left-handers or just helps

04:18a bit with matchups. Because previously we've sort of just had the two left-armers and makes

04:22it difficult if there's two left-handers in, for example, because it just balls into the arc.

04:28So yeah, it's nice to have that option. Seshni had a good run in Pakistan as well. I think

04:33that was great exposure for her. So now we have quite a few spin options to choose from, which is good.

04:39Just continuing on that, we've been asking this to you, Sune, when she was captaining that

04:46when she's going to ball. And always she's answered in such a way that she didn't want to

04:51give anything away. So I just want to understand what convinced her or who convinced Sune to

04:57ball more, because whatever we've seen, it has just been exceptionally well from her side.

05:02Yeah, well, I think obviously now she's balling the offies instead of the leggies.

05:06I think leg spin can be quite a very difficult thing to do when you sort of lose that rhythm.

05:12I think it's one of the hardest skills to do in cricket. I think it can very easily go

05:17wrong. So I think she just feels she has a bit more control when she's balling the offspin.

05:22And I know she's been working very closely with Paul Adams, who's come on board a couple of

05:27months ago. So they've been working pretty closely. And they've been doing a lot of

05:32real technical sessions. And yeah, I think obviously she's been a spinner her whole life.

05:37So the switch shouldn't be too big. I think she understands angles and game plans and stuff like

05:41that. So yeah, it's been a really good addition. And you mentioned about Sheshni and also you have

05:47Ayanda and Karabo also made a debut from that under 19 bunch that also played at home.

05:53Why do you think that you guys were fast tracking them essentially to the senior side?

05:59Just immediately, it's been like more than one year now since that World Cup, but you feel the

06:04need that these people are really good. So we can take them to the senior side, not just senior side,

06:09but the World Cup, especially with these two. What kind of a skill set or temperament that you saw

06:15in these two that it made essential for them to be part of the World Cup squad?

06:19Yeah, I think obviously, there's nothing that sort of beats international experience.

06:24I think our domestic setup at home isn't quite at the level yet where you can sort of just

06:28seamlessly make the transition into the national side. So I think wherever we get the chance in a

06:33series, we need to try and play youngsters. Because at home, the level at domestic cricket

06:40is not quite where it should be yet. But it's definitely being worked on. They've introduced

06:44new contracts, but it'll take a year or two before it gets to where it needs to be.

06:49So just giving them exposure, giving them a feel for the conditions for what it's like playing

06:53international cricket. Yeah, and I think the more that we can do that, the better. I think we've

06:58given a lot of opportunity to youngsters this past season, which has been really good for our

07:02development. And just last one for me. That same Laura that had long hair, used to play guitar,

07:11wanted to become a doctor, was preparing for that. What's it like looking from that to now

07:17that you're captaining your national side in the World Cup? What has changed and what has

07:22remained same for that, Laura? I definitely have a bit more work to do now when I'm here. I think

07:28back then I could just purely focus on my batting. Yeah, just, you know, focus on myself and what I

07:35needed to do. Whereas now I have a bit more sort of responsibility on the field with the captaincy.

07:40But other than that, I think I'm still the same, still have the same interests and hobbies. So

07:44not too different. Thank you so much. Laura just got some questions from back home.

07:51First one from Stuart Hiss, Times Live. It's been 18 months since your team last faced West Indies.

07:56How much have they changed in that time in terms of their approach and what are the major traits

08:01that they possess? Yeah, obviously Deandra Dotton is back. She's a world-class player. I don't think

08:08she was there the last time that we met them. And yeah, it was obviously in our home conditions the

08:15last time we played against them. We had quite a good series, if I remember correctly. But yeah,

08:19totally different conditions. Hayley Matthews is probably in the best form that she's been in a

08:25long time. I'm not sure if she's scored many runs that series, but she's definitely scored a lot

08:29since then. So I think she's probably the main wicket definitely. If we can sort of find a way

08:35to get her out early, or if not, keep her quiet, I think it'll be good for us. Awesome. And then

08:40just from Marna Skok, Rapport. Are you positive that South Africa can deliver a good performance

08:46at the World Cup this year? I definitely think so. I think we're a very talented group of players.

08:53I think we've had a few ups and downs in recent times, but I like to think that we've put in a

08:57lot of good hard work and have a lot of really clear plans heading into this World Cup. So

09:03hopefully we're peaking at the right time. And I think if we all play our best cricket,

09:06then we stand a really good chance. Awesome. And then last one from Ongama.

09:11There was a lot of progress made in the batting front during the India and the Pakistan tours,

09:16but there were a few disappointing performances with the bat in the two warm-up games.

09:20Are there any lingering concerns in the team going into tomorrow's game?

09:24Yeah, look, obviously not ideal to start the two warm-up games that way, but I guess that's

09:29just what they were as warm-up games. In both games, we weren't playing our strongest XI,

09:35trying a few things here or there, not playing our normal bowling attack either. It was simply

09:40just about getting used to conditions. I think we've had some very fruitful conversations about

09:45those warm-up games, just adapting to conditions a bit slower. I think we could have taken a few

09:50smarter options with the bat. But yeah, I think we've had a few good chats about it and hopefully

09:55we're able to rectify that in the real game. But yeah, I think there's nothing that sort of

10:00matches a World Cup energy. I think everyone will be really pumped when they're out there on the

10:05field and give 120%. So I'm definitely excited. Awesome. Thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen.

10:10That is it for today. Thank you. Thank you.

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