Tshwane, Sep 25 (IANS) Gearing up for a packed home summer featuring two Test matches against India and Australia, Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Friday announced an extended 28-player squad for a four-day red-ball training camp scheduled to be held in Centurion from September 27 to 30.
The training camp, to be held at Irene Cricket Club, is the first of two specialised sessions designed to prepare the Proteas Women for their four-day Test against India, to be played at St George’s Park in Gqeberha from December 9 to 12. It is followed by a marquee Test match against Australia, to be played at Potchefstroom in March next year.
The extended roster features nationally contracted players, Emerging Academy recruits, and top performers from domestic cricket alongside Test-capped regulars like captain Laura Wolvaardt, Suné Luus, Nadine de Klerk, and Anneke Bosch, though Marizanne Kapp is a notable omission.
“This is another great chapter for the Proteas Women as a group. Preparing for and playing red-ball cricket is something that excites us as players and coaches. We are a team that is always eager to learn and grow as cricketers, and the longer format of the game goes a long way towards helping us achieve that continuous development,” head coach Mandla Mashimbyi said in a statement released by CSA.
“We’ve purposefully cast the net wide with the players we have invited to the camp, with the aim of building a solid base of cricketers we can look to when it comes to the skills and mentality required to be successful in red-ball cricket and beyond,” he added.
Mashimbyi also noted that the camp would also help strengthen team culture and elevate the side’s technical foundation across white-ball formats. “Another important goal for us is simply spending more time together as a squad and continuing to grow the culture within the group.
“It also gives us an opportunity to enhance our technical and tactical blueprint, which is not only applicable to the longer format but will also help us prepare for the challenges ahead in One-Day International and T20 International cricket.
“In terms of the work we’ll be doing, the first camp will largely focus on the various skills required for Test cricket before we look to put those into practice with a training match during the second camp,” he added.
Proteas women training camp squad:
Laura Wolvaardt, Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Alexandra Candler, Izel Cilliers, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Lara Goodall, Ayanda Hlubi, Nicolien Janse van Rensburg, Leah Jones, Yasmeen Khan, Masabata Klaas, Simoné Lourens, Suné Luus, Tebogo Macheke, Eliz-Mari Marx, Karabo Meso, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Seshnie Naidu, Nthabiseng Nini, Luyanda Nzuza, Kayla Reyneke, Nondumiso Shangase, Tumi Sekhukhune, Miané Smit, Faye Tunnicliffe, and Caitlin Wyngaard.
–IANS
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