Laura Wolvaardt: South Africa captain says gender-equal match fees are 'a step forward'
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Almost 10 years after first playing youth cricket for South Africa, Laura Wolvaardt has already guided her country to a series win since becoming interim captain last month
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt says the inception of equal pay for the country's men's and women's senior teams is "a very exciting step forward" and gives players a "safety net".
Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced in August that there would be gender parity between the teams from the start of the women's tour of Pakistan, which began on 1 September.
It also marked the return of Wolvaardt as interim national captain.
On the same day, CSA introduced a new six-team professional domestic format for women cricketers whereby the first six of the the top division's 16 teams would be able to give contracts to 11 players - an increase from six players.
Contracts would also be given to four coaches, two of whom must be female.
"Having a bit of a pipeline of players coming through who are, hopefully, able to play full-time cricket is going to increase the depth for our country - something we've been lacking," Wolvaardt told the BBC World Service's Stumped.
"We've had a well looked-after national side but below that, in the past, we haven't had much to feed into that."
The top six teams in CSA's new format will compete in 50-over and 20-over competitions and are likely to play some matches on the same day as men's games to increase visibility of the game.
Countries including England, New Zealand and India have also created equal pay for their senior international teams.
Wolvaardt envisages a women's version of the South African T20 franchise SA20 starting within the next five years, pointing to Australia's Women's National Cricket League and Big Bash League as competitions to emulate.
"Australia is so far ahead of the game and it's not surprising that they've had one of the leading leagues in the world for about 10 years," she observes.
"Just the amount of cricket you're able to play, and the high quality those leagues provide, is something we're missing.
"We also need more game time - it adds a whole extra set of games for our girls to be playing. Even if it's small - just three or four teams, a mini-SA20 - getting the girls used to the experience and playing more cricket would be a really good idea."
From stress to success
In August, Sune Luus - who had led the team to their first senior World Cup final at the T20 global event in February - surprisingly announced she would step down as captain, amid reports of unrest among the squad.
Several other South Africa stalwarts retired from the international game in 2023.
Former skipper Dane van Niekerk stood down in March, and Chloe Tyron, South Africa's vice-captain, made herself unavailable for the white-ball series tour of Pakistan.
All-time leading ODI and T20 wicket-taker Shabnim Ismail and highest appearance-maker and scorer Mignon du Preez both made their announcements for family reasons, while 2021 ICC ODI cricketer of the year Lizelle Lee and dismissals record-holder Trisha Chetty's reasons were fitness-related.
Despite the absence of some big names, Wolvaardt - whose current club sides include Manchester Originals and Gujarat Giants - recently led South Africa to a one-day international series success in Pakistan.
But this spell as interim captain began with narrow defeats in all three games of the preceding T20 series there.
"There was a big lack of experience within the group on this tour," said 24-year-old Wolvaardt.
"It was a tricky time to come in and I'm lucky that I still had a lot of experienced bowlers around me who were able to guide me on their plans and what they were trying to achieve."
Four days after a six-run T20 defeat, Wolvaardt's emphatic first win of her second spell as captain was by 127 runs at Karachi's National Stadium.
All-rounder Marizanne Kapp is one of the more experienced players Wolvaardt can call upon
South Africa sealed the series by winning the second contest by six wickets, making their eight-wicket defeat in the third match inconsequential.
"It was a great turnaround," said Wolvaardt, adding that her side needed time to adapt to the conditions.
"The way we've been able to bounce back and win the one-days convincingly has been great to see.
"It's been an awesome experience, none of us having played here before.
"The first game was really stressful but it's got easier. It's gone better than I expected.
Wolvaardt, whose position will be reviewed following a T20 and ODI series at home to New Zealand in September and October, feels her new responsibilities have benefitted her game.
"One of my concerns was whether I'd be able to handle the added pressure and still focus on my batting, so I'm glad that has worked out pretty well," she said.
"I often overthink everything about my batting and it's made me think less, which has been a good thing."