Laura Wolvaardt, a great batter from South Africa, is getting up for a new challenge as she captains her side for the first time in the longest format, a Test match against Australia. In the most recent ODIs and T20Is against Australia, the 24-year-old, regarded as one of the best batters in the world, had a difficult time and scored little in several innings.
Wolvaardt conceded that this hasn’t been her best series and talked about her recent struggles. She expressed hope after productive days at the net, despite her struggles with technical errors that resulted in dismissals. Her goal is to address these concerns.
“It wasn’t my finest series, but I’ve had a decent few days in the nets lately, so perhaps the minor technological glitches that kept me off the field the entire time can be fixed.”Perhaps, I can extend my batting innings during the Test match,” she stated, as cited by cricket.com.au.
Wolvaardt showed confidence in her technique for the longest format, reflecting on her previous Test experience in 2022 against England, where she scored 16 in both innings. Despite the difficult playing conditions in Australia, she thinks her advantage will come from having more time to leave the ball and get into advantageous positions.
The weather in Australia has been rather variable during the ODI series, and I believe it will do so some more now. The conditions have been fairly tough. Hopefully, I can spend some time outside and return after just a few shots. At least now, I have more time to leave the ball and position myself well,” she continued.
With the recent crash course in the last several days, that’s arguably the most difficult part: Laura Wolvaardt
Wolvaardt acknowledged that becoming a Test captain had been a crash course, given the number of rookies in the Proteas XI and their lack of red-ball cricket experience.
Having a crash course in the last few days is perhaps the most difficult component. In terms of captaincy, it’s difficult because of the fields and the lack of domestic red ball experience, she continued.
Both teams have a brief break to switch their attention to the red ball as Wolvaardt embraces the dual roles of important hitter and captain. Wolvaardt is upbeat in spite of the difficulties, saying that they will improve the more they play.
“We merely touched on the fundamentals during our test match camp prior to this tour. Hopefully, we’ll grow better at it the more we play,” she said.
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