22 May 2014
Cricket South Africa’s (CSA’s) National Academy is hosting the country’s leading women’s cricketers at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria for the first time. The move to develop the women’s game is set to become an annual affair.
The Academy for South Africa’s most promising women cricketers started this week and will run through until 28 August. It will help prepare them for forthcoming tours of England and Sri Lanka.
CSA General Manager of Cricket Corrie van Zyl on Tuesday expressed his delight to see a fresh group of players coming into the Academy and said he is looking forward to seeing their progress as the months go by.
Focus of the CSA National Academy
“The focus of the CSA National Academy is on the identified young emerging talent in our country and giving them all the tools needed to be successful at franchise and International level,” Van Zyl said in a statement.
“The support structures within the CSA pipeline is of such a nature that we will now not just be able to support, develop and mould young talent at the National Academy, but also monitor and measure their growth and development while they are applying their trade at provincial and franchise level.
“This support will come in the form of the CSA appointed scouts, namely Shukri Conrad, Victor Mpitsang and Ray Jennings. These scouts will also be able to call on the High Performance consultants to assist in the intervention of identified individuals.”
‘Extremely proud’
Focusing on women’s cricket specifically, Van Zyl added: “The National Women’s Academy will be based on the same principles and we are extremely proud to have our first ever intake of women’s cricket players at this year’s Academy.
“Part of the strategic focus of the CSA pipeline is to make the Momentum Proteas women’s team one of the top four teams in world cricket.
“It is with this goal in mind that these women will be coached, developed and exposed to the National Academy in order to equip them to realise their goals as a team under the guidance of the National women’s head coach Hilton Moreeng, and assisted by the High Performance consultants.
“We have promised and have as a goal, to uplift the profile of women’s cricket in our country and this is yet another way of achieving that goal,” he concluded.
Pleased
Moreeng expressed his pleasure with the inclusion of the country’s leading women’s cricketers at the National Academy.
“It is great to be part of this historical move for women’s cricket in South Africa,” he said.
“This is a huge opportunity for the ladies to experience what the Academy is about and I look forward to the learning experience for us all. This inclusion can only benefit the women’s game and strengthen our players for what’s coming in the near future.”
Women’s National Academy Players
Mignon du Preez (Northerns), Dane van Niekerk (Eastern Province), Trisha Chetty (KwaZulu-Natal), Chloe Tryon (KwaZulu-Natal), Shabnim Ismail (Western Province), Moseline Daniels (Boland), Bernadine Bezuidenhout (Western Province), Hlompho Nape (Free State), Nonkululeko Thabethe (Gauteng), Marizanne Kapp (Eastern Province)
SAinfo reporter
