Ken Borland

The shock retirement of Lizelle Lee and the continued injury problems of Shabnim Ismail have left two big holes in the South African Women’s cricket team ahead of the first ODI against England in Northampton on Monday, but such misfortunes provide great opportunities for other players, captain Sune Luus said.

Opening batter Lee retired with immediate effect on Friday, with the ODI series against England mere days away, which can only have been disruptive to the Proteas’ plans.

Fast bowler Ismail, meanwhile, has still not fully recovered from the calf injury which ruled her out of the historic Test against England two weeks ago.

“Lizelle’s retirement came as a bit of a shock, but we all respect her decision, she has given eight years of service to her country and she has obviously got her reasons,” Luus said on Sunday.

“Shabnim is still recovering from her calf injury, but she will be ready to go soon. These are big losses, but they provide big opportunities. There are a lot of spots in the team coming up now.

“We will have a young top four, but they are all excited about what they can bring to the table. It’s a big opportunity for them, it’s the start of their careers and what they make of it is up to them.

“They have been phenomenal for us lately, putting crucial runs on the board. The work they’re doing behind the scenes is great to see. It’s the energy the team needs to go forward,” Luus said.

England, runners-up in the World Cup in the summer, are a top-class ODI outfit and Luus knows the batters will face a particularly tough test against an attack spearheaded by Sophie Ecclestone, the No.1 ranked bowler in women’s ODIs.

“Sophie is No.1 in the world for a reason, she can control the game and strike,” Luus said. “So we will just try to rotate off her, get as many runs as we can, without boosting her ego or giving her a sniff.

“If it’s a bad ball then we must put it away, but we don’t want to give her anything. England will come hard at us and we need to be consistent for longer periods.

“Our semi-final loss to them at the World Cup puts in perspective how much we want to win this series. We had a lot of opportunities in that semi-final which we just did not take, otherwise the game could have gone a whole other way.

“We want to make sure we take every chance this time and not give them that satisfaction again,” Luus said.

·Play starts at 3pm SA time.

The relationship between new CSA Director of Cricket Enoch Nkwe and Proteas head coach Mark Boucher has been an obvious point of discussion since the former national team assistant coach’s ascension to the lead administrative role, but Nkwe himself assured on Friday that they are eager to get “the best out of each other”.

Nkwe resigned as South Africa’s assistant coach last August, stating concerns over the team culture, and said he had not seen Boucher since then. During the period when Boucher was under disciplinary investigation by CSA, much was made of Nkwe’s departure from the Proteas and he was expected to testify against his former boss.

Nkwe declined to do so and the roles are now reversed with Boucher reporting to him. The new Director of Cricket said he had the pleasure of a clear-the-air meeting with Boucher and the Proteas team on Thursday, on the eve of their departure for England.

“It was a bit strange at first because we have not engaged in person since August, but it ended up being a great meeting,” Nkwe said at his introductory press conference at CSA headquarters on Friday.

“I know a whole lot has been spoken about there being deeper-level issues, but it was nothing personal and Mark and I do have a good relationship. The meeting ended with us laughing and I know he is excited to work with me too.

“We now feel that we are in the best positions to get the best out of each other. I’m glad we were able to meet in person before they left for England and we all walked away with smiles after 40 minutes.

“There’s a lot more clarity between us now and being Director of Cricket does not mean I am director of the Proteas. I am director of cricket in totality. Mark and the team leadership are in a very good space,” Nkwe said.

Apart from finding the squad in good humour, Nkwe said he was also impressed by the vibe, which had improved since he was last with the Proteas.

“I could feel the positive energy and also in the way the team engaged with the Board as well. It’s actually been a great week for South African cricket and it’s important that we restore our positive image.

“That’s a part of my 18-month plan and I will be giving as much support as possible to the national coaches, to allow the head coach to focus on his role because his hands are quite full.

“It was quite an emotional moment at the start of the meeting with the team yesterday [Thursday]. This role is very close to my heart, it’s what I have strived for. It’s a massive honour and privilege.

“It’s a position in which I can actually make a difference to South African cricket, which I am very passionate about. There will be a lot of pressure, but pressure is a privilege,” Nkwe said.

Marizanne Kapp has proven her ability to keep her wits about her when everyone else is losing their heads at the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, but South Africa’s star all-rounder is confident some of the other batters will step up this week and offer more support to banker Laura Wolvaardt.

Kapp’s heroics at the death mean South Africa go into the third week of the World Cup unbeaten. But it is a massive week for the Proteas with matches against Australia (Tuesday), the West Indies (Thursday) and India (Sunday) to come. One more win will confirm their place in the semi-finals.

Wolvaardt has led the way for the South African batting with three half-centuries in four innings, but Kapp and captain Sune Luus are the only other Proteas to have scored more than 100 runs in their four matches.

“We have been a bit lucky, we’ve got away with a few games where experience pulled us through,” Kapp admitted on Sunday. “We are aware that we have not played our best cricket yet.

“But I am sure we will come back stronger this week. The bowling has been decent, because it’s not easy bowling on these pitches which are a lot slower than we are used to.

“But if our batting can really come to the party then that will help a lot. Wolvie has been brilliant, you’re still calm as long as she’s in the middle. She’s amazing to have, a banker for us.

“Sune has supported her in a couple of brilliant partnerships, but we need a few more batters to put up their hands and that will get us to 280-300 and the perfect game,” Kapp said.

Affectionately known as Kappie, the 32-year-old has certainly punctuated this World Cup with some superb matchwinning efforts. She puts it down to backing her preparation and skills.

“A lot of times in the past I did doubt myself, but preparation is really big for me, I need to know I’ve done the work ahead of a game. So I back the way I prepare,” Kapp said.

“But all the T20 leagues I play in around the world really help too, they give me confidence, playing with the best players in the world and on the biggest stages. It means I back my skills as well.

“And it helps as an all-rounder to be able to make up with the other skill if the one doesn’t go so well,” Kapp said.

Former Proteas captain AB de Villiers has already taken public umbrage at the findings of the Social Justice and Nation-Building Report and other players and officials who have been named will also be expressing their unhappiness in letters to the Cricket South Africa board.

SJN ombudsman Dumisa Ntsebeza accused De Villiers of unfair discrimination based on racial grounds due to his leading role in the non-selection of Khaya Zondo for the decisive last ODI of their tour to India in 2015.

De Villiers, who stated in his affidavit to the SJN that he had earlier been told by the selectors that Zondo was in the squad as a learning experience and not to be part of the playing XI, responded on social media with a message saying his opposition to the then-uncapped Zondo’s selection was purely based on cricketing reasons.

“Throughout my career, I expressed honest cricketing opinions only ever based on what I believed was best for the team, never based on anyone’s race. That’s the fact,” De Villiers said.

The CSA board will consider what action to take based on the report in the new year.

The fact that Ntsebeza himself admitted that the SJN “cannot make definite findings”, “there was no process in place for testing the submissions” and that his recommendations and findings are “merely tentative”, will give the board some leeway, especially since so many of the implicated are lawyering up.

Others, however, have expressed their lack of confidence in the ability of the entire process to treat them fairly.

“I am afraid there isn’t much to say that will benefit me at all. I was found guilty before any response by a kangaroo court,” one former player told The Citizen on condition of anonymity.

“I am trying to take the higher ground without it being a tit-for-tat argument, but I am spending too much on lawyer’s fees already.

“But it doesn’t suit the narrative, I am not holding my breath, we’ve been hung out to dry, so I am not expecting that to change,” he said.

De Villiers has, of course retired from all cricket and so is out of CSA’s jurisdiction, but the originators of the SJN hearings have wanted the prize heads of Proteas coach Mark Boucher and director of cricket Graeme Smith for a long time.

Ntsebeza has delivered what they wanted, but critics of the SJN report say his report is fatally flawed on legal grounds and CSA will undoubtedly have to tread carefully unless they are to find themselves embroiled in more courtroom battles.