South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt demands more red-ball matches in women's cricket

New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) Ahead of the one-off Test against India in Chennai, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt has urged for more Tests in the women's cricket calendar and the inclusion of red-ball tournaments in Proteas' domestic structure. 

Wolvaardt cited a lack of preparations for the Test matches due to a handful of red-ball games throughout the season. South Africa faced a 3-0 clean sweep in the ODI series against India in Bengaluru.

"It's obviously a challenge for most of us to have any sort of preparation in the format. Just coming straight into an international multi-day game is difficult. For example, balls that I've been cover-driving my whole life, I now need to leave, which is difficult for me because it just happens on instinct and I have to fight the way that I've been batting for my entire career," Wolvaardt said on the eve of the match.

"I think either we need to play a lot more Test cricket and incorporate it into our domestic practice and training, or we must just leave it because playing one in three years is very hard to adapt to. But I'm on the side to have more of it," she added.

Wolvaardt said the talks have been going on in Cricket South Africa for women's red-ball cricket as they only play Women's Provincial 50-over tournament and T20s as part of their domestic season.

"I haven't been part of any such conversations, but I'm hoping that it is a conversation higher up. If we want to give ourselves the best chance to win these games internationally, we have to do some sort of preparation at a domestic level. Just coming straight into an international Test match is tough with no red-ball experience in the squad," she said.

This year, South Africa will be playing three Tests for the first time since 1972. They faced Australia in the one-off Test in February after a hiatus of nearly two years. After the Test against India, they are scheduled to play England at home in a multi-format series including a one-off Test in Bloemfontein in December. That will also be their first Test at home since 2002 when they played India in Paarl.

"I think getting the opportunity to play more Test cricket is awesome and something that a lot of our girls are really looking forward to is playing more Tests. Obviously having three scheduled in a calendar year is pretty cool and something that I've wanted to see for a long time. I personally really enjoy the format and would love to see more of it. I think this Test will be a huge challenge for us. And hopefully, we're able to adapt to the conditions."

Wolvaardt also noted that batting on the spin-friendly Chepauk surface, which is unfamiliar territory for South Africa, presents a big challenge for them.

"Batting-wise it is going to be a big challenge for our group. I think obviously it's very different to conditions that we've been used to and exposed to at home, but thankfully we do have a few talented spinners within our squad as well. I think players like Nonkululeko Mlaba would sort of be licking their lips. Hopefully, they're able to put on a good show and be consistent and tight with their areas," she said.

--IANS

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