Proteas Women coach Mandla Mashimbyi says there will be a lot more red-ball cricket within their camp to ensure that they are better prepared for future Test matches.
South Africa suffered a heavy 286-run loss against England on the third day of the one-off Test match at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, after being well placed to take the match deep into day four – and a maiden win on the cards.
A poor showing with the bat put a premature end to the encounter as South Africa could only manage 64 in their second innings – well short of an achievable target of 351 on a wicket that was still fairly intact.
Mashimbyi shared his passion for the format while addressing the media, and he added that even though the batting collapse was not ideal, there needs to be a lot of work done to expose the players to more red-ball cricket.
But there needs to be much more involvement even from outside the SA camp.
“As a new coach, I was observing where the players are at from an emotional, mental and physical point of view, and there are a lot of things we need to put in place to ensure we are a force,” Mashimbyi said.
“But I can promise you now, what we saw today will never happen again.
“We have to be international in how we prepare.
“If we know we are going to be involved in a Test match, we have to expose our players beforehand.
“This is something I am passionate about, and I urge my players to accept the fact that red-ball cricket will be the vehicle that they need for them to improve their cricket.
Nonkululeko Mlaba gets her first Test five-wicket haul 👏👏
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) December 17, 2024
Lefty ends the innings with Match figures of 10/157 🇿🇦⭐
📺 Stream #SAvENG on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw
#HereForHer pic.twitter.com/2K6aj8QZgF
“A part of it is my responsibility; the other part will be other people within the structures that will have to make those calls.
“But in terms of me and preparing the team, I will make sure that we expose our players to red-ball cricket by playing two-day matches within our camp – just to give them this type of exposure, and so they can also understand their games better.”
The stand-out SA player was spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba, who claimed a 10-wicket haul in the match (4/90 and 6/67), while the experienced Laura Wolvaardt, Suné Luus and Marizanne Kapp scored half-centuries in the first innings of 281.
England beat South Africa in the T20s (3-0), ODIs (2-1) and one-off Test match, but Mashimbyi believes that the gap between the two nations is not that great anymore.
He felt that the Proteas Women need to work on a few areas to be able to compete for wins against the heavyweights.
“The series has given me an indication of where the gaps are and what we need to work on as a team to become a force... it was a good picture for me to see,” he said.
𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐓 🙌
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) December 16, 2024
It's another batting milestone for the @ProteasWomenCSA's superstar 🤩⭐
📺 Stream #SAvENG on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw #HereForHer pic.twitter.com/Z9SRNEksba
“If you look at the whole tour as a whole, the gap is not that far.
“It is just moments in the game that we probably didn’t play as good as we should have, but we competed well for the majority of the time.
“It is just one or two things that we need to make sure that we take care of. I believed we were going to beat them in this Test, but it wasn’t to be.” | Independent Media Sport