Ongama Gcwabe
AS fans and sports lovers, we just can’t stop ourselves from constant player comparisons. We find ourselves pinning the younger generation, based on potential, to the accomplished players, whether active or not.
South Africa did the same when 18-year-old Wiaan Mulder dominated the Under-19 and domestic arena. Jacque Kallis’ name was used in the same sentence as the young Mulder’s as the country just couldn’t hold back its excitement for potentially the next great all-rounder in the green and gold.
Some players live up to those expectations, but some don't. Nonetheless, sports fans just can't help themselves.
Recently, when a young Annerie Dercksen was sending stumps cartwheeling and hitting monster sixes at will down in Oudtshoorn in women’s domestic cricket, the country couldn’t stop suggesting that it had found the next Marizanne Kapp, one of the best all-rounders the country has produced.
Who can blame the fans for doing so? After all, Dercksen has all the attributes to follow in Kapp’s footsteps. She bowls express pace and has the strokes and temperament to fill Kapp’s shoes once she moves on from international cricket.
However, after one full year playing in the Proteas Women’s side alongside Kapp, Dercksen understands that there will be no other player like Kapp. The 21-year-old wants to carve her path instead of walking in Kapp’s shoes.
“It’s weird for me seeing so many people suggest that I should be the one taking Kappy’s place whereas for me I have never even thought that I should be the one to replace Marizanne Kapp,” Dercksen told Independent Newspapers.
“It blows my mind that people even compare us to each other because she is so good. I don’t feel that I have the responsibility to be the next Kappy. I don’t think we’ll ever get the next Kappy.”
More than anything, Dercksen wants to use whatever time is left of her playing alongside the experienced Kapp to learn as much as possible about the game.
“Since the moment I entered into the (international) space Kapp’s taken me under her wing and I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve it. I say this to everyone that I do’'t even know why she talks to me,” she said.
“I think I may be worshipping the ground that she walks upon but she’s extremely good at what she does.
“I think people see the side of her on the field that’s competitive and fierce but off the field she’s such a nice human being and willing to share advice with me. She’s got so much knowledge and experience and I’m grateful that she shares it with me.”
To match her talent, Dercksen has the will and desire to realise her full potential.
After the SA Women’s national camp in Tshwane last month Dercksen travelled down to the Eastern Cape to visit her family as a way to get close to batting coach Baakier Abrahams in Gqeberha.
The 23-year-old spent a week doing extra work with Abrahams, practising with the Eastern Province Academy squad in an attempt to sharpen her skills as the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup draws closer.
“When coach Baaks started with us, he said that he’d like to do some extra work with me and that I’m welcome any time when I’m around Port Elizabeth. I have a family close to PE so I went to visit them and went to work with him as well when I was over there,” said Dercksen.
“I got to train with some of the boys from the university there and we focused more on the batting side of things. We worked on a couple of options, especially against spin now that we are going to Pakistan and the UAE. I’ve been doing well since then.”
Dercksen was nominated for the Women’s Domestic T20 Player of the Year Award at last night’s Cricket South Africa Awards in Johannesburg and fell short as teammate Tazmin Brits walked away with the award.