Proteas women begin training camp under new coach

The Proteas women's team will start their first national training camp in Pretoria this week with a four-day program with new coach Mandla Mashimbyi at the helm.

Mashimbyi will be thrown into deep waters in his first full year as coach, and will lead the side in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 in India later this year. Seventeen internationally capped players will gather a the Cricket South Africa centre of excellence in the capital for the camp.

Miané Smit, former Under19 all-rounder, is the only uncapped player in the training camp. Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Chloé Tryon and captain Laura Wolvaardt will miss the training camp because they are currently playing the Women’s Premier League in India.

The head coach, however, revealed the camp would be grounds for players to understand what they bring to the table and the areas they could improve on over the next few months.

“This first camp for me was going to be important for them to understand my vision, where I would like them to be and what we want to achieve with what we have,” Mashimbyi said.

“The one question that I've asked the players was, “What does it mean to be a Protea?”.

“I think that will get them thinking and they will understand what are the needs instead of the wants. Then they can really focus on the needs to make sure that they leave no stone unturned from a prep point of view, a training point of view and a skills development point of view, as well.”

“They need to be vulnerable enough to know where they're strong, to know where they're weak and then we can create the platform for them to improve in those aspects,” Mashimbyi added.

Mashimbyi will not only have to assess skills and shortfalls at the camp, but also try to engage with the players and connect with them as a coach if he is to be effective for the Proteas.

He’s also stated that he’s looking for players that are hungry and ready to work.

“I think the biggest thing for me is to try and get to know the players a little bit better. That's going to be key, engaging with them throughout the camp, trying to understand where their games are at and what they think about their own game.

“Hopefully then, during those conversations, one or two comments could actually be the thing that activates them to a point where they feel, ‘I need to beef up here, I need to beef up there’, which for me is important,” Mashimbyi concluded.