South Africa would benefit tremendously in investing in leagues like WBBL, WCSL, says Martelize van der Merwe

Martelize van der Merwe, Northerns’ provincial coach, has called for competitions like Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and the now defunct Women’s Cricket Super League in South Africa to aid in the development of the players in the country.

“Looking at the success of the WBBL and how some of our national players have improved and progressed in their cricket since being involved, it is quite clear that cricket in South Africa would benefit tremendously in investing in a similar league,” she said, taking note of a similar competition South Africa had had last year – T20 Women’s League. But she said having a more professional setup is the need of the hour.

“It will also allow our national team to compete against the best in the world on a more consistent basis.”

Van der Merwe was fascinated with cricket at a very young age. She played backyard cricket with her brother, playing various formats with imaginary line-ups. Her father used to take her to the nets every Sunday and would give her throwdowns. Although she loved to play the sport, gradually her interest developed towards coaching grew, thanks to Wally Nel, an administrator at the Northerns Cricket Union.

“He got me involved at the U-13 level and, over the years, I was given the opportunity to progress through the pipeline,” said van der Merwe. “In 2010, I got involved with the senior provincial women’s team.”

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Although Northerns didn’t have the best of domestic season in 2019-20, in which they hung in the bottom rung in the one day as well as the T20 competitions, the support for van der Merwe and the team has been inspiring.

“The support provided to me, and other female coaches, by the union has been amazing,” she said.

“It has always been evident that the union saw the importance of the upliftment of female coaches. A major inspiration for female coaches must be the appointment of Dinesha Devnarain as the National Academy and SA U-19 Girls coach.”

Van der Merwe is also hopeful of seeing a contract system in the provincial system, which will enable more players to stick to the sport.

“Some of my aspirations for women’s cricket within South Africa would be to see contracts awarded to most, if not all, provincial players. This will enable more players to stay within the system and continue playing for longer. At grassroots level, I would love to see more schools moving away from the old school mentality that girls don’t play cricket and establish more school teams,” she concluded.

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