South Africa’s best to be crowned at Women’s National Week

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The country’s top cricketers will assemble in Bloemfontein this week for the 2019 instalment of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Women’s National Week, taking place from 25 – 29 March.



The eight-team, 50-over competition is the culmination of the 2018/19 Women’s Provincial League. The provincial sides will be split into two pools, with play-off matches taking place to decide the champions and the final standings. The top six teams will form part of the national pool next season, while the bottom two will be relegated to the regional inland and coastal pools.



CSA Senior Cricket Manager, Johan Weyers expressed his excitement ahead of the five days of jam-packed action, stating that he expects a high level of competition between the participating teams.



“We are looking forward to a very exciting week,” Weyers began. “It’s important for us to have the top eight teams in the country participating during this week. We are expecting good quality cricket and the execution of skills remain important for Cricket South Africa.



“The entire Proteas Women’s management will attend the week in Bloemfontein. The Proteas Women’s coach and assistant coach will also be engaging with our provincial coaches, to state the importance of player development and what’s required to ready the players for international cricket,” he continued.



Western Province will be looking to defend their title against a powerful North West outfit, who go into the Week as the in-form side with five wins from five during the regular season. While Northerns, Border, Gauteng and Boland make up the rest of the current top six, with Free State and Kwa-Zulu Natal Coastal entering the tournament after topping their respective regional pools.



Although the competition will be a platform for the provincial players to showcase their talents, the nationally contracted players including Proteas Women’s Laura Wolvaardt, Lizelle Lee, Raisibe Ntozakhe and Chloe Tryon will also feature for their sides. Something that Weyers believes will provide a major boost for the younger players and allow CSA to gauge the progress of the local players in relation to their international compatriots.



“It’s a great opportunity for the domestic players, to test their skills against our national team players in terms of where they are in their own growth,” Weyers explained. “We use the Week to assess the skills gap between the provincial players and the national team players. To also prepare players for the national academy programmes as well as the SA Emerging tours coming up, for these players to bridge this skills gap and compete on a higher level.



“It also gives better playing exposure for our Inland and Coastal pools, competing against the top six in the country, which only bodes well for women’s cricket in our country.”



 



Pool A: North West, Northerns, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal Coastal



Pool B: Western Province, Border, Boland, Free State
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