Laura Wolvaardt replaces Sune Luus as interim South African women's captain
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has appointed Laura Wolvaardt as the new captain of the senior women's team, replacing Sune Luus. However, Wolvaardt has succeeded in the role only on an interim basis as per a release issued by the CSA Twitter handle.
The CSA release also stated that the decision on the permanent appointment will follow after the home series against New Zealand, which starts on September 24 and concludes on October 15. The Proteas women and the White Ferns will square off in three ODIs and five T20Is.
South Africa's upcoming assignment is a tour of Pakistan, starting on September 1, consisting of three ODIs and as many T20Is.
The 24-year-old stated that she feels honored to be appointed as the interim captain and believes it will improve her learning curve significantly. The right-hander claimed, as per the release:
"It's a massive honor to be offered this position as captain for the next two tours. It's something that I have always aspired to do, having played in this team for a couple of years. Having more of a leadership role is something I've wanted to take on.
"It'll help me as a cricketer and learning to think as a captain on the field will hopefully help my batting as well. I'm very excited to be able to contribute in another way too, and not just in batting. It still feels surreal at the moment but it will all become more real when I meet up with the team in Pakistan."
The Cape Town-born cricketer is arguably one of South Africa's best batters, averaging a healthy 45.61 in 80 ODIs alongside two fifties. The youngster has averaged a decent 30.82 in 53 T20Is so far.
"I'd like to also think of myself as quite calm and level-headed" - Laura Wolvaardt
Wolvaardt feels her vast experience alongside her calmness and level-headedness should do wonders for the side. On this, she said:
"What I can bring to the role is the experience that I have in the side. I've been playing international cricket since I was 16 years old, I know quite a lot of players in the circuit and I've been playing in the leagues as well, so I've played a lot of cricket in recent years and hopefully, I'm able to use that experience and the knowledge to my advantage when I captain the team. I'd like to also think of myself as quite calm and level-headed and that's probably more of the approach that I try to take on the field as a captain."
Luus has captained South Africa in one Test, 34 ODIs, and 102 T20Is so far.