Ongama Gcwabe
PROTEAS Women are preparing for next month’s multi-format tour of India where they will play three One Day Internationals, one Four-Day Test match and three T20 Internationals.
With the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh on the horizon (September 2024), the T20 series leg of the tour carries a bit more weight and significance.
Laura Wolvaardt’s side did not have a successful season in the shortest format of the game last summer where they failed to win a single series out of the five that they competed in, and they have an opportunity to do things differently when they play India.
Luckily, Wolvaardt is likely to have a fully fit Chloe Tryon at her disposal for the tour after the 30-year-old missed a number of matches last season for different reasons, including a back injury.
With Tryon being the second-most experienced T20 player in the side behind Marizanne Kapp, she is invaluable to the Proteas.
Also, given her rare skills and abilities, including raw power to hit the ball a long way, she has become an even more important player in a batting unit that has very little power.
Tryon missed the historic tour to Pakistan at the beginning of last season as she asked to rest after a long year playing domestic cricket in England and in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India.
“It was really tough (missing out),” Tryon told Independent Newspapers.
“If I have to be honest with myself, I kind of dug myself into the ground a little bit. I played almost 11 months in the year (2023). Straight after the World Cup was the WPL, straight after that was domestic cricket in the UK for four to five months and then straight into the internationals.
“I was away from home for a really long time and felt kind of burnt out. I’m not young anymore so the body caught up with me a little bit and told me I needed to slow down. It was disappointing that I started the new year with an injury so it was not ideal.
“Right now I’m trying to make sure that I get onto that field, represent my country and represent my team as well which is scoring runs and taking wickets. I’m quite driven to get back in the side.
“I hate not doing anything. I like to call myself a workhorse. I’m trying not to rush my injury and making sure that I’m 100% when I get back in the field.”
A player with Tryon’s ability is more likely to play the role of a floater in the batting order where she could come in at the top of the order or in the lower order depending on the game situation.
Tryon told Independent Newspapers that she has had talks with interim coach Dillon du Preez and captain Wolvaardt about the role that she is likely to play in India and the World Cup in September.
“We had a lot of conversations around my role,” said Tryon.
“That’s something that I’d like to do (bat higher up in the order). I’ve had opportunities where I’ve been there and I just haven’t put up my hand in those situations. Going into the T20 World Cup and with how T20 cricket has changed so much, it’s so important and vital that you have your best players face as many balls as possible.
“If you have Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits going off to a flier, we’ve got to be able to be flexible in the middle order and those are the conversations that we’ve had. We could go off to a flier and sometimes don’t get off to a flier and then maybe the batting order will change.
“You’ve got to have those conditions and make sure that the players understand that’s the role that could come upon them and they’ve got to put up their hands. For me, I’ve got to be flexible in that middle order.”