JOHANNESBURG – Consistency remains the SA Women's team’s watchword as they prepare to tackle the West Indies in the Caribbean next month, but the team’s vice-captain also wants the side to express themselves better when put under pressure.
Chloe Tryon has never shied away in pressure, able to hit the ball harder and further, but the same can’t be said of her teammates and it’s an area she says will be under scrutiny when they face the world T20 champions on home-soil in a five-match T20 series which will be preceded by a three ODIs that form part of the Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
Since South Africa’s last tour to England in July, where they lost the ODI series and performed poorly in the triangular T20 competition, Tryon said the players have spent a lot of time reflecting on where they went wrong, and also how to improve.
“We have to get out of our shells. I felt that when it got uncomfortable we just backed away,” she said yesterday.
Being more aggressive and expressing themselves better on the field has been an area where the side have improved, especially since Dane van Niekerk took over the captaincy, but Tryon said the top teams had adopted even bolder approaches to their play and it’s a trend the South Africans must follow.
Chloe Tryon in action for the Protea Women against the New Zealand White Ferns on 8 October 2016. Photo: Frikkie Kapp/BackpagePix
“The standard is very high the game is evolving, scores of 180 plus (in T20s) are being made which are par scores in women’s cricket and you’ve got to keep to those standards," Tryon added.
"Sometimes you will be put in situations where you are uncomfortable and you can’t just back away. At that stage you must be accountable, take responsibility. Hopefully the new girls can learn from that.”
Besides the points on offer in the ICC Women’s Championship - which sees the top three ranked teams automatically qualify for the 2021 World Cup - the T20 series will form part of the Proteas' preparation for the World T20 to be played in the West Indies in November.
South Africa’s seam bowlers, such a major strength of the side, will have to adapt to conditions which will not suit them - slightly slower pitches with lower bounce - and for coach Hilton Moreeng the bowling overall is an area that must improve.
“We’ve had the bowlers in for three camps, there’s been a lot of chat between all of us because the bowling and fielding - with the exception of the first game (in England) - was very disappointing,” said Moreeng.
South Africa face the West Indies in the first ODI in Barbados on September 16.