Pakistan and New Zealand tours to decide Laura Woolvardt’s captaincy

Wolvaardt takes over the captaincy from Suné Luus, who relinquished the duties following their runners-up finish at the World Cup, while vice-captain Chloe Tryon is unavailable for the Pakistan series.  

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Although the opening batter previously filled in the leadership role, she says the next two months will reveal whether the additional responsibilities will have an impact on her batting.

"Well, I think that's why the next two tours are going to be very important for me. It's a very exciting opportunity, obviously, and an incredible honour to be asked to lead this team," said Woilvaardt.

"I'm looking forward to actually doing it – I've done captaincy in bits and pieces, but I think that's why it was important for the next two tours for it to be more of an interim position, to see if it's something that I'm able to handle and if I'm still able to focus on my batting.

"So, I'll see how it goes, but it's definitely something that I have had in the back of my mind, and hopefully, if all goes well, it's something I'll be keen to do in the future."

As recently as July, the 24-year-old stated her unreadiness to lead, despite contemplating the role as a future prospect. So what's changed?

"It's the position [that] has become available [laughs], that's probably the main thing. It's definitely always been something that's been in the back of my mind," she admitted.

"But I think, at the time, we had great leaders in Dané [van Niekerk] and Suné, so I didn't want to say that could sort of impact that. So, just biding my time and the opportunity presented itself, so I'm very excited to take it up. 

"I think it will challenge me as a cricketer and hopefully help develop my game as well."

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