Johannesburg, Jun 17 (IANS): All-rounder Marizanne Kapp and opener Lizelle Lee made a return to South Africa women's squad for the one-off Test and three ODIs against England that starts from June 27.
Marizanne and Lizelle, along with wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta, had sat out of South Africa's white-ball tour to Ireland due to illness. Amongst the other inclusions are top-order batter Lara Goodall, all-rounders Anneke Bosch and Nadine de Klerk as well as seamer Tumi Sekhukhune, after they put up their hand in winning the ODIs and T20Is against Ireland.
"On the back of an exciting and convincing tour in Ireland, we are excited in having the three players back joining the squad in the United Kingdom. Kapp, Lizelle and Jafta will bring experience and seniority to the squad as we take on England. The three have been preparing well back home and we are looking forward to having them in the squad," said Colinton du Preez, CSA Momentum Proteas Convenor of Selectors.
The one-off Test, to be held before three-match ODIs at County Ground in Taunton, will be South Africa's first Test in eight years since they played one against India in 2014. Sune Luus continues to lead the side with regular skipper Dane van Niekerk unavailable despite making good progress in her recovery from a left ankle fracture. Along with Dane, fast bowler Masabata Klass misses out due to rehabilitation from a shoulder injury.
The trio's return means that Tazmin Brits, Raisibe Ntozakhe and the recently capped Delmi Tucker will return to South Africa following the Ireland tour. "We had the chance to provide an opportunity to players during the Ireland tour and handing a debut to Delmi Tucker. These opportunities go a long way in the growth of the pipeline and to ensure that we create sustainability. Unfortunately, Ntozakhe, Tucker and Brits will return home as we approach the red-ball format and then move onto the ODI series," added du Preez.
"We are happy that we could come to Ireland and be able to play in these conditions which are similar to where we are going to. The squad has acclimatised very well and they have started playing good cricket as the series went on. For us, it has been very good and the exciting thing is that the crop of youngsters have started to put in the right performances.""
"Now that we are going to England, we know that we are going to start with a format that most of them haven't played in a while other than the preparation that we had, so it is exciting times, especially as a young cricketer in the squad," said head coach Hilton Moreeng.
The Proteas will play three warm-up matches in England, including a three-day game as well as a one-day and T20 contest against England A to ensure the team's preparedness for the multi-format tour. After the one-off Test and three ODIs, they will play a three-match T20I series from July 21-25, followed by the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, whose squad will be named on July 12.
"With the red ball, the main thing is to find our feet as a team again in the format and we take it one day at a time, then we can only progress into it and players can have an opportunity to go into a three-day prep. Those that haven't had the opportunity when we were back home can also start getting their aim of the red ball."
"Post that we know we are heading into ODI cricket and T20Is to build up into the Commonwealth Games. We are up against a very competitive team, a team that plays well in their conditions. It's going to be tough as we go along but at the end of the day, we are excited with the group that we have and we now have an opportunity against the hosts to be able to win a series in England," added Moreeng.
South Africa squad for England tour - Test & ODIs: Anneke Bosch, Trisha Chetty, Nadine de Klerk, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Lizelle Lee, Suné Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Andrie Steyn, Chloé Tryon and Laura Wolvaardt.