‘It’s sort of like studying for an exam at the last minute’ – Laura Wolvaardt highlights lack of game time in Test cricket

Laura Wolvaardt. (Photo Source: SACricketmag)

Laura Wolvaardt is leading South Africa women in their India tour as the Proteas lost the ODI series by a 3-0 margin. Their next stop is Chennai where they enter the red ball contest against the high-on-momentum Indian women’s side. The one-off Test is going to be crucial for the visitors as they would like to have a series on their name before they forge into the T20I series.

India have previously thwarted England and Australia in the one-off Test they played, and the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will aim to replicate the same against the Proteas. Ahead of the game, Wolvaardt expressed that lack of domestic experience in red-ball cricket will add to the challenges against the Indian team. She also added that the duration between the Tests will take away the essence from the format.

“It is a massive challenge not having any domestic red-ball experience to go straight into an international Test match. It’s sort of like studying for an exam at the last minute, trying to cram in all the knowledge about Test match fields and plans and all of that. But I would love to have more of it in the calendar. The more regularly we do it, the better the product will be. But obviously playing one Test every two years, there’s a chance that the games won’t be that great,” Laura told ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast.

“My view is that if you don’t underpin Tests with a level below, or two levels below, then the opportunity for the girls to really truly understand how to play Test cricket will be missed. So the quality of Test cricket will probably remain very constant or consistent and the players will make a lot of mistakes, because they don’t have exposure to playing it,” England’s coach, John Lewis added.

Also Read: Not a bad idea to have Test Championships for women: Amol Muzumdar

Smriti Mandhana leads the charge against South Africa

South Africa women were outclassed by the Women-In-Blue as they whitewashed the visitors in the ODI series. Smriti Mandhana was the harbinger of the historic feat as she amassed 343 runs in three games at an average of 114.33.

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Notably, Deepti Sharma was the standout bowler of the series picking six wickets in three games at an average of 15.50. Meanwhile, Mandhana joined the history books by scoring consecutive centuries in ODI cricket, the first woman to do so.