Laura Wolvaardt is the new captain of South Africa in all formats 

Laura Wolvaardt has been officially named the South Africa Women’s all formats skipper while Cricket South Africa also announced the 15 player T20I squad for the upcoming white ball series against Bangladesh. 

The 24 year old will take over the captaincy role after a successful stint as interim captain during the recently concluded home series against Pakistan and New Zealand, both the Proteas won by the margin of 2-1. She has made 86 appearances for SA in One Day Internationals and 59 T20Is for the nation, scoring 3421 runs with 30 half centuries and four centuries in the 50 over format and 1313 runs at an average of 32.82 with nine half centuries in T20Is. Wolvaardt made her debut in red ball cricket during last year’s tour of England. 

Wolvaardt first series as full time captain will, although, see a few significant absentees. Fast bowler Ayabonga Khaka (knee injury) and all rounders Chloe Tyron (groin) and Nadine de Klerk (side strain) will be among the centrally contracted players unavailable for the T20I series, starting on December 3 in Benoni. 

Veteran all rounder Marizanne Kapp on the other hand has been rested for the T20Is and will be back for the all important ODI series that is a part of the Women’s ODI Championship 2022-25. The squad for the 50 Overs series, commencing in East London on December 16, will be announced in due time. 

"Having Laura Wolvaardt as the official captain, together with a blend of young and experienced players bodes well for our succession planning," said the Convenor of Selectors, Clinton du Preez. "It will also assist within the excitement we have around the squad in giving young players an opportunity and therefore we are looking forward to seeing them put up their hand and make impactful performances in this upcoming tour.

"We are excited to provide an opportunity to our extended identified group, especially on the back of some injuries. This allows us to have an indepth look at players for the Women's T20 World Cup taking place next year in Bangladesh.

"The inclusion of Ayanda Hlubi and Eliz-Mari Marx gives great confidence to rewarding performances at the professional level. They have been instrumental with their domestic performances in the past season for their respective provinces,"

Head coach Hilton Moreeng stated: "From our perspective, it is about continuing the good work that has been done. We know we are playing against Bangladesh who just came off a very successful tour against Pakistan.

"For the T20Is, this is where we are going to look, where possible, to blend in youngsters and give an opportunity to expose them at this level to keep growing the base. Overall, we have a lot of good youngsters coming through and the squad is becoming stronger and stronger every day with a more challenging environment, so we as a team are looking forward to that.

"It's another opportunity for some of these youngsters to show what they can do while not losing sight of what we want to achieve overall when it comes to the entire tour," he concluded.

T20I Squad: Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder, Lara Goodall, *Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta, Masabata Klaas, Sune Luus, *Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, Delmi Tucker, Laura Wolvaardt (C)