Opener Laura Wolvaardt to be named as full-time South Africa captain

CAPETOWN: South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt, who took over as Proteas' interim captain for the series against Pakistan and New Zealand earlier this year, is poised to be appointed as the country's permanent captain, as per ESPNcricinfo. Wolvaardt is scheduled to be introduced in the role ahead of South Africa's next match, a home game against Bangladesh in December.

That series will also be the last for the present coaching staff, which is led by Hilton Moreeng, who has been in command of the team since 2012 and guided them to the T20 World Cup final earlier this year. Moreeng's contract expired at the end of that tournament, but Cricket South Africa (CSA) dragged its feet in advertising for the position, and his term was extended to the end of 2023 in August, despite player protests.

"We had interviews last week and we are still finalising a couple of things. As soon as we are done with the post-interview process, we will be able to make an announcement. The current coaching team will carry on until the end of December, but we want to give clarity as soon as possible because it will impact the Australian tour," Enoch Nkwe, CSA's director of cricket said in Ahmedabad as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

The CSA is also planning to hire a head of women's cricket who will report to Nkwe. Applications for the position concluded on July 14, but Nkwe stated that the appointment has yet to be made.

"The head of women's cricket [role] has taken a while [to finalise]. We want to make sure the person that is going to take that position is not short-term. We've just professionalised the domestic structure and there are plans within the high performance to get a South Africa A women's side over the next 12 months, so we have the same structure as the men's. The women's structure is really growing nicely and we are really excited about it," Nkwe said.

Proteas has taken tremendous steps to professionalise the women's game as part of the legacy of hosting the T20 World Cup. Their top six domestic teams can now sign up to 11 players each, and national women's players now earn the same match money as men.