{"id":106,"date":"2022-10-29T10:02:06","date_gmt":"2022-10-29T08:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/?p=106"},"modified":"2022-10-31T10:04:57","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T08:04:57","slug":"masabata-klaas-and-the-momentum-proteas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/29\/masabata-klaas-and-the-momentum-proteas\/","title":{"rendered":"Masabata Klaas and the Momentum Proteas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The skillful Momentum Proteas fast bowler, Masabata Klaas is in the midst of her 10th<\/sup> full season as a capped national player, having experienced the team\u2019s evolution from a developing nation to becoming a professionalized unit and a forced to be reckoned with in women\u2019s crocket.<\/p>\n

Speaking from the team\u2019s recent national training camp held at St George\u2019s Park in Gqeberha between 13 \u2013 19 October, Klaas highlighted the straightforward but significant changes the game and the team have made since the 31-year-old made her South African debut in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot has changed,\u201d Klaas noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy I say that is because back then there were no contracts and there were no televised games but from then until now, our parents and our nation can at least watch us on TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now have income, even though it is not where we want it to be, but we are getting there\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cricket South Africa (CSA) awarded the first six national contracts for the Proteas Women in 2013 and although Klaas was not part of the initial group of players, her game was positively impacted by the overall professionalization of the set-up.<\/p>\n

Even after she took time away from cricket to raise her daughter who was also born in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>To be honest, because now they are looking after us, I am not saying they never looked after us, but now things have changed. We have medicals, we have to go see physios if we are sick and we have access to the gym,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must say, my game has changed a lot. I still remember in 2010 when I made my debut, you know that nerve-wracking (feeling) when you are in a new environment, but in this team, we are one family, and we are sisters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey accepted me like I am one of them and from there, my game has been improving because I can go to the coaches if I have something to ask and they help me out so that my game improves every game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat one percent improvement needs to be there,\u201d Klaas added.<\/p>\n

With Klaas having bowled her first ball in international cricket in the 2010 ICC Women\u2019s Cricket Challenge held in Potchefstroom, the Botshabelo-born cricketer has since amassed 105 (58 ODIs, 47 T20Is) caps for South Africa, taking 53 wickets in the One-Day format, with a further 26 in T20Is.<\/p>\n

\"\"
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 10: Masabata Klaas during day 1 of the Momentum Proteas 1st practice match at Groenkloof Oval on May 10, 2022 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi\/Gallo Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whilst she still has a lot to offer the badge, Klaas is already enjoying the transferring of her knowledge to the younger players in the group, including the SA U19 Women rising stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must say, it is good to be back, especially with the young ones because as you know, in all of this, you need to take care of the young ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a nice camp and good preparation going forward.\u201d Klaas said during the first camp back since the extensive tours to Ireland and Ireland, which also featured the Commonwealth Games in August<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, when you start to get to know them (the youngsters), it is kind of a bit difficult but because we are doing what we love, it\u2019s so easy and they give you that thing of you can go to them and help them out,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an especially exciting season for South African women\u2019s cricket, with both the SA U19s and senior Proteas set to host ICC T20 World Cups in January and February 2023.<\/p>\n

Klaas couldn\u2019t hide her enthusiasm ahead of the major tournament on home soil, sharing her views on the team\u2019s ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup ambitions as well as a passionate rallying call for South African support.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so happy. I am so happy in a way that I don\u2019t know what to do but I am happy because the preparation has been coming right,\u201d the right-arm bowler commented.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be the first (T20) World Cup at home for women\u2019s cricket. It is going to be nice, and I can\u2019t wait for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we have been coming short in a lot of big tournaments, like World Cups, where we\u2019ve been pushing until the semi-finals, but we never went through to the finals so I would say now everybody is thinking about winning the World Cup because we owe it to ourselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our first World Cup at home, I would say they must come in numbers because we are going to show them who we are.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the Momentum Proteas, and we are going to show them that this World Cup is going to be ours,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n

Klaas will next be in action this weekend between 29 \u2013 30 October for the North West Dragons in the latest rounds of the 2022 \/ 23 CSA Women\u2019s Provincial One-Day Cup and T20 Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The skillful Momentum Proteas fast bowler, Masabata Klaas is in the midst of her 10th full season as a capped national player, having experienced the Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[29],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cricket","tag-momentum-proteas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}