Cape Town — There may now be two mothers in the Proteas’ Women’s team, but there will always only be one “Mama”.
Masabata Klaas, 31, is the holder of that revered title in the Proteas team and the right-arm seam bowler has a few sage words of advice for teammate and new mom Lizelle Lee.
“She must enjoy the time with her son. It’s priceless moments,” Klaas said.
Life as a mother within the Proteas squad is quite different though for Lee than it was for Klaas almost a decade ago when she gave birth to her now nine-year-old daughter Rethabile.
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Klaas was still in the infancy stages of her international career, having debuted just a couple of years earlier as a teenager in 2010, and was unsure whether she would actually able to play cricket again after giving birth.
At that stage the Proteas Women’s team were still operating within the amateur ranks of Cricket South Africa without any sponsors and definitely without the financial comforts of a national contract.
But with the support of her mother, who not only helped nuture baby Rethabile but also motivated Klaas to get back on the field, she has now played 96 matches across formats for the Proteas and is also at her second Cup in New Zealand.
“A child is a Gift of God. It was a bit of a setback but I just told myself that I want to go back and play cricket. It’s what I love,” Klaas said.
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“I got the support from my mom because she kept telling me to go back to the team. I started working hard and then everything came together when I got a call-up again. From there until now I am still standing.”
It is this type of fierce determination that drives Klaas to excel and what is required in her role as backup seamer to South Africa’s much-feared trio of Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka.
But as her hat-trick against Pakistan in 2019, and her economical haul of 2/36 in the tournament opener last weekend against Bangladesh showed, Klaas is an invaluable part of the Proteas attack.
“Being a pace bowler you want to see the improvement and be there for the team. The results will come. Building pressure and then everything will work out,” the Free Stater said.
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“And that’s my job. We have good opening bowlers in Shabnim, Marizanne and Aya, so I just keep telling myself that I must just keep on the pressure the opening bowlers created. I can’t come on and get hit. I must keep building pressure and the wickets will come.”
Being a mother and a veteran of over 12 years of international cricket, Klaas has also taken on the responsibility of guiding the youngsters in the team such as Nonkululeko Mlaba (21) and Tumi Sekhukhune (23).
“I was once there age, so I keep telling them that they must keep working hard because Women’s cricket is growing,” she said.
“There is a huge difference in Masabata back then and Masabata now. I always tell myself that when you work hard behind closed doors and people don’t see you, the results will come afterwards. They mustn’t forget that they are role models for other girls coming through.”
The Proteas face Pakistan, who are also captained by one of the eight mothers at the Cup Bismah Maroof, on Friday at Mount Maunganui.
@ZaahierAdams
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