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Marizanne Kapp has disclosed that earlier this year, she had made the decision to retire from international cricket. However, she was talked out of it, and she is now glad she went against it because she feels like she is at the top of her game.
The strain of managing both the fitness controversy surrounding her wife Dane van Niekerk and her role as an essential all-around player in a rebuilt South Africa team had become nearly unbearable.
However, Enoch Nkwe, the CSA’s director of cricket, advised Kapp to delay making a choice. After consulting with her about her workload, they have agreed that Kapp will remain in South Africa for the foreseeable future, which includes the next ODI and T20I World Cups in the coming year.
“I did retire earlier this year – or asked to retire – and luckily I didn’t,” Kapp told. “I spoke to the director of cricket, and he actually asked me to just hang on, think it through, [and] don’t make decisions too quickly, and I’m glad that I didn’t go through with it because I feel like I’m at the peak of my career.
“The older I get, I’m getting better. So it would be a shame to have worked for all those years, and now [when] I’m at my peak, I retire from international cricket. I’ve loved playing in all these leagues, but playing for your country and at World Cups is a different level. CSA have been so good to me in helping manage my workload. Now I’ll play for as long as I can contribute.”
Had Kapp retired, it would have been the latest in a string of notable South African retirements in recent years, including van Niekerk, Mignon du Preez, Lizelle Lee, and Shabnim Ismail. Kapp had put up an impressive all-around performance in South Africa’s first ODI victory against Australia in February.
Kapp will carefully monitor her ODI bowling workload, but she is still optimistic about contributing fully to her team’s and her country’s T20 efforts as an all-around player. She has pledged to participate in every ODI in the Women’s Championship, which counts towards qualifying for the World Cup. However, she will miss a few T20Is, including the England series in November.
“They [CSA] have been so good to allow me to play in the leagues where I can,” she said. “With T20, it’s not too hard to manage [the workload]. But in ODI cricket, I’m not 20 anymore, and my workload has been so high with the bat that it makes it impossible to continue to bowl ten overs [in every game].
“If you look at the make-up of the South African team, we are a bit light on the batting front. So I am needed more with the bat. So the bowling will probably take a bit of a backseat just in ODIs.”
All things considered, though, Kapp’s conviction that she is at the pinnacle of her career is supported by statistics, especially when it comes to her bat: in all T20s this year, her average is 33.06 and her strike rate is 142.97, both significantly higher than her career averages. According to Kapp, strike rate has been a focus of hers. She credits the victory to the 2022 Test century against England, although she acknowledged the road there had not been easy.
“It’s probably been my toughest couple of years; it’s not been easy,” she said. “I’ve always enjoyed my batting… but [I used to] feel like the world was always so focused on my bowling and wouldn’t speak about my batting, and that makes you lose confidence. When I had that big knock, it was like, ‘I can do this, I don’t have to prove myself’, and from there on, I’ve had a different confidence in my own ability.
“My faith has been a massive part of it as well, having struggled with off-field matters, everything that happened with Dane, and with Covid. I spent so much time in my room reconnecting with the Lord.”