While the Proteas competed strongly with England for large parts of their Women’s Test match in Bloemfontein, it’s difficult to see how South Africa can have a realistic chance of improving in the format.
England romped to a 286-run victory as South Africa were bowled out for 64 in their second innings in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.
That was after England posted 395/5 declared in their first innings and the Proteas responded with 281 all out. In their second did with the willow, England were all out for 236.
Set a target of 351 was always going to be a massive challenge for the Proteas team which hardly plays in the format.
New Proteas coach Mandla Mashimbyi preferred not to talk about that last innings, and instead focus on the strong start his charges made when they came out to bat.
“I think in the the first 70 overs in our first batting innings, we controlled the game beautifully, and then we lost a lot of wickets after that,” said Mashimbyi.
“How we bowled after that period after lunch, I think the girls came back beautifully to ball England out in the last session.
“The way we controlled with the ball in the second innings, I think the two openers [Marizanne Kapp and Ayanda Hlubi] were unbelievable. Three maidens and got a wicket as well.”
Mashimbyi also paid special tribute to Nonkululeko Mlaba who returned match figures of 10/157.
“Mlaba’s 10-fer, she just got better and better as the game went on. You know, it's just quite unfortunate that you bowl like that and you don't get the W.
“There's a lot of positives to take out of this Test match. It didn't end the way we wanted it to. But I think in terms of where we're trying to go you could see things change within the game.”
Though South Africa played three Tests in 2024, it will be over a year before they play again in the longest format of the game. For example, skipper Laura Wolvaardt made her international debut in 2016 but has played just four Tests in that time.
It means playing Test cricket is close to inconsequential for South Africa, unless they can turn out in the whites more often.
When Mashimbyi was asked about the positive he took from the match, he said there were some and that would form the basis of their approach when they play again.
“These are the things that we're going to take forward with us and make sure that, we do it relentlessly if another opportunity presents itself again. Which will be after a year, because we don't have a Test match for the next year.
“That's part of my responsibility. I think the other part is other people within the structures that are going to have to make those calls.
“But in terms of me and preparing the team, I'll make sure that we actually expose our players to more red ball stuff. Play two or three matches within our camps, just to obviously give them this type of exposure so they can understand their games a bit better. The other decisions will have to come from the powers above.”