When SA's cricket kings forsake their queens

INDIA'S triumph at the Women's T20 World Cup last month was a spectacle of skill, grit and national pride.

- VANESSA GOVENDER

Yet, as the confetti settled in Dubai, a piercing voice cut through the jubilation, not from the stands, but from the digital trenches of X.

Thanja Vuur, the Cape Town-based actress and writer known as @capetown cricket queen, unleashed a scathing critique that laid bare a festering truth about South African cricket.

A truth that many are not prepared to even acknowledge, let alone fix.

Her words, raw and unapologetic, called out the establishment and its male ex-cricketers for abandoning the Protea Fire women's team when they needed support most.

"India, you win this World Cup. Your congratulations is coming. Just give me a few minutes because first I'm gonna tell you why," Vuur posted, her words sparking like a flare.

"The reason is you. Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, even VVS Laxman, were there to support you. Who the hell showed up from South Africa? Hm? These ex-cricket players that you love from South Africa, the men ... where are they? Oh, this event was not high-profile enough for them. Nobody showed up. I don't think our minister of sport was there."

As a news journalist and women's rights activist, I have spent years uncovering stories of inequity, from boardrooms to townships.