Sacrifices the reason behind Dercksen’s rapid rise, says coach

BARELY a year into her ODI career, South Africa’s newest star — all-rounder Annerie Dercksen — has taken the cricket world by storm.

- ONGAMA GCWABE

Having impressed with raw pace with the ball and unmatched power with the bat, the 24-year-old has developed at an exponential rate over the past 10 months, as she is now one of the key figures in the Proteas Women squad.

On the recent tour of Sri Lanka in the Tri-Series against the hosts and India last month, Dercksen finished as the leading run-scorer with 276 in four innings, including a maiden century and two half-centuries, as she displayed maturity despite being relatively new to the format.

Batting coach Baakier Abrahams told Independent Media yesterday in an exclusive interview that Dercksen’s rapid growth and maturity boil down to the sacrifices she continues to make in search of improvement.

Dercksen has travelled to the Eastern Cape to fine-tune her batting ahead of the West Indies tour, a migration that the right-handed batter had done last year before the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.