Africa's game in Birmingham

The South African women's cricket team makes a comeback at the 2022 Commonwealth Games for the first time since 1998, and have high hopes of winning gold. We speak to one of the world's leading batters Laura Wolvaardt. Who else is making it?

- By Nick Said

THE 2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES TO BE staged in Birmingham, England from July 28 to August 8 was a missed opportunity for Africa away from the field of competition, but provided the continent’s athletes with the chance to win a prestigious gold medal and enhance their reputations on the global stage.

Durban in South Africa’s sunny KwaZulu-Natal province was initially chosen as the host of the Games in 2015 and set to be the first city in Africa to stage the event.

But when the South African government reportedly failed to provide the financial guarantees required by the organizers, they were stripped of the rights two years later.

And so athletes and fans from over 60 Commonwealth Games Associations will instead head for the English Midlands, including representation for 13 African countries.

All will be dreaming of gold, not least the South African women’s cricket team as the sport makes a comeback at the Games for the first time since 1998.

On that occasion, it was the South African men who took the title in a 50-over competition. This time it is only the women who will compete in the shorter 20-over format.

Fresh from a semifinal place at the recent Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, South Africa have high hopes of winning gold again, according to one of the world’s leading batters Laura Wolvaardt.

“We had a couple of really tight games in New Zealand but played some good cricket and were obviously very disappointed to lose to England in the semifinals,” Wolvaardt tells FORBES AFRICA.

“The way we played in that game wasn’t a reflection of how well we did throughout the tournament. But in the long run, we’ll learn a lot from the experience.”