Marizanne Kapp has been a premier all-rounder not just for her country South Africa since 2009, but also in the women’s international cricket as well as the franchise T20 cricket arena.
Brimming with passion and persistence to be the best in her craft, Marizanne is currently playing for Falcons in the 2023 FairBreak Invitational tournament after collecting runners-up medals in the Women’s T20 World Cup on home soil and at the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India.
In an exclusive interview with IANS, Marizanne opened up about her participation in the ongoing FairBreak Invitational tournament in Hong Kong and what more can be done to promote women’s cricket.
Q. You have played in various T20 leagues all over. What has been the difference between playing in those leagues and featuring in the FairBreak tournament?
A. When we started, not a lot of people knew that we even played cricket. With just a bit of assistance, media and stuff, you can see where our team (South Africa) is now. It has been wonderful to see how many wonderful talented players are there within these teams. They just don’t get that exposure as they are playing for the associate nations.
Something like this was needed not only to grow the women’s game in England, Australia, India, and South Africa. But if you want the game to grow in other nations, then Fairbreak is a wonderful initiative. I can already see the difference in how much these players have improved from last year’s tournament to this year’s tournament, which I think is very amazing for the women’s game.
Q. It has been great to see players from many other countries like UAE, Brazil, and Malaysia among others playing in the tournament. Any player who’s caught your eye and you think could be a valuable player in international cricket?
A. There are quite a few. But one, obviously from being a bowling all-rounder, I saw that young, tall girl from the UAE (Mahika Gaur). She’s definitely been a standout for me. If you are that young and got that bit of pace, it can only get better and stronger from there.
But seeing a lot of UAE girls has really surprised me. We also know how good the Thailand players as well. I can already see a lot of improvement this year as compared to last year and that’s really good to see.
Q. In your opinion, what else do you think can be done in order to promote women’s cricket?
A. I don’t know if players from associate nations are contracted or not. But that’s definitely a way to go coz I know that’s ultimately helped the South African team years back. It gives you the opportunity just to focus on cricket.
Even if it’s just part-time, it will help you to train even harder. Apart from things like that, we also need more inclusion of them in tournaments. I know even in the WPL, where you could pick an associate player (which Delhi Capitals did), and then, in Fairbreak, it’s full-on associate players. Hopefully, a lot of other leagues in the world will follow in their footsteps.
Q. In the Falcons versus Tornadoes match, you had taken the wicket of Dane van Niekerk, who was playing for the first time after announcing her international retirement. How it felt like for you?
A. That wicket was extremely tough to bat on and had a bit of rain that day. So, I felt really bad because if you are a little bit slow, you won’t bother the batters much. But I would never face myself on that wicket, to be quite honest. I felt bad bowling at them, especially on that wicket.
Q. Personally speaking, how has been the experience for you of playing in a country like Hong Kong, which usually doesn’t host many prestigious tournaments?
A. I didn’t even know previously that cricket runs in a lot of countries like Hong Kong. It’s been a new experience, like in my team, all eleven players were from different countries and nothing like that has ever been done before.
It’s been a massive journey for me personally. It opens up your eyes a bit as well, coz we are so blessed that we expect things. Then, you see these associate players and see them struggle with facilities like they play a lot on Astro (pitches). It’s a massive eye-opener and just makes you feel blessed for what you have.
The live coverage of the FairBreak Invitational Tournament is on FanCode App (Android, iOS, TV) or www.fancode.com in India.
