Proteas batter Anneke Bosch will be hauling out the sweep shot again on the upcoming tour to Sri Lanka. Picture: BackpagePix
Image: Picture: BackpagePix
After being served a buffet of T20 cricket for the past 12 months, Proteas women’s batter Anneke Bosch is eagerly looking forward to dining on 50-overs in the upcoming ODI Tri-Series in Sri Lanka.
The Proteas leave for the idyllic Indian Ocean Island this week to face the hosts Sri Lanka and powerhouse India in a triangular series at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
It will be the first time the Proteas women’s team will be touring Sri Lanka.
“The Tri-Series will be very exciting,” Bosch said. “I haven’t been there before. It will be a cool experience playing in those conditions.”
Bosch has played just one solitary ODI - against England in Potchefstroom last December- since last June and is keen to get in some longer format preparation ahead of the 50-overs World Cup in India later this year.
“Looking forward to the focus being on ODI’s. We haven’t had that in a long time,” Bosch said.
“We’ve had a lot of T20 cricket with the World Cup last year. The change and the shift in focus will be good. Also it’s a series with more than two teams which is pretty exciting.”
After years of showing glimpses of her potential with various cameos, the 31-year-old sensationally fulfilled her promise with a match-winning unbeaten 74 in the T20 World Cup semifinal against Australia in Dubai.
Bosch has been working hard with batting coach Baakier Abrahams at the recent training camp at the Cricket SA High Performance in Pretoria to replicate that performance on a more consistent basis in the longer format too.
“It will be difficult to replicate an innings like that again, but I think just the mindset and the learnings I took from that innings is important
“Applying myself the way I did in that innings and hopefully I can do that more consistently.
“Just be consistent in the way you go about your game and the gameplans that you have and the work you do before games will hopefully make me more consistent.
“We have been working on a lot of different things. But I think most importantly with the shift to ODI cricket, to bat for longer periods of time and be a little bit smarter in going about 50-over cricket.
“Applying yourself well, and still showing intent to score, but doing it in a smart way.”
The key to Bosch’s success against the Aussies was the way she handled the spinners on a turning track in Dubai.
She employed both the conventional and reverse-sweep shot to good effect.
With conditions expected to assist the spinners again in Sri Lanka and with both the hosts and India boasting some of the world’s best spin bowlers, will Bosch be getting out her broom again.
“I do enjoy playing the sweep shot,” Bosch said.
“It’s effective in most conditions and against most bowlers. I enjoy it’s a good option and I will definitely keep utilising it.
“The biggest thing is manipulating the field, hitting the gaps, making positive moves earlier rather than later. Making good decisions on shot selection and choosing the areas on the field,” she added.