The Proteas Women are benefiting from the investments made in women's cricket
Teenager Karabo Meso has been included in the Proteas team for the inbound Pakistan tour.
Image: ICC Media
The Proteas Women are benefiting from the investments that have been made into Women's cricket over the last few years.
Since the 2023/34 season, when Women's domestic cricket turned professional, courtesy of investments, the Proteas Women's team has reached new heights.
Since that season, the team has reached two ICC finals: the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup final in the United Arab Emirates and the 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in India.
Part of that investment has gone into Women's under-19 cricket, where the likes of Karabo Meso have emerged.
Recently, former Proteas Women's under-19 captain Kayla Reyneke, who received her maiden senior national call-up for the upcoming inbound tour of Pakistan Women, is the latest graduate.
Proteas Women's head coach Mandla Mashimbi acknowledges the impact the under-19 structure has on the success of his team and the sustainability of Women's cricket.
"It's very beneficial because remember, everybody that you can see there probably played under-19 cricket somewhere or another for their provinces or for their country," Mashimbyi said.
"We cannot neglect the feeder system, and the 19 system actually plays a big role in making sure that we get players that are going to come into our environment and actually have an impact.
"So, we've obviously identified a couple of players that we feel going forward will play a role for the Proteus team and also for 2029.
"So I think there's enough time to actually give those players an opportunity to experience what international cricket is about. And then come four years' time, they will be where they need to be in terms of their skills."
Mashimbyi is currently preparing his team for this year's ICC Women's T20 World Cup in England, where they will open their campaign against Australia Women.
The coach will use the upcoming inbound tour of Pakistan, the tour to New Zealand, and the inbound tour of India Women in April to prepare for the T20 World Cup.
The Pakistan inbound tour is set to get underway from 10 February to 01 March, with the two sides set to compete in three T20Is and three ODIs.