Luus hopes to carry Test form into T20 game

South Africa recently concluded their six-day camp in Durban in preparation for the global showpiece set to kick off on October 3 in the United Arab Emirates, with Sharjah and Dubai named as the host cities.

The Proteas came within 19 runs of winning the country’s first major tournament after they reached their maiden World Cup final against Australia last year. Luus believes that their heartbreaking experience will benefit them in future as they aim to reach more finals.

The 28-year-old rediscovered some of her best form in the one-off Test match against India before heading back home for a break that she hopes won’t slow her momentum.

“Obviously I would have liked to play more cricket, but a break is never a bad thing, just to refresh your mind and body to be ready for a busy season ahead,” she told Independent Newspapers.

“It’s always hard to perform all the time, that is a challenge you have as a cricketer, it’s a confidence game. I think when you find yourself within runs you need to capitalise on that, and train as hard as you can to make sure you’re prepared for the next one.

“You always want to get into the final all the time, and we have worked very hard every World Cup and we got to semi-finals consistently. Breaking that and getting to the final, we overcame that hurdle. Hopefully this year we can do the same thing, and now we know how a final is and the pressure that comes with it, so hopefully we can get over that hurdle as well.”

The former South African captain doesn’t feel the change of venue for the World Cup, from Bangladesh to the UAE, will have a huge impact on preparations, but instead evens things up a bit with conditions being a bit more neutral and suited to almost every team.

“We were prepared for Bangladesh wickets, which were going to be low and slow, probably. I think it’s in everyone’s favour that it’s in the United Arab Emirates,” she said.

“The wickets will be favourable to more cricketers, so very excited about that. It will be more about the batter’s game whereas Bangladesh was going to be a bit more tricky and spin-heavy, but we have prepared for all types of conditions.”

Luus broke into the scene as an all-rounder, but along the way she made a call to stop bowling her right-arm leg breaks to focus more on her batting. After having bowled a few overs in the one-off Test match against India, she confirmed that her bowling is still an incomplete chapter that she will revisit.

“It’s in the works. I am trying my best to get myself back into the all-rounder position and just helping the team wherever I can. Also just for myself to contribute in all aspects of the game. I’m working hard on it behind the scenes, but whether I’m gonna be a consistent feature in the World Cup, probably not, but hopefully I can be an option to get a few overs over when we need that spin option.”