Wolvaardt to take over as full-time South Africa captain
Laura Wolvaardt is set to be confirmed as South Africa's permanent captain after taking on the job in a temporary capacity for the series against Pakistan and New Zealand earlier this year.
At the time of accepting the job on an interim basis, Wolvaardt had said she wanted to assess whether the leadership would impact her batting, but Cricday understands that after topping the run-chart in the T20 series against Pakistan and finishing second on the list for in the ODIs against New Zealand, she has decided she wants the job full-time.
Wolvaardt is expected to be unveiled in the role ahead of South Africa's next assignment, against Bangladesh at home in December. That series will also be the final one for the current coaching staff, led by Hilton Moreeng, who has been in charge of the side since 2012 and oversaw their progression to the T20 World Cup final earlier in this year. Moreeng's contract ended at the conclusion of that tournament but CSA dragged its heels in advertising for the post and, in August, his tenure was extended to the end of 2023 despite player grievances.
Moreeng's post has since been advertised and interviewed for and a new coach is set to be announced before South Africa tour Australia earlier next year.
"We had interviews last week and we are still finalising a couple of things. As soon as we are done with the post-interview process, we will be able to make an announcement," Enoch Nkwe, CSA's director of cricket, said in Ahmedabad, where he is attending the men's ODI World Cup. "The current coaching team will carry on until the end of December, but we want to give clarity as soon as possible because it will impact the Australian tour."
CSA is also set to put in place a head of women's cricket, who will report to Nkwe. Applications for that post closed on July 14 but Nkwe indicated that the appointee is yet to be decided on.
"The head of women's cricket [role] has taken a while [to finalise]. We want to make sure the person that is going to take that position is not short-term," Nkwe said. "We've just professionalised the domestic structure and there are plans within the high performance to get a South Africa A women's side over the next 12 months, so we have the same structure as the men's. The women's structure is really growing nicely and we are really excited about it."
As part of the legacy of hosting the T20 World Cup, South Africa have taken significant steps to professionalise the women's game. Their top-six domestic teams can now contract up to 11 players each and the national women's players now get equal match fees as the men.