From the diary of a cricketer

Sune Luus prepares to lead her team into the field (Getty Images) An  edited version  of this article was originally published on  gsport Suné Luus has performed multiple roles for South Africa. At 16, she became an international cricketer. At 18, she was one of their premier spinners. At 20, she was their opening batter. At 21, she had her first taste of captaincy. At 22, she had been reassigned the role of ‘finisher’. At 23, she was dropped. By 24, she had re-established herself as one of the side’s top allrounders. And now, at 26, she is leading her country in the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. “There’s a quote (by Neale Donald Walsch) that goes ‘Life begins at the end of your comfort zone’. I really like that quote; it is something I live by,” a 21-year-old Luus had told ICC in 2017. Over the last three years, Luus has been pushed firmly out of her comfort zone. In early 2019, she went from being dropped, to making a comeback and being thrust into a leaders...

Meg Lanning celebrates her century against South Africa in Wellington. (ICC/Getty Images) When Meg Lanning made her way to the centre at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, Shabnim Ismail was in the middle of a fiery opening spell. The South African speedster had found her rhythm, found some swing and was making full use of the pacy Wellington pitch. In pursuit of 272, the six-time World Cup winners had slipped to 14 for 1 after their destructive opener Alyssa Healy had been nicked off by Ismail. “Hard hands from Healy, soft hands from Chetty,” Nasser Hussain had described the dismissal on air – Healy pushing at a delivery that shaped away and melted into the gloves of a diving Trisha Chetty. It was the kind of wicket that would have excited Ismail, just enough to channel the ‘demon’ within. Lanning had walked into the middle of a cauldron. South Africa’s biggest threat had her tail up. The slips were looming, the fielders in the inner circle were chattering, and Ismail had a visible snar...