From understudy to lead actor: Suné Luus' transformation

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 leadership position, all in the space of three weeks. It was the start of a whirlwind period that would see her captain South Africa against Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home, and on a tough tour to India.

South Africa managed to dominate in their own backyard, but the series against India was far from easy. The Proteas were thrashed, managing only one win in seven LOIs. Through the tour, Luus appeared hesitant when making on-field decisions, clearly short on captaincy experience. But despite the difficulties she took plenty of valuable lessons from that trip.

“I have learned patience,” she told gsport at the time. “You are not always going to go home with a win. You’ve got to be patient with yourself and with your teammates.”

Regular skipper Dané van Niekerk’s return to the setup later that year meant Luus took a back seat again, focusing on her own game leading into the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia.

Following the heartbreak of that tournament semi-final and an extended COVID-19 enforced break, South Africa returned to the international stage in early 2021. Luus was their skipper again; filling in for van Niekerk while she recuperated from injury. It wasn’t her spot to make her own. She was merely keeping the chair warm for van Niekerk’s return…

Twelve months on, it seems 2021 served as Luus’ practice run for things to come.

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When Luus came to India in 2019, she appeared to be a rather reluctant captain. There was thought behind every statement she made, but that clarity of thought rarely correlated with the happenings on the field.

That sense of confusion reflected in some muddled bowling changes, hesitant chats with senior bowlers, a tendency to often second-guess herself and her own reluctance to bowl. Moments of pressure often saw frantic conversations with a group of senior players, and what resulted was often more confusion.

In a team with some very senior players, a couple of whom are mavericks, on the field it looked like Luus, even as captain, was slightly low down the pecking order. On paper, she was meant to be in charge, but how could she make a mark on a team that was only temporarily ‘hers’? How could she influence a group with so many strong personalities around? For a long while, those were the questions Luus seemed to be grappling with.

Back in charge in 2021, Luus led South Africa to a series win over Pakistan at home, and followed it up with a remarkable double series win over in India. She appeared calmer, and more sure of herself, in control of the conversations she was having and the decisions she was making. South Africa dominated the same star-studded Indian team that had crushed them only 18 months ago, and key to that turnaround was a more confident captain… With every passing game, it seemed Luus was able to better understand her identity as a leader.

Luus plays a delightful cover drive. (ICC/ Getty Images)

That confidence in herself and her own style reflects in the way Luus now speaks about her role. There is an understanding that van Niekerk is still the ultimate leader of the side, but while she is wearing that captain’s armband, Suné Luus will bring her own unique style.

“Obviously, I have big shoes to fill with Dane. She's obviously a very good player and a good captain as well. But I think for me it's kind of just to make it my own. You can't really be like the person next to you. You've got to do what's right for you and what you feel you need to do. So, I think that’s just what I've been doing over the past couple of times that I’ve been given the honour to captain. I've just been putting my own spin on it and trying to do things my way as well,” she said in the pre-tournament press-conference.

“I think I just try and stay as calm as I can. I think that really helps the team and that really just gives them the confidence to just back their skill and do what they can and to know that we trust them and I trust them with whatever they are doing. Just to stay as calm as possible and take it one ball at a time.”

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Since the start of her career, Luus has served as van Niekerk’s understudy – first as a leg-spinner and now as skipper. The 26-year-old was never really meant to take centrestage this early, but when has life ever followed the perfect script?

It’s Thursday (March 31). South Africa are in the final four of the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup and are set to take on England at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch in a repeat of the 2017 semi-final. They have a real opportunity to “make history” in a tournament they have been preparing for for five years now. At the centre of that campaign has been Luus, the batter and the captain. 

Five wins in seven matches, a place in the semi-final, 249 runs with three fifties, and now in her 100th ODI; Luus is finally ready to emerge from van Niekerk’s shadow.

An edited version of this article was originally published on gsport