Raised in a family that shares a love for cricket, it was easy for Robyn Searle to pursue her love for cricket.
“My family loves cricket and we went to watch test matches from an early age. I had lots of male friends at school and started playing cricket with them,” said Robyn, who is the captain of Jeppe High School for Girls‘ first cricket team.
Robyn plays soccer and cricket, and is a girl of many talents. She is currently completing her matric this year and said it has been a wonderful journey for her.
The 18-year-old started playing cricket at the age of six.
“I played boys cricket for my primary school Dalmondeor, from grade 1 to grade 7. We also played for the district and the province. We had to get special permission for me to play with the boys.
“I started playing girls cricket when I moved to Jeppe Girls,” said Robyn.
Her passion for the sport has been evident in the numerous awards she has accumulated over the years.
This year she was selected for the South African Women’s A side to play against Zimbabwe.
She said her highlights this year included winning the Gauteng League against the joint Soweto schools team, and winning against Benoni and Swartkops in October.
She plans to take a gap year after matric to focus on her cricket.
Robyn looks up to AB De Villiers.
“I would really love to be able to play as well as him one day. My female role model is Sarah Taylor, who is the wicket-keeper for the England women’s team. She is currently playing first class men’s cricket,” said Robyn.
She said this year has been a challenging year for her and she is proud to have achieved so much in sport and still be able to focus on her academics.
Robyn received numerous awards this year alone, which included the Gauteng Women’s Batsman of the Year Award, the Gauteng U/19 Player of the Year Award, the Jeppe Girls’ Sports Star for June and the Margaret Theiler Award for participating meaningfully in sporting activities.
