Daveyton resident living her Proteas cricket dream

Tumi Sekhukhune (22), of Daveyton, shared her journey to stardom as a player in the Proteas South African women’s cricket team.

Sekhukhune was born and raised in Daveyton and this is where she was first exposed to cricket.

Her love of the game started at the age of seven when she often played with her cousins. She was the only girl in the household and this, she said, gave her the gap to enjoy doing the sport she loves most.

“I really started embracing cricket when I joined the Daveyton Cricket Club in 2005, when the sport was largely male dominated,” she said.

At age 11, however, Sekhukhune gave the sport up for two years because she “ran out of patience and felt intimidated by her teammates since she was the only female player”.

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“I quit because I thought it was a lost cause for me to try to get anywhere as a female player and at the time the Daveyton Club did not have a women’s cricket team,” Sekhukhune explained.

“But when my coaches, Raymond Ramahlo and Fred Mokoena, found out that there were girls cricket teams in Benoni everything just fell into place.”

At the age of 14, Sekhukhune joined the Easterns women’s cricket team and at age 20 undertook her first international tour with the national South African women’s side, the Proteas.

The team made it to the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup this year.

Sekhukhune’s highlight in the sport so far was when she was offered a national contract last year.

“I was ecstatic because finally my hard work had paid off.

“Not only was I offered the contract, but I was also named the International Women’s Newcomer of the Year at the Cricket SA sports awards,” she said.

The right-arm, fast-medium bowler is not discouraged by lockdown to keep fit as. She explained the team’s fitness trainer provided everyone with a personal workout plan which they can do daily at home, with or without gym facilities.