Young cricketer has endless dreams

On the morning before smashing a century and leading Benoni Northerns women’s cricket team to a 109 victory against Etwatwa in November, Tamzyn Hartman (16) had set herself a target far lower than what she ended up posting.

“I woke up and told my family that I was going to score 70 runs,” she said.

At the end of the Northerns innings, she had scored an unbeaten 164 from 115 balls, with 27 boundaries and a single six as her team posted 250/6.

“I got to the crease and told myself I can’t get out with the first ball. I faced a few balls and after scoring 10 runs, I went for it. I also took advantage of their bad balls.”

It was this meticulous and well-crafted knock that landed the 16-year-old Benoni Northerns Sports Club’s junior sportsperson of the year at the club’s end-of-year prizegiving. It is an honour she shared with athlete Chelsea van Dyk.

“The fact that people are seeing the hard work feels good because a couple of years back, it would not have happened. It would be only the men winning all the awards.

“If feels good, especially because two women won it. My hard work is not going to waste. It sets a foundation for the younger players and motivates them to work harder,” Hartman said.

Beginnings

Hartman, from Ravenswood in Boksburg, started playing KFC mini-cricket at school and transitioned to hardball at Boksburg Cricket Club, where she honed her skills playing in a boy’s team.

Faced with the reality of playing against players who wanted to hurt her ‘because she’s a girl’, the Hoërskool Voortrekker Grade 11 learner had to toughen up and show them she was cut from the same cloth.

Even the sledging, often disguised as banter, to try to get in her head gave Hartman the motivation she needed to succeed. Despite all these, she gained more than she lost.

She explained the competitiveness, passion and pace of the games played a vital role in her development, adding the lessons helped when she started playing among women.

“It made me tougher. The boys don’t hold back. There was a lot more competition. They always bounced and tried to hit me for sixes. They will always chirp at you. But it made me strong mentally. Now girls cannot chirp me because I am strong.”

Indoor cricket

While she produced magic with the bat and behind the stumps outdoors, it was the fun, engaging and quick indoor cricket format at Benoni Action Sports where her game developed.

A wicketkeeper in both formats, she said indoor cricket upped her game awareness and improved her reaction time behind the stumps.

“It has certainly improved my game. It helped me with my reaction time, reading the batter and seeing what they plan to do. I then tell the bowler which areas to bowl at to get a wicket,” she said.

Hartman represented South Africa at the Indoor Cricket World Cup in Australia in 2022 and the Junior World Series in Dubai last year.

Future

She made her provincial debut for the Eastern Storm on November 13 and is already a vital cog in coach Adele van Eck’s side.

While that was a big step up for the youngster, her short-term goal is to make the national squad for next year’s ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia and Thailand.

“I know it would not be easy, but I see myself going there.”

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