The International Cricket Council (ICC) virtual online programme began on June 17 and is expected to run for a period of five to six months, depending on the days on which each student is able to attend each week.
An ICC statement said 40 women from 29 ICC member countries have been selected to be mentored as part of the ICC 100% Cricket Future Leaders Programme.
The programme is designed to address the low percentage of women in leadership positions in global cricket and build a pipeline of new female leaders in cricket.
Commenting on the announcement, Claire Furlong, general manager, marketing and communications, said, “The response from the global cricket community and all of our member boards has been fantastic. We received an overwhelming number of applications from 45 countries spanning all five ICC regions. The first two batches reflect the diversity of our regions and their areas of focus, and all have received outstanding endorsements from their respective member boards.
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The next six months will be incredibly exciting and we look forward to a productive learning experience for our mentees. I’d like to thank all of the applicants for their interest in the programme, which demonstrates a clear appetite for greater support for our future female leaders as well as our mentors who have committed their time and support so readily.”
Mabuza is the only ICC future female leader from South Africa.
“I attend two or three times a week since my mentor, Ian Bishop, is also engaged on commentating the ICC World Test Championship cricket games that are currently taking place,” Mabuza said. Mabuza said she was invited by the ICC to apply because she had been emailing them.
“I was told that they would respond to my application on May 17, but they didn’t. This was when I told myself that this time I didn’t make it. I was just grateful for the mere fact that I had at least tried to apply,” she recalled.
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“I couldn’t believe it when, some days after having lost hope, I received an email saying ‘Congratulations! You have been accepted’. I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was having my meal when I received that email. Even to this day I still go to my mailbox and read that message,” she said.
“When I was invited to apply for this programme, I didn’t meet all the requirements. One of the things I needed to complete my application was a recommendation letter from my cricket board, and in this case it was impossible for me to get it from Cricket South Africa since I had only three days to get it and send it through my application. Not having the letter from my cricket board was enough to cut me out from being accepted. God being my faith, Natalie Germanos stepped up and wrote the letter as my mentor, which I believe spoke volumes about my love for cricket,” she said.
Mabuza was selected for the broadcasting category on the programme and said she intends to become the sport ambassador in order to promote and protect the cricket game and its unique spirit.
“I mean, having Ian Bishop as my mentor for this programme sounds and feels like a dream on its own. After this mentorship I intend to step into the commentary box and carry the game of cricket in my voice with words,” she said.
Mabuza has been featured in Lowveld Media publications on numerous occasions for her love of cricket and she was eventually recruited to voluntarily give cricket analyses and commentaries on Mbombela-based SABC radio station, Ligwalagwala FM, on a part-time basis.
