Women in Sport: Thanks bro, for giving us Nondumiso Shangase

Nondumiso Shangase is part of the new generation of South African women’s cricketers, having played seven times for the Proteas last year and is now on her way to her first World Cup, but hers has been no run-of-the-mill journey to the top.

Hailing from Inanda, a township north-west of Durban, Shangase was a sporty girl but it was thanks to her brother, Siyabonga, that she took up cricket.

“I started playing cricket in 2013. I was already playing netball and soccer, but I knew I wouldn’t go that far in those sports, plus we only got to play once a week. My brother was playing cricket every Sunday and going to cricket weeks and I also wanted to go, so I joined him at his practices. But there was no girls cricket in school so I had to find a club. I joined INK – Inanda-Ntuzu-ma-KwaMashu club, which is now called the Lindelani Women’s Club,” Shangase told The Citizen.

Clearly a talented ball-player, Shangase blossomed almost as soon as she had a bat in her hands.

By the 2013/14 summer she had been sent to KZN U19 trials by her coach Sandile Caluza.

There she was spotted by former Protea Dinesha Devnarain.

While her talent was clear, Devnarain faced something of a quandary because a 24-strong squad had already been chosen.

But arrangements were made for Shangase to be added to the squad and it was during her time with the KZN U19s that she began bowling – and her off-spin is now arguably her strongest suit in the international game.

“The first thing they teach you when you take up cricket is to bat, but at the U19s I just took the ball one day and bowled and discovered I could do it. It was with the U19s in 2013 and 2014 when I really started bowling and it was as an all-rounder that I was chosen,” Shangase said.

In February 2015 she made her debut for the KZN senior side and quickly established herself at the top of the order.

In 2017, at the tender age of 21, she became captain and celebrated by becoming the first black African to score a century for the provincial team, against Mpumalanga at the Chatsworth Oval.

Shangase’s rapid rise continued as she was chosen for the national academy in January 2018 and in May 2019 she made her international debut in a T20 game against Pakistan in Pietermaritzburg.

Her anything-but-vanilla journey continued when she was thrust into an ODI and T20 tour of India.

It was a chastening experience for a Proteas team missing key players, and they lost both series 3-0.

But Shangase displayed a brave face.

“It was really hot in India, but it was a really good experience for a spin bowler. The pitches were all dry and the amount of turn was really good. I wish I could go back!”

Extracting turn in India is one thing, but Shangase also has a reputation for being a very coachable player; she soaks up instruction like a sponge.

“She is a very humble girl, down-to-earth, listened to instructions and if she didn’t understand she would ask again. She’s the type of person who doesn’t like failing,” Khulekani Mtshali, one of her Inanda coaches, said.

“She has an immense amount of talent, she works extremely hard and giving up isn’t an option for her. She can make it as far as she wants to go,” Devnarain said.

Having shrugged off the prediction of her soccer coach that she would never get far in cricket, Shangase is busy get-ting comfortable at international level.

The presence of so many experienced all-rounders in the squad has greased her way.

“Laura Wolvaardt is the one I look up to in terms of batting, but when it comes to all-rounders I aim to emulate Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Dane van Niekerk and Chloe Tryon – it’s the way they do things in practice and in the game, the way they motivate and speak to me. I’ve had amazing support from all my team-mates and the bowling is com-ing off nicely at the moment,” Shangase said.

The popular Shangase knows that her cricket-playing days won’t last forever, so she is intent on pursuing studies in accounting in KZN.

Although she is just seven games into her international career, Shangase’s love for the game and natural talent should ensure that she writes herself a fitting chapter in the history books of South African cricket as well

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