Faye Tunnicliffe, Nondumiso Shangase want to be trusted match-winners for South Africa

“Coming into an environment like this is an amazing opportunity to learn,” Tunnicliffe was quoted saying by Cricket South Africa on Thursday (January 14).

“I think now is really a good time for us youngsters to step up and really prove to the older players or the more senior players that once they leave the system then we’ve got their backs and we can sort of fill that gap.”

Tunnicliffe was the third-highest run-getter in the first stage of the Women’s Super League 3.0 that was held last month, behind Sune Luus and Laura Wolvaardt.

“We really want to just instil that trust within them and I think that is very important for us as youngsters. We’re learning from them by just watching and chatting to them here and there, asking them for tips on our own games, whether it’s batting or bowling or even fielding, those small pieces of advice really help,” said the 22-year-old.

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“There’s been times in the past where I think nerves would sort of get to us, but now is the time to keep our heads strong on our shoulders and really just take the opportunities that we get. We’re looking forward to it.”

While Tunnicliffe has played eight T20Is and three ODIs, another youngster who’s taking her baby steps at the international is Nondumiso Shangase. The 24-year-old off-spinner, who made her ODI debut in 2019 against India, has been focussing on keeping in simple, whenever she gets the ball.

“Training from day one until today has been really good,” said Shangase, who was part of the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup 2020.

“The break was really long and now we cannot wait to get going again. We spent enough time at home over the last few months, but now we just want to play.”

“I’m just going to try and keep it simple because if we can get the basics right then everything else will fall into place,” she concluded.