Marizanne Kapp and Sydney Sixers keen to right the wrongs of WBBL05

run to the semi-final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia, their strike bowler Marizanne Kapp, played only two matches. The speedster spent the tournament battling with a mystery illness that forced her to miss the epic semi-final against the hosts in Sydney.

235 days since her last competitive game - one against Pakistan, in which she was too ill to bowl - Kapp is preparing to return to her world beating ways with Sydney Sixers in the sixth season of the Women's Big Bash League.

"Yeah, it has been tough (not to have played since March), especially with me being sick in the World Cup," the fast bowler said on Thursday (October 22). "I feel like one year of my career has gone and I haven't really played any cricket. But hopefully this is the start of things getting back to normal again."

Having completed their 14-day quarantine in Adelaide, Kapp and Dane van Niekerk are prepared to finally join their Sixers teammates in the WBBL village at Sydney Olympic Park. While she admitted she is quite nervous for the start of the competition - not having played any competitive cricket for a while - she hopes her experience will come to the fore.

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"I'm quite nervous, to be honest," she said, when asked how she thinks her body will cope with the load of bowling. "But I'll see what I can do in five days time. Hopefully the experience kicks in."

The seamer, who has been a part of the Sixers line-up since the tournament's inception, said she is thrilled to be back playing in Australia. She credited Cricket Australia for the work they put in to get the tournament up and running and added that she can't wait for it to get underway.

"I think it's just an amazing tournament. When we got here (Sydney) yesterday, I just realised again, how blessed we are to be here and how much effort Cricket Australia have put in to make this happen."

One of the most consistent teams in WBBL history, Sixers had their worst tournament last season, failing to make the knockouts for the first time. Kapp said that the lack of cricket over the last six months has only further fueled the side's fire to right the wrongs of WBBL05.

"I think so. And the fact that we have not played any cricket, it just makes you hungry to play cricket again. And with the season we had and the performances we put in, we weren't too proud of ourselves, and hopefully this year we will start with a win."

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As many as eight South Africans will compete in this season's WBBL - the biggest overseas contingent in the competition - and Kapp said that while she is excited her teammates are getting the opportunity to showcase their skills, she is not quite looking forward to coming up against them in the competition.

"It's not always nice because they know by now the way you think and what you do, so it's a big contest, especially at North Sydney, but I'm looking forward to the challenge."

The seamer singled out Laura Wolvaardt as one to watch through the competition. "I think Laura Wolvaardt could surprise us all. I know she's been labelled as someone that's not really a T20 player, but even in the camp we had back home, I was really surprised with the way she is hitting the ball," she concluded.

Sixers kick off their campaign against city-rivals Sydney Thunder on Sunday (October 25).