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Spending time in the middle against quality opposition will be crucial as the Proteas Women complete their preparations for the forthcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, says all-rounder Annerie Dercksen.SA opened their warm-up programme with a seven-run victory over Australia on Sunday and will play four more matches before the tournament gets under way on June 12. The Proteas play Australia twice more this week before taking on Ireland and New Zealand to conclude their preparations.Their opening World Cup fixture sees them take on the Aussies on June 13 before clashes against Pakistan, India, Netherlands and Bangladesh to conclude their group phase assignmentsDercksen said most of the hard work had already been done during the months leading up to the tournament, with the remaining fixtures providing an opportunity to fine-tune individual skills and ensure the squad were aligned in their approach.“Personally I just want to work on some options and also spend time out in the middle against quality opposition,” Dercksen said. “They’ve been the No 1 side in the world for a while.Getting to three finals says something about our character and resilience in these tournaments, but we definitely would like to go one step further. We’ve had a lot of chats and also tried to visualise the things that we would need to do to take that final step— Annerie Dercksen“From a team perspective, it will be a nice test to ensure everyone has their options narrowed down and dialled in and that we are all on the same page.”The tournament will mark Dercksen’s third Women’s T20 World Cup campaign with the Proteas. She was selected in SA’s squad for the 2023 tournament on home soil but did not feature in a match before playing a more significant role during the 2024 edition.Since then, the right-arm medium pacer has developed into one of the most influential all-rounders in the national set-up. The 25-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough period over the past two seasons, establishing herself across formats and becoming a regular contributor with bat and ball.Reflecting on her journey from wide-eyed newcomer to established international, Dercksen said the experiences gained along the way had played a major role in her development.“It was an amazing experience, and I am kind of glad I didn’t get to play in that tournament because everything was still pretty new to me,” she said. “Getting to be in the environment, with my heroes close by, bumping into people I had only ever seen on TV was pretty cool.“Now I think I’ve got to know my game a bit better, and I understand the environment a bit better, so it has been amazing, and I have been really blessed so far.”Having reached three ICC tournament finals in recent years, SA remain determined to finally secure a first major global title.“We have now managed to get over that semifinal hurdle, which is a massive achievement from a mental point of view,” Dercksen said. “Getting to three finals says something about our character and resilience in these tournaments, but we definitely would like to go one step further.“We’ve had a lot of chats and also tried to visualise the things that we would need to do to take that final step.”The Herald
