ANDRIE STEYN

UWC SUPERSTARS ANDRIE STEYN BY LYNDON JULIUS

Women’s cricket has come a long way since a few years back, especially with the huge strides the sport has made at a national level. Yet, lots still need to be done for South African women’s cricket to be compared and consistently competitive with the likes of England and Australia, the countries considered by most female South African cricketers as the benchmark in terms of professionalism and resources.

One such cricketer is the University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) very own Andrie Steyn, who joined the Bellville-based university in 2016 and has been a regular feature in the Proteas side. Despite being enrolled at Stellenbosch University, where she completed her Honours in Sports Science and is currently completing her Masters in Sport Science having completed her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Sports Science at UWC, Steyn continues to be a member of the UWC Cricket Club.

“UWC made me feel extremely welcome; I felt immediately at home,” Steyn says. “Regardless of how well or bad I had done with the Proteas, when I returned to the UWC team, I was able to get to what mattered the most and that was keeping my passion for cricket going.

“We are a very close, tight bunch. Even within an everchanging team environment, there is a foundation that has been laid that is evident every season, which is that the Women’s Cricket Club allows us to express ourselves.”

Upon her arrival in Cape Town, Steyn, who hails from KwaZuluNatal, says she looked up players Nuraan Pippers and Shandre Fritz first. The latter’s Protea career had come to an end around the same time when Steyn’s Protea career had just begun. Being a right-hand specialist batswoman, Steyn has 32 one-day international (ODI) matches for SA under her belt and, while she prefers the ODI, she has also featured in five Twenty20 (T20) fixtures. A flamboyant and teachable cricketer, Steyn has also had to pick up the bat for her newly adopted provincial side, Western Province.

Steyn believes the national women’s side has made huge strides in terms of becoming a fully-fledged professional outfit yet still has a long way to go when compared to some of the more well-known national sides. For example, England and Australia have professionalised right down to their domestic leagues, which allows for a larger pool of players to get professional contracts. Only the top 15 women’s cricketers receive contracts in SA, of which Steyn was one for four years from 2015 until the beginning of 2019. In Mzansi, the national side renews contracts on an annual basis with each contract only lasting a year.

“We [women’s cricket in South Africa] still have a long way to go,” stresses Steyn. “Currently, there are no provincial or domestic contracts, leaving many ladies with little to no options if they don’t land a national contract at an early age. Do they continue to pursue the top 15 spots or do they devote their time and energy to building a career in another field?

“This is a tough one as some of the girls are talented but to be without a stable income for the first few years while building your game can be stressful. The only thing that can be done is to follow the footsteps of England and Australia’s professionally structured domestic teams.”

Steyn lauds the national leaders in cricket for their hard work in trying to get SA women’s cricket on par with the best. “Even just in the last five years, a lot has been done to make the game equal for men and women.”

Despite her success, she would prefer to be remembered for her character instead of her cricket., “I want to be remembered as someone who imparted what I learnt to the next generation. That, to me, would be my ultimate legacy.”