Olympic medallist Sunette Viljoen: Proteas Women inspire next generation of cricketers

Women’s cricket in South Africa has come a long way. The game went from being fully amateur to now fully professional, even in domestic cricket, where it has been professional for three seasons.

The game has now seen continuous investments from sponsors, and cricketers around the country have fully professional careers.

However, this was not always the case; former Proteas and now Lions women's cricketer Sunette Viljoen knows all about it. 

Viljoen made her Proteas debut over two decades ago, at the tender age of 16, and during those days, even the Proteas women’s set-up was amateur.

Players needed to have full-time jobs and submit leave from work for them to represent their country.

“When I was playing, cricket was amateur. You played it almost for the social side of it. We did not have a domestic season like we have these days,” Viljoen told Independent Newspapers in an exclusive interview.

“There, you only had an inter-provincial tournament, where all the provinces played against each other, and out of that tournament, they selected a South African squad or a training group.

“Everyone that I played with had jobs. So, when they wanted to play cricket, they had to take leave to go to the World Cup.

“In my case, I was still at school. So, I needed to leave school for a certain amount of period and go play for the country. There was no payment. There was no television broadcast. You literally just played for the honour of playing for your country, and that was it.”

Now, Women’s cricket in South Africa has produced the first-ever senior Proteas team, men and women, to win an ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final, following the Proteas women’s 125-run victory over England in Guwahati earlier this week.

It is an achievement that Viljoen says has inspired them as domestic players in the country, and also young girls who are still in school to know that they too can have a career in cricket.

“I think for us that's playing currently, it's a wonderful inspiration to see what your national team is doing, and that out of our system, these Proteas are coming out from,” Viljoen said.

“I’ve been working now with a lot of youngsters, and it's so wonderful to have the dream and the vision to see on TV what I can achieve, what I can do. Even if the Springboks are playing, all the boys want to pick up a rugby ball and kick outside; everyone wants to play rugby.

“I was just at the school today, taking little girls for practice, and the teacher said to me, ‘Oh, today, do you know on Friday everyone at the school will wear Proteas shirts because of the girls that are playing in the World Cup final?’

“That is amazing to see. Rugby is getting supported, but the girls are playing on Sunday, and everyone is going to wear a shirt, the Proteas shirt or a Springbok shirt to school on Friday.

"I wish I were 20 years younger, especially in the cricket setup, because we have all the international leagues that are happening.

“I hope that a lot of young girls get inspired by this Proteas side to see, ‘oh, well, I can have a career in cricket, I can make it my job, I can get paid. After school, I can get into a franchise where I can play, where I can be a professional cricketer and out of that system, I can represent my country.’

“Women's cricket has grown in leaps and bounds from when I started playing up. It's a whole new world, and I think everyone who's playing cricket now can be very excited.”

On Sunday, the 2016 Olympic silver medallist will turn out for the Lions women in the CSA Women's Pro20 Series, taking on SWD Women in Oudtshoorn. 

On the same day, the Proteas women will be looking to make history as they will take on India women in the 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup final in Navi Mumbai.