De Klerk ready to make mark in ultimate test

A breakout year on the international stage in 2023 saw Nadine de Klerk go from fringe player to South Africa mainstay.

Now the allrounder wants to translate those white-ball gains into the Test arena as she prepares to take on Australia at the WACA Ground.

De Klerk was the only Proteas player to make the ICC’s 2023 ODI Team of the Year, rewarded for a standout all-round 12 months that saw her take 16 wickets in nine one-dayers at 16.68 and score 181 runs at 45.

The 24-year-old’s potential was always evident, particularly in the shortest format, and moments of brilliance – including her 3-19 in the 2020 T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia at the SCG – were enough for her to be offered contracts in overseas domestic leagues.

But greater consistency has helped de Klerk become a matchwinner in a team going through a period of change after a series of high-profile retirements.

"I think I've actually done the same thing, just more consistently," de Klerk told reporters in Perth on Tuesday. 

"I've tried to just back myself a little bit more.

"Being in and out of the side wasn't always easy, so having a few cracks more often has really helped my game."

De Klerk played for the Brisbane Heat in WBBL|06 and |07 and more recently spent the last UK summer playing domestic regional cricket for The Blaze and for Oval Invincibles in The Hundred.

The allrounder was a standout performer for The Blaze, taking a competition-leading 15 wickets in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and 13 wickets in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

Following the Test, she will head to India where she will play alongside the likes of Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine and Sophie Molineux at Royal Challengers Bangalore, after being signed as a replacement player for Heather Knight.

"Having the opportunity to play around the world and in a few different places really helped me grow as well," de Klerk continued. 

"It's about being really confident and backing my skills and hopefully it can continue to grow from there."

De Klerk, like the majority of her South Africa teammates, has only played one previous Test match, against England in Taunton in 2022.

Australia have comparatively far more experience, having played England and India in one-off Tests in the last eight months.

With just two red-ball training sessions to prepare ahead of day one on Thursday, de Klerk acknowledged bringing her white-ball form into WACA Test would present a challenge.

"It's unknown territory for us, we haven't played a lot of it and they're a world-class side but we're looking forward to going against them and it's going to be a great challenge for us as a side," she said.

"We played the one Test match against England and it was really a massive challenge, especially because we're not used to playing this format. 

"It's always quite intimidating when you play the best side in the world, but I think we've shown over the last couple of months and actually the last couple of years we're up to the challenge. 

"We're still going to go out there and try and play our best cricket, even though we're not quite familiar with Test cricket. 

"There's still lots to learn and hopefully the one match we did play against England will help us get through the tough times a little bit."

Women's CommBank T20I Series v South Africa

First T20: Australia won by eight wickets

Second T20: South Africa won by six wickets

Third T20: Australia win by five wickets

Women's CommBank ODI Series v South Africa

First ODI: Australia won by eight wickets

February 7: South Africa won by 84 runs

February 10: Australia won by 110 runs (DLS method)

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris*, Jess Jonassen, Alana King**, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham *T20s only | **ODIs only

South Africa squad (T20Is & ODIs): Laura Wolvaardt (c), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Mieke de Ridder (wk), Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Chloe Tryon, Delmi Tucker

Women's CommBank Test Match v South Africa

February 15-18: Only Test, WACA Ground, Perth 11.00am