Camps Bay Beach was the place to be on Saturday, 21 January, as the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 brought some fun and excitement with a beach cricket match to celebrate the 20-days-to-go countdown.
Rapper Rouge, who sings the official ICC Women’s T20 World Cup anthem, alongside Anele Mdoda, Siv Ngesi, Holly Rey, and Nadia Jaftha brought in some added flavour. With Proteas limited-overs captain, Temba Bavuma and Momentum Protea players in attendance, it was inevitable that everyone was ready to show off their skills. Capetonian fans joined the friendly match, which was an excellent opportunity to rally fan support and involvement ahead of one of the most anticipated international cricket competitions set to take place in South Africa in 2023.
Siv Ngesi, who is passionate about sport but most importantly shining a light on women’s sports in the country, speaks about the importance of the country hosting the World Cup, “For me, I think having the Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa is an unbelievable experience. Not many countries get the chance or have the infrastructure to do so. It will be great for tourism in the city and people will once again get the opportunity to see how special South Africa truly is,”
“This World Cup is an opportunity to showcase to the nation and the world the talent in women’s sport. I am excited to see people filling up the stadiums and really showing their support for women’s sports,” adds Ngesi.
“Hosting another World Cup strengthens the possibility of hosting another World Cup for another sport by showing organising bodies that the nation will rally together to show their support by filling up the stadiums – as much as it is about the sport, it is also about the euphoria in the stadium,” said the Queen of radio, Anele Mdoda, who also attended with her son, Alakhe.
Award-winning musician, Holly Rey who went to one of the first schools in South Africa to encourage girls to play cricket spoke about fostering a more inclusive sports culture in South Africa, “The Women’s T20 World Cup is a tournament that fosters a sporting culture that is more inclusive of women. It is events like these that have a tremendous influence on girls and young women who are looking for role models that they can identify with. It feels fantastic to be a part of something that is building bridges and narrowing the gap for inequality in sports,” says Rey.
“Hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup in SA goes a very long way to promote and create a foundation for equal opportunities for women in sport. I know my little sister is looking to try out for the girls’ cricket team at her school and I can only imagine the inspiration she will get from seeing women competing in a World Cup,” adds Rey
The eighth edition of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup 2023 is set to occupy calendars and TV screens come February and will be the most prominent women’s cricket event ever held in the country. The tournament will feature some of the greatest national cricket teams such as defending champions, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand, and Pakistan, as well two-time tournament winners West Indies, Bangladesh, and Ireland.
Fans are encouraged to #TurnItUp in support of the tournament and their favourite teams and players, who will be in action in 23 matches over 15 days. Tickets across the three venues – Newlands, Boland Park and St George’s Park – are available at stadium ticket offices and online via https://womens.t20worldcup.com/tickets. For ICC Women’s T20 World Cup match schedule details please click here.
