Nonkululeko Mlaba’s ascent to the pinnacle of international cricket has been nothing short of miraculous. 

The spinner has gone from playing club cricket to provincial cricket, then graduating to South Africa’s under-19 team, from where she was promoted to the National Academy. 

She went on to make her debut for the senior Proteas women’s team in September 2019 — all this within four years.

Her debut came as South Africa toured India.  

“I was so excited because it was my first time being overseas. But when I got there, I was not ready for what I experienced. Because you know in India, they love cricket. The crowd was huge, and it was my first time playing in front of a big crowd. I was so nervous,” she says of her first taste of international cricket. 

The Proteas went down by 11 runs in that game, but a new name had been introduced into the international cricket fold. The 19-year-old tells Daily Maverick that she felt proud to represent her country, her family and herself on such a grand stage.

Mlaba, better known as “Lefty” to her teammates, comes from the township of Ntuzuma in KwaZulu-Natal. It is here where she is spending her 21-day, Covid-19-induced lockdown imposed by President Cyril Ramaphosa two weeks ago.

She says that after being away from home for two months with the Proteas, she is enjoying spending time with her family. 

To keep fit she is doing home exercises such as push-ups, while she gets her cardio fix from doing something she loves dearly – dancing. 

Before Mlaba relocated to Ntuzuma, she lived in another famous township in KwaZulu Natal – KwaMashu. Here she stayed with her mother, who raised her until she (Mlaba) moved to Ntuzuma to stay with her uncle, aunt and cousins at the age of 13. And this is where the seed of her love for cricket, and for her future as a Protea, was planted. 

Mlaba says she still cannot believe that she’s made a career out of something which she took up by pure chance and mostly out of boredom.

“The time I was staying in KwaMashu I was doing traditional dancing. And then when I moved to Ntuzuma I got bored because there was no one who was doing traditional dancing around there,” the left-arm spinner says.

“Then one day I decided to follow my brother and sisters to the local ground, along with their friends, to watch them train. The next day I decided to join in, just for fun, just to keep busy. Then after that, I started going every day. After school I’d always go there; and that’s how I fell in love with cricket,” says Mlaba.

Not long after that, she joined Lindelani Cricket Club, which is based in Ntuzuma. Her coach at the time was Sandile Hlongwa. 

“I won’t lie, she wasn’t very competitive at age-group level, which is very lazy. It only started to dawn on her when she was in matric, when she realised that she was about to leave the township programme system. That’s when it started dawning that she had to pull up her socks,” says Hlongwa of Mlaba.

“So that’s when she really started working hard. Which served her well because not long after, as she was done writing her matric exams, she was called up to the Cricket South Africa Academy. And that’s when it all just blossomed for her,” Hlongwa says. 

Blossomed indeed. To the point where, in February 2020, Mlaba found herself making a maiden appearance at a major International Cricket Council (ICC) event when she was one of the players chosen by Proteas coach Hilton Moreeng to represent South Africa at the T20 Women’s World Cup. 

Mlaba says when she found out she was part of the travelling party for the showpiece in Australia, she couldn’t believe it. Let alone that she opened the bowling when there are seasoned bowlers such as Shabnim Ishmail, Ayabonga Khaka and captain Dane van Niekerk in the team.

“To open the bowling in the World Cup, that was something else. I was shocked because I’d only opened the bowling once before I joined the Proteas – in the SA emerging team. In my province, I don’t open the bowling. So, to open the bowling for South Africa meant so much for me. For the captain to trust me with the new ball, especially as a newcomer, wow.”

It was also during this period that Mlaba picked up her first international wicket. She says despite her first wicket taking some time to come, she was not overly concerned by the delay. 

“Yes, wickets are something you need in the team. But what we really need the most are dot balls. That’s what matters to me. A wicket is just a bonus. So, I usually just focus on my bowling – line and length,” she says.

But when that wicket came versus Thailand in the second group stage game of the World Cup, she says the feeling was indescribable. She eventually finished the tournament with three dismissals as the Proteas succumbed to eventual champions, Australia, in the semifinals. 

Veteran Proteas Women’s player, Khaka, says Mlaba has grown in leaps and bounds since making her debut. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in the national team set up, and I’ve never seen a left arm spinner in our set up. So, she brings something different, something new to our attack,” says Khaka. “She’s still young, she still has a lot of things to do to grow her game, to understand the game better. But the future is bright for her.”

Mlaba, who is 19,  says she has dreams of pursuing tertiary education in the future and she will look to acquire a sports management qualification.

On the field, she has big dreams too.

“My long-term goal is to carry on growing as I represent my country and also to be one of those players who are contracted. I want to gain experience so that I become an influential player in the team. I would also love to play in the Women’s Big Bash League one day,” Mlaba says.

Judging by her rapid rise up to this point, the sky’s the limit for Mlaba, and should she proceed on this trajectory, she is destined to become a vital cog for the Proteas Women’s team as their hunt for a first major international trophy continues. DM