South African all-rounder Annerie Dercksen came into the women’s World Cup as one of the brightest youngsters in the game currently. Having been a regular in ODI cricket in the months leading up to the tournament, her exclusion from the playing 11 in the first three games raised eyebrows.
The 24-year-old was finally brought into the fold against Bangladesh, where she couldn’t shake off the rust and fell cheaply.
Dercksen, however, remains unbothered about the lack of playing time.
Instead, she is just eager to get her hands on the trophy.“For me, the main goal is to win the World Cup,” she told Sportstar.
She is also enjoying life in India, where cricket is almost a religion, and was mightily impressed with the atmosphere at the ACA-VDCA Stadium during South Africa’s win against India.
“The fans here have been absolutely amazing. The last 10 overs, when Richa Ghosh was scoring against us, it was incredibly loud. The stadium wasn’t even half full, and I couldn’t hear the person sitting next to me,” she remarked.
“This has been an incredible experience.
I don’t know if there are better fans anywhere in the world. It’s been absolutely amazing. People are cool. It’s been like the best experience I’ve probably had around the world.”While excited about representing her country, Dercksen is also well aware of the responsibility on her young shoulders.
“It’s a dream come true. I always wanted to represent my country. I just thought it might be in netball. When you’re away from home, you don’t realise the influence you have on children back home. Our ultimate goal is to inspire young girls or even young boys to take up cricket and start playing the sport that we all love,” she said.
“The men won the Test mace recently, and look at the influence it had on the whole country. We know that we’ve got a big responsibility, and we’re trying our best to make the country proud. I think sometimes you don’t realise that 60 million people are looking at you and rooting for you.”
