Nonkululeko Mlaba: South Africa spinner on World Cup heartbreak and chasing her dream
While she is now an integral part of South Africa’s bowling attack, Mhlaba’s journey to this point was not smooth.
The left-arm spinner grew up in a small town in KwaZulu-Natal, where her first love was traditional Zulu dancing, and said cricket was “only seen as a white man’s sport”.
While South Africa continues to face economic challenges and the sport remains dominant among private schools, Mlaba, who was recently named KwaZulu-Natal Female Athlete of the Year, refuses to define herself by her origins. Hope focuses on her gratitude for the support she has received and how she has inspired other young girls to follow her path.
When asked about how to get more black women into cricket, Mhlaba said: “It’s simple, it comes from support and there’s nothing more important than support, motivation and belief.”
“Cricket is not as important in our country as rugby or football. In my township I see a lot of talented boys but some don’t succeed because of their mentality because they come from townships.
“What I’m trying to say is, it doesn’t matter where you come from, it doesn’t matter. If you put in the work, work harder, and work towards your goals, you will always succeed.”
This support included a significant amount of support from Cricket South Africa, who helped accommodate Mhlaba when she needed to live closer to her training facilities as she had to make the long and potentially unsafe journey.
Mhlaba has certainly repaid that trust, having played 60 T20 matches and 26 one-day internationals for the Proteas so far, and dreams of playing cricket for as long as possible.
She embodies the larger vision of playing for South Africa, that feeling of wanting to play for someone other than yourself and the team.
Mhlaba achieved all this by being true to herself – her unforgettable short blonde hair, her dancing celebrations behind every wicket and the joyful smile that rarely left her face when she represented her country.
A scroll through her social media pages reveals her love for fashion and puppies, but also shows her immense gratitude for the sport, her home, and those who have helped her reach these peaks.
There’s more to come – a Test match against England caps off a busy 2024, but with the 50-over World Cup next year and T20 tournaments in 2026, Mhlaba and South Africa still have dreams to chase.
