Women's cricket in South Africa playing catch-up after late start

To evaluate just how far women's cricket in South Africa has come, it is worth going back almost five years to the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. As ever, the South African men were under enormous pressure to break their big-tournament hoodoo. Yet it was nothing compared to what the women were going through - not only were they fighting to reach their first ever semi-final, but they were battling for the future of their sport.

At that stage South Africa's women did not have a sponsor and had no contracts. Their captain, Mignon du Preez, had an honours degree in marketing but was unemployed because companies were unwilling to provide the leave she required to play cricket. The only hope of getting the exposure required to gain a sponsor came through being on television, and that was only going to happen if they made the semi-final since the women's semis acted as televised curtain-raisers for the men.

"It is sad but that's definitely what's required," du Preez told me at the time. "I think if we get into the semi-finals it will change the way people think of women's cricket back home. There's been a lot of lip service and people saying that they will get behind you, but unfortunately they expect a return on investment before they want to invest."

Speaking of exposure, that interview was never printed. It was meant to run in a major Sunday broadsheet, but after the piece was filed the editors came back to say that, unfortunately, there was no longer space for it. Sure, the pressures of a deteriorating media environment had some part to play, but it was also symptomatic of a media that almost never had space for women's sport. Compared to a country like New Zealand, where women's sport is given almost as much coverage as men's in much of the media, South Africa was light years behind.

That has not changed a great deal over the past five years, but South Africa's place in the women's game has. The team missed those semi-finals in 2012, but two weeks ago they returned home from Sri Lanka once more, and this time they had achieved their goal. Although they were narrowly beaten by India in the final of the World Cup qualifiers, they had easily qualified for the main tournament later this year and shown that they are an upwardly mobile side in the world game.

There was no adoring crowd to greet them at the airport - just a handful of well-wishers - but there were a few reporters, cameras and flashing lights. "It was a really nice surprise, the girls were really excited," said Dane van Niekerk, who took over the captaincy from du Preez last October.

Also in attendance was a marketing representative for Momentum, Danie van den Bergh. A considerable amount of spin goes into talking up partnerships between sponsors and sporting federations, but Momentum undoubtedly deserve a great deal of credit for their contribution to women's cricket in South Africa.

In January 2013 they announced a six-year sponsorship for the women's side ahead of the World Cup in India the next month. Du Preez had wondered how the women's game in South Africa might attract sponsorship without a return on investment, but van den Bergh says that Momentum saw a different type of opportunity. "It was not about return on investment, but about showing the values of diversity and equality. It has now gone way beyond that."

Although South Africa won just two matches at that World Cup, building the side was always going to be a long game. The investment allowed Cricket South Africa to employ Hilton Moreeng as the country's first full-time women's coach, and ahead of the 2013-14 season they handed out their first round of women's contracts. Du Preez and van Niekerk were among them, as were all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, bowlers Marcia Letsoalo and Shabnim Ismail and wicketkeeper Trisha Chetty. Those six have subsequently grown to 14 contracts for next season.

As important has been the increase in matches. From the beginning of 2009 to the end of 2012, South Africa played 23 One-Day Internationals. In 2016 they played 22, including series against each of the three top-ranked sides in the world. "We were once in the stage when women didn't play enough cricket, but since Momentum and CSA joined hands, our profile grew," said Moreeng. "The more cricket that the girls play, the better they became and also the more professional they became."

Because of how far they have had to journey, there is a togetherness within the side. "We've come a long way together and kind of grown up together, so it's like family," said van Niekerk. "We lean on each other."

South Africa are still only ranked sixth in ODI cricket - an indication of their late start in comparison to England, Australia and New Zealand. Back in 2012, du Preez spoke about how South Africa were "playing catch-up". In reality the other teams were accelerating away from them, but over the last five years that has changed. The next five years should be even more exciting.