"Step in the right direction," said South Africa's Nadine de Klerk while describing her first Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) contract.The 20-year-old will be representing Brisbane Heat in the tournament and as a result, she will be now joining a strong Proteas contingent in the Australian competition, which is scheduled to be held from October 17-November 29.
Klerk's addition means that South Africa will now have eight members of its squad featuring in the sixth edition of the popular T20 tournament.
"I'm very excited to be part of such an amazing opportunity to go play in the WBBL and it's really a dream come true for me. I definitely think it's one of the best tournaments and I'm excited to play against some of the best in the world and also alongside legends of the game," de Klerk said in an official release issued by Cricket South Africa (CSA).
"It's a great step in the right direction for me in my career and I will definitely benefit playing along with experienced players and to play against some of my own teammates will be a good battle. It can only be good for my cricket and I think to work with different people might also help me, they might just see things differently or come with a different perspective that might work in my favour," she added.
The youngster has already played 20 T20I games for her country, the most recent appearance being in the ICC T20 World Cup semi-final defeat against Australia in Sydney.
Despite losing the game back in March, de Klerk had impressed massively with 3-19 in the game.
"I think conditions will be good as it always is on Australian soil and I'm excited to play there," the all-rounder stated. "I've worked really hard on all aspects of my game and just tried to be the best I possibly can," de Klerk said.
The full list of Proteas' representatives at the WBBL are Mignon du Preez (Melbourne Stars), Shabnim Ismail (Sydney Thunder), Marizanne Kapp (Sydney Sixers), Lizelle Lee (Melbourne Renegades), Chloe Tryon (Hobart Hurricanes), Dane van Niekerk (Sydney Sixers) and Laura Wolvaardt (Adelaide Strikers).
"I think playing against my teammates will be a challenge, they are obviously world-class players with a lot of experience," the youngster added. "But I think it will be a great contest," de Klerk said.
"We are a quality side we don't always perform as well as we can but we are definitely one of the better teams on paper and if you look at the number of players at the Big Bash it just shows the depth and quality we have in the squad," she added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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