CAPE TOWN: The Australians are getting in a huddle of sorts at the non-striker’s end. Ashleigh Gardner had just bowled the last ball of the final. As she was embraced by skipper Meg Lanning to celebrate their sixth T20 World Cup title, a few feet from them was Sinalo Jafta — down on her knees, soaking in all her emotions.
Three months ago, Jafta was not thinking about being a part of a home World Cup final in front of a record-breaking 12, 782 fans. When she got into rehab on October 7, 2022, she thought her career as a cricketer was done and dusted. The online bullying and abuse she had received for her on-field performance in the few months before had pushed her over the edge. At 27, she was thinking about retiring.
“One really tough day and people literally just pull it into social media. I am so firm, just the bullying online, that literally sent me over the edge. And I just couldn't stop. I remember coming back from the Commonwealth Games, everything just broke. I lost who I was,” recalls an emotional Jafta in the mixed zone after the final.
The team management and Cricket South Africa had offered her assistance through recovery. With her mother, who brought up Jafta all by herself, to support, the Proteas wicketkeeper decided to enter into treatment in October.
“The team doctor, the management, they gave me two months of medical leave. In those 56 days in treatment, I've probably learned the best about myself. That they (the online bullies) are irrelevant. People are allowed to have their opinions, but it doesn't define who I am. So, I am forever grateful for that,” she says.
Soon after she came out of rehab in December, Jafta included as part of the tri-series featuring Indian and West Indies in January 2023, followed by the T20 World Cup. It was her faith and the people who were there to support her that gave her the strength to get through the process.
This is why, on Sunday evening, when she was down on her knees moments after the loss in the final at Newlands, Jafta was just looking back at the past few months in gratitude. To be a part of a home World Cup final in front of her family was unthinkable for her.
In fact, for someone who is an inadvertently vibrant and happy person, someone who always shows warmth and makes people smile even when she meets them for the first time, Jafta was going through a rollercoaster of emotions whilst opening up about her journey in the lead up to the World Cup. “I am doing a whole 360 (degree) now,” laughs Jafta, wiping her tears.
“The one thing I learned in the time off, is it is always a behavioural thing. And the one thing I'm very firm on is I must be the same person on the field as I am off the field. Always, always praying. I just got caught on to them for my sobriety at the end of the day. The team has been so supportive during this phase. All I can say is thank you to the management, teammates, and everyone else.”
“It's actually pretty... I'm at the best phase of my life and I'm grateful for it. It wouldn't be possible without God, for one, and yeah, what a journey! Now, as a 28-year-old, I have got my career ahead of me. And the fact that I could say I have a career for me is probably the biggest blessing. Going into bat, to keep, I just play fearless (cricket) because what is the worst that could happen? It is a game. Cool, but that doesn’t define who I am.”
Jafta doesn’t just have a career ahead of her, but a T20 World Cup silver medal also hangs around her neck. When it was pointed out, she bursts into a big smile and kisses the medal. And she is not going to let go of it anytime soon.
“No way (laughs)! I'm gonna go to bed with it. I'm gonna shower with that because this wasn’t even possible for me. Like this is probably my gold for now. I'm so proud. The girls showcased what unity does. I didn't have the best of semifinals but the taps on the back, they mean so much more.”
The 28-year-old believes that everything is scripted. For her, the defeat to Australia is a lesson. She knows she is going to play several cricket matches and so long as she, as an individual, and the team, as a group, keeps improving, that is all they could do.
However, she is not averse to what happened in Newlands on Sunday means to South African women’s sports. With her mother, brother, and cousins watching and what they take back to her roots in Eastern Cape, it is so much more than the result.
“I think in my village, people are going to want to start playing cricket now where there're not many resources where I am from. I think Gsport measures the visibility. The more you actually play, the more you advertise early, and not when the series is about to start you know, ‘boom, here's a game’. I think early fixtures so that people can actually plan because you can't just walk up. People have jobs at the end of the day. It is our country. What can we do as cricketers, even though we're not experienced we have a voice and other people don't have that voice. I think it's so critical on how we actually go going forward."
"Even though we played the final, it's actually a positive because if we can do that with less resources, come on! And so much potential because you can see the young ones coming in. Cricket South Africa must probably be in the happiest place because if you can do this, imagine what you can do in the next three years if you actually invest in women's cricket in the country."
Yes indeed, women’s cricket would benefit a lot from more advertising, investment, and marketing. The other thing, perhaps, that would do a lot more good is if the sporting fraternity had a lot more Jaftas.