At the age of 19, Laura Wolvaardt had to decide between her two lifelong dreams: becoming a doctor or becoming one of the best women’s cricketers in the world. Three years later, 22-year-old Laura is still hoping to fulfill both dreams; albeit in a slightly unconventional manner.
Laura Wolvaardt is just like many other 22-year-olds. She’s studying at a tertiary institution, lives with her parents and enjoys spending time with her friends. There is, however, one small difference… she is the 10th best women’s batter in the world.
“I got a lot of chances that I’m really grateful for.” Laura Wolvaardt admits that she had a slow start to her international career, but the persistence of coaches helped her become successful. GRAPHIC: Keanan Hemmonsbey
Nicknamed ‘Wolf’, Laura was the fifth youngest player to ever represent the Proteas women’s team, according to ESPN cricinfo. She finds herself in auspicious company as the only players to have bettered her achievement is, Sunette Viljoen, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic silver medal winner in the javelin throw event, Laura’s current teammates, Suné Luus and Dane van Niekerk, and Johmari Logtenberg, who famously represented South Africa in cricket, table tennis and golf.
Laura was only 16 years old when she made her debut against England women’s team, on 7 February 2016. “Looking back now, I probably was a bit young for international cricket at 16. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was just playing for the fun,” she says.
Now, still only 22 years old, Laura believes being thrown in at the deep end was worth it.
As a little kid I was crazy about it, I drew pictures of cricket bats and collected magazines. I would cut out the pictures and make collages.
“I’m the 22-year-old in international cricket with probably the most experience, because I made my debut at such a young age. In other countries, people are only making their debut at 22 or even later,” she says.
Batting is fun (when you’re good at it)
Born just before the turn of the millennium, in 1999, Laura was introduced to cricket rather fortuitously. “I started when I was 5. I was best friends with a lot of boys at school. They started playing cricket and I didn’t wanna do nothing while they were playing cricket, so I just tagged along and I actually really really enjoyed it,” she says.
Laura is currently the 10th ranked (ODI) women’s batter, according to the International Cricket Council ranking system. Lizelle Lee (2nd) is the only South African ranked higher. PHOTO: Sourced/Cricket South Africa
It was not long after holding a cricket ball in her hand for the first time that Laura became consumed by the sport. “As a little kid, I was crazy about it. I drew pictures of cricket bats and collected magazines. I would cut out the pictures and make collages,” she says.
Laura’s obsession with the sport initiated remarkable results. “I actually played for [Western] Province under-19 when I was 11 [years old],” she says.
Despite currently being ranked among the best batters in the world, Laura started playing cricket on the other side of the pitch. “I was actually a bowler in the beginning, and I think I was okay in bowling. And then when I was probably 13 [years old], I realised batting is so much more fun,” she says.
Laura at 21 years 315 days old became the youngest South African cricketer, male or female, to score 2 000 One Day International (ODI) runs, passing Quinton de Kock (23 years, 48 days old). INFOGRAPHIC: Keanan Hemmonsbey
It was not long after playing and competing with women much older than her, that Laura realised just how talented she is. “It was only when I was like 14 or 15 [years old] and I started playing for Western Province women’s side that I thought: ‘okay I’m actually pretty decent at this. Let me put a bit more effort into it,’” she says.
Laura believes that the foundation set competing against older girls and more physically developed boys, while growing up, helped pave the way for her future success. “It was a bit intense, looking back now, but I guess you learn a lot that way,” she says. “Throughout growing up I always played with boys who eventually got a lot faster than I was and girls that were a lot older than me. So, I think it helps.”
The trend of playing against older women continued into Laura’s international career as her first appearance at a 50-over world cup, in 2017, happened while she was still in high school. “I was still 17 in the last one and still in matric,” she says.
Next year, in March, the next 50-over world cup will take place in New Zealand. Laura admits that there is great excitement within the team for the event. “It’s a big deal to us. It’s like our Olympics. It’s the main thing,” she says.
Gloves: Cricket or surgical?
Laura’s lifelong aspiration was actually outside of the cricket field. “My one big dream was getting into [studying] medicine. That was my main thing growing up,” she says.
“Growing up, the lame thing was I didn’t really know that women’s cricket existed until I, myself, was a women’s cricketer. So it was basically just men [that I looked up to] when I was little,” Laura says, reflecting on growing up and not seeing women represented in cricket on mainstream media. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
After completing matric, Laura was accepted at Stellenbosch University to follow her dream, but soon realised how time-consuming studying medicine is. “It was only when I was like 19 or 20 that I realised ‘Oh flip, I’m gonna miss the cricket if I do this’,” she says.
Laura had her fate in her own hands and had to decide on the two things she was most passionate about. “Obviously, it was so hard to decide because cricket is one-year contracts. It’s season to season. You can break your arm and be out for the whole time. Then medicine is like a lifelong calling and passion,” she says.
However, Laura’s on-field performances helped make that decision for her. “Stellenbosch [University] was nice enough. They gave me a two-year period to decide [between cricket and medicine] where they held my spot for me. That was amazing because I knew I had that security of going back if the cricket didn’t work out… But yeah, the cricket did work out,” she quips.
The desire to fulfil that dream has not dissipated for Laura. Instead, it prompted her to return to studying. “I am doing a BSc [Bachelor of science] through Unisa [University of South Africa]. I thought, just for now, while I’m travelling [and playing cricket], I’ll try and do a BSc. Get it done, and then one day hopefully return to medicine,” she says.
Laura is currently in her second year of studies, which she does part time while travelling the world playing cricket. “I’m splitting [studying] up a bit. To do it full time is a bit hectic. I’m doing each year over two years so it might take me a minute to get it done,” she says.
Jack of all trades, master of some
In a different life, instead of the picturesque cricket fields of Newlands or Lords, Laura would be gracing the stage of Coachella. “I played a bit of guitar and recorded some songs, some of them are on YouTube. There’s this one bad music video of me in school. It’s a bit embarrassing,” Laura says.
Laura has played for Western Province since she was 11 years old, and she has no intention of plying her trade anywhere else. “I’m very happy here in Cape Town, so I don’t see myself going anywhere anytime soon. I really enjoy my life and my setup here and my training with provincial coaches,” she says. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
The music video has followed Laura into her other life as a cricketer. “Everyone that I meet in the cricket world has somehow seen that music video. So they’re always tuning me about it,” Laura laughs.
In the little downtime that Laura has, she enjoys remaining active. “I enjoy a bit of golf. My brother is a big golfer, so on family holidays we play golf quite a bit,” she says.
Laura admits that her golf swing is not as elegant as her batting. “I’m not very good though but it’s fun. I score consistent hundreds… I wish my cricket was more like that,” she jokes.