The Assupol Tuks women’s cricket captain Robyn Searle was barely a few months old when she got introduced to the game of cricket being a spectator at the Wanderers. Needless to say, that day she was not to impressed by the heroics of the Australian and South African batsmen and bowlers. After all, as a baby, there are more important things that matter. It was, however, not the last time that she would find herself at the Wanderers. That is because her mom, Yvette, is an avid cricket supporter. So, things changed. Searle did not only get to share her mom’s love for the game. She also got to become a star playing the game. Over the last three years, she has been a regular in the South African Women’s Emerging side. A definite highlight was last year scoring 96 of 111 balls in a game against Bangladesh. In 2018 she was named in South Africa’s squad for the ICC Women’s World T20 Tournament in the West Indies.  She also played for the South African women’s under-19 team. The ultimate would be to play for the Proteas women’s team again, but until she does her aim is to score runs for the Northerns women’s cricket team. The more, the better.  Then there is the matter of getting the Assupol Tuks women’s team to become league champions. Recently she guided Assupol Tuks to an eight-wicket victory against TUT in a friendly game. Searle scored an unbeaten 43 runs. It was the first time this top batsman, who is also a useful leg-spin bowler, played for Tuks. If she can have her way, Searle would like to bat as an opener or at number three. She admits batting so high up in the order comes with responsibility. But then again, that is what gets her adrenaline pumping. “Cricket can be a humbling game. There are days when it feels like you are on top of your game. The next game you get bowled by a ‘peach’ of a delivery. It means you can never rest on your laurels when at the crease. To ‘survive’, you got to learn to deal with the good as well as the bad,” Searle explained. According to Searle, the one thing that stood her to good stead was getting to learn the finer intricacies of the game at first playing with the boys. As a girl, she had to always work that bit harder to be accepted in their ranks. “When I bowled, the boys would often try and hit my deliveries out of the ground to prove a point. Or they would be so defensive as they were afraid of losing their wicket to a girl. Either way, I ended up taking wickets,” she said with a smile.  

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