While they have some special young talent in the squad, captain Laura Wolvaardt is pleased to have a wealth of experience behind her as the Proteas gear up in an attempt to lift their first global title at the Women’s T20 World Cup starting later this week.

The SA team did well to reach the last three World Cup finals (in the T20 and ODI formats) but they stumbled every time in the chase for the trophy.

A boost in experience could be key, however, as they aim to break their duck.

Last year, former captain Dané van Niekerk made a u-turn on her decision to retire from international cricket, and veteran fast bowler Shabnim Ismail also made a comeback ahead of the T20 spectacle in England.

“Shabs (Ismail) is still bowling really well, has played a lot of cricket throughout the year, and is still very exciting and offers so much information and knowledge for our bowling group,” Wolvaardt said.

“And it’s the same with Dané. She’s also been playing cricket and she offers so much from a leadership point of view, and can help me with a lot of captaincy stuff, so it’s great having them both back and hopefully we’ll be able to go one step further this time.”

In addition, all-rounder Marizanne Kapp returned to the squad ahead of the World Cup after being on the sidelines for three months due to illness.

Between them, Kapp, Ismail and Van Niekerk have 729 international caps, and Wolvaardt acknowledged how much it would mean if the Proteas could lift the trophy for them before they called time on their careers.

“It would obviously be so special for them,” the skipper said.

“I think they’ve given so much to South African cricket over the years, so we’re really happy to have them back.

“I think they bring so much experience to the group and I think it gives us a really good mix of some knowledge and some exciting youngsters as well… so hopefully it works.”