There was a time, in 2011-12, when Lara Goodall found her place in the Western Province team as a frontline seamer. She would charge in with the ball – and occupy the No.11 spot with the bat – when her more celebrated teammates, Shabnim Ismail and Moseline Daniels, were on national duty.
At the time, she was only 15, still harboured dreams of playing for Banyana Banyana, and in her first full List-A season.
Cut to March 2016 and the 20-year-old, having undergone a “role reversal”, was walking out to open the batting for South Africa in a T20I against West Indies in Johannesburg. Five months on, the southpaw made her ODI debut in Ireland.
For the next three years, Goodall was shuffled in and out of the side, unable to quite make a mark at international level. She got starts, but never kicked on. There was a hesitancy in the way she played.
“It was a massive step up from provincial level,” Goodall tells gsport. “In international cricket if you make one mistake or even just a slight misjudgement, you are walking back to the dugout, whereas in provincial cricket you sometimes are fortunate to get a few chances. It actually took me quite a few seasons to adjust and find methods that would help me succeed (at international level).”
In October 2019, after a torrid tour to India, in which she managed only 65 runs across five innings, the left-hander found herself out of the Momentum Proteas squad for the next 15 months. That jolt set her on a mission to unlock her true potential.
Enter long-time coach and former Titans batter, Rushdi Jappie.
A “mentality giant”, Jappie helped Goodall “take her game apart” and rebuild a solid foundation. Through months of work and hours of conversations, the Pinelands High School alumnus, who previously relied largely on her talent to succeed, came to understand the importance of a strong technique, specific preparation and smart game plans.
“I went back and literally just ripped my technique apart,” she recalls. “I felt like I always had a decent technique, but some things needed to be tweaked. I worked on the grip, how I hold the bat, my backlift – how the bat comes through. We went very, very technical.
“The coach that I work with back home (Jappie) believes that defence is the best form of attack. He says if you can’t keep out the good ball then there’s no point in you trying to score off bad ones. So, we went back and literally just worked on throwdowns. I did hours and hours of just blocking; like literally working on my defensive game so that my attacking talent and attacking options could come through.
“Then, on the mental side as well… He is always in my ear and trying to get under my skin while we are training. That was tough for me (since) I’m the kind of person who gets very irritated when I don’t get something right. We would spend a lot of time in our training sessions talking, speaking about cricket.”
While Jappie and Dinesha Devnarain (head coach of CSA Women’s National Academy and South Africa Under-19 team) took care of the technical, tactical and mental aspects of her game, Goodall took ownership of her training habits, attempting to replicate a template set by her fellow Western Province and Proteas teammate, Laura Wolvaardt.
“Laura is probably one of the fittest young cricketers I have seen around,” she smiles. “The way she goes about her batting and training is quite insane. She’s a bit of a beast. I actually took a page out of her book – I knew I had to go back and probably just get a little bit fitter.
“I realised I had to make the switch because what I was doing before was never going to last in international cricket and I knew it was my time where I had to kind of make a name for myself in the South Africa setup. It was a long, tough journey, but I think in some ways the break due to Covid helped – I was able to really knuckle down and do the hard work.
“I focussed a lot on my fitness and training. I now do my runs every day, I go to the gym all the time. I think that has helped my game immensely – I am able to train more and focus for longer periods, which is ideal.”
All that effort resulted in a return to the side once South Africa resumed their international schedule in early 2021 against Pakistan. With Dane van Niekerk and Chloe Tryon out with injury, there was a spot in the top order for the taking. The left-hander got a couple of starts, but was dismissed when nearing the 30s in two matches. Her shots through mid-wicket and past long-on were crisp as ever, but the fluency through the off-side was still a question. However, she had shown enough promise to earn a spot on the trip to India: a series that marked her arrival.
Through the course of tour Goodall accumulated 150 runs in six innings at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 72. Her tally included a match-winning 59 not out that helped the Proteas seal the ODI series with a game to spare.
She showcased her full array of sweeps, shovels, paddles and drives in Lucknow’s batting-friendly conditions. Although she continued to gather most of her runs through the leg-side, Goodall was able to find gaps through the off-side when the bowlers changed their tactics. It appeared her conversations with Jappie – understanding conditions, possible match-ups and potential scoring options – were helping. She had laid down the marker and sent the selectors a timely message: she was ready to play a bigger part going forward.
“That tour to India last year was really special,” Goodall beams. “It was the one time that I actually felt comfortable at that (international) level. That’s when I realised ‘okay look, I think I’m made for this job’, and I started to enjoy it more.”
Her performances saw her earn a maiden central contract for the 2021-22 season– head coach Hilton Moreeng’s faith had finally been vindicated.
“It means a lot to me – my first year of being a fully professional cricketer – and I was fortunate to get another one for this season (2022-23). It was something that I have been working (towards) for a very long time, but something was just not connecting.
“After lockdown I realised it’s now or never. I mean, I’m 26, so I’m getting on a little bit, so I know I have to make the best of the years I have left on the field.”
A year later, in March 2022, she was on the plane to New Zealand for her first World Cup. It was an exciting time: her dreams were taking flight.
However, once the tournament began, Goodall found herself behind right-hander Tazmin Brits in the race for the No.3 position. She warmed the bench for four out of six of South Africa’s group games, but despite the frustration she felt within, Goodall kept her head down and continued to put in the work.
“It was quite difficult initially, but I was at training all the time,” she recalls. “Even on match days I was in the nets working hard because I knew that if anything does happen and if the opportunity does come again, I have to show my worth. I owe a lot to Sune (Luus) and to the coach for just keeping me in it the entire time because it can get difficult to be away from home and not playing, but they handled it insanely well.”
That opportunity came in the team’s final league game in Christchurch where she scored a fluent 49 to help South Africa hunt down a challenging total of 275 and knock India out of the tournament.
There too, her clarity of thought and improved technique were on show: instead of the hard sweeps, she used her feet and hit straighter; the paddle sweeps only making an appearance when pace was on offer. That situational awareness further underlined her growth as a professional cricketer.
Following the team’s semi-final exit against England, Goodall took some time off, holidaying with friends and family before she returned to training.
Now, heading into what is going to be an exciting time for South Africa with tours to Ireland, England and the Commonwealth Games to follow, Goodall has another opportunity to showcase her skill to the world. That journey has started with a tricky series against a young Irish side, whom Goodall will face for the first time since her debut in 2016 – life has come full circle.
After a disappointing start to the T20I series where she was dismissed for a first-ball duck in South Africa’s 10-run loss, the left-hander came storming back in the second match, cracking her maiden T20I half-century. She crunched seven fours and a massive six in her 52-ball 40 to headline the Proteas’ eight-wicket win.
With a home T20 World Cup on the horizon, she couldn’t have timed it any better. After all, runs through the English summer could help seal her spot in that squad – something she has pointed to as her next big goal. And if Lara Goodall has proven anything in these last couple of years, it is that she knows how to take her chances when chasing down targets.
Photo 1 Caption: #gsportGlobal Contributor Ananya Upendran takes an in-depth look into the rise of Momentum Proteas’ Lara Goodall who is determined to succeed on the global stage. Photo: Lara Goodall (Instagram)
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