We are all familiar with the saying “dynamite comes in small packages”. Someone to who this definitely applies is Sinalo Jafta, wicketkeeper and right-handed batsman of Six Gun Grill Western Province and the Proteas.
“I never thought I would make cricket my career as I was more into hockey as a summer sport in the Eastern Cape. I was raised by a single mom and I never had much but I was blessed in that I never had to struggle with kit and clothing as there were a lot of people who helped mom,” says Jafta.
The people who changed her career path were selector Clinton du Preez from WP and coach Hilton Moreeng from the Proteas.
“Back when I was into hockey, they both convinced me that I had a talent for cricket and should give it a try,” says Jafta.
She made her provincial debut for Border in 2009 and her Protea debut in October 2016 against New Zealand. Also in 2016, she got to play for WP in a One Day International cricket match. She was called up for the Proteas in 2014 but only made her debut in 2016.
“Being from the Eastern Cape, it is no surprise that my cricket idol is Makhaya Ntini. I wanted to be a bowler when I started playing cricket. Everyone in the Eastern Cape followed his career and all the young talented cricketers playing in the dusty roads were ‘Makhaya Ntini’s’.”
Jafta recently started her own foundation to support young girl cricketers.
“I am involved in my community and having been raised by a single parent, the ideology behind my foundation is it takes a village to raise a child,” she says.
When Jafta started her cricket career from club level upwards, she realised there was a gap between club, province and country.
“At club level, you play with youngsters you grew up with, in the professional setup at provincial level you play with high school learners and in the national setup you are surrounded by world-class individuals.”
Her advice to young, talented cricketers in her community is if your ambition or vision does not scare you, then it is not big enough.
“If you are only playing cricket for the sake of playing and you don’t know where you are going, don’t do it. If you play at a national level and it scares you to say, ‘Joh, what I have to go through’, then your goal is valid,” she says.
Besides playing cricket Jafta also likes to read, especially when she is travelling to and from games on a bus.
“I am a bit of a loner. I enjoy my time alone. That is the only time I have with my thoughts.”
She says her routine before a game differs.
“When it is a morning game, I’ll calm my body, read a passage on the bus.”
Although she travels a lot, she doesn’t often get the chance to play tourist.
“People always think that it must be fun, getting to see all these beautiful countries and cities, but you seldom have time to visit the tourist attractions as you are always busy training. As a player, I would like to be a tourist in Thailand or Hong Kong. As a person, Greece or Portugal,” she says.
And if she could select a bowler, a batter and a spinner for her team, who would these three individuals be?
“The right-arm medium bowler would be Ayabonga Khakha because she confuses her opponents with her deliveries. As a batter, Laura Wolvaardt, and as a spinner, Nonkululeko Mhlaba,” Jafta answers.
Lastly, she shares that the next time you see her shuffle or stumble on the pitch, it is not because she is clumsy.
“My studs keep on getting stuck in the grass!”
