Sunette Loubser (born 26 September 1982) is a South African former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played primarily as a right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler. She appeared in two

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

, 60

One Day Internationals A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cu ...

and 43

Twenty20 Internationals A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

between 2007 and 2014, including captaining the side in 2009. At the time of her retirement she was South Africa's leading wicket-taker in One Day Internationals. She played domestic cricket for Boland.

Early life and career

Loubser first played cricket aged seven, alongside boys in the garden. She later joined a cricket club, and made her debut for Boland at the age of 15. Originally, she opened the bowling, but after breaking her ankle in 2000, she changed style to become an off spinner. She took on the

captaincy A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule ...

of Boland in 2005. Two years later, she made her international cricket debut when she was selected to play in a

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. She bowled ten overs without claiming a wicket, but her figures of nought for 16 were the most

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of the match. Later that year, she made her first

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

appearance, and helped South Africa to their first win in the format. She took five wickets in the first innings, and a further three in the second, as South Africa beat the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

by 159 runs. The following year, Loubser took six wickets and conceded just three runs during the opening match of the

2008 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2008 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an eight-team tournament held in South Africa in February 2008 to decide the final two qualifiers for the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup. South Africa and Pakistan qualified, with the hosts beati ...

, against

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. In the match, which did not have ODI status, Bermuda were bowled out for 13 runs, which South Africa chased down in less than one

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

. Loubser finished the tournament, which South Africa won, as the leading wicket-taker.

National captaincy

In 2009, Loubser replaced

Cri-Zelda Brits Cri-Zelda Brits (), also written Crizelda Brits and Cri-zelda Brits (born 20 November 1983) is a South African cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm Fast bowling, medium-fast bowler, Brits was originally called up to the South Africa ...

as the captain of the South African team, when the selectors opted to let Brits focus on her batting for the

2009 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, held in Australia from 7 to 22 March 2009. England won the tournament, beating New Zealand in the final to claim their third World Cup title. England batte ...

. The convenor of selectors, Denise Reid, said that Loubser was "a suitable and capable replacement." During the World Cup, South Africa lost all three of their matches, and were eliminated in the group stage, though they then won the seventh place play-off. Loubser had an unsuccessful tournament, bowling over 20 overs without claiming a wicket. She retained the captaincy for the subsequent

2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the inaugural ICC Women's World Twenty20 competition, taking place in England from 11 to 21 June 2009. All group stage matches were played at the County Ground in Taunton, with the semi-finals held at Tre ...

. South Africa were once again eliminated from the competition in the group stage, though Loubser did claim three wickets, albeit with an economy in excess of seven. Leading South Africa in their subsequent series against the West Indies, Loubser targeted a clean sweep, aiming to "make up for our poor record." The teams split the series: South Africa won the ODIs 2–1 with one match tied, while the West Indies won all three of the T20Is.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loubser, Sunette Living people 1982 births Cricketers from Paarl South African women cricketers South Africa women Test cricketers South Africa women One Day International cricketers South Africa women Twenty20 International cricketers South Africa women's national cricket team captains Boland women cricketers