In heels, Mignon du Preez broke through the glass ceiling of the cricket. In a way.

“When people hear the word “cricketer,” they assume you have to be rather masculine. They do not think you can be a girly cricketer. They think that you can not possibly catch a ball if you get your nails done. I was trying to show that you can be a girly girl and still be competitive,” she claims. “There was definitely a time when people thought cricket was just for boys.”

Du Preez was one of the “Iconic Women” who recently participated in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Trophy Tour. She is now retired and hopes to start a family after playing international cricket for more than 15 years and witnessing the transition of South African women’s cricket from amateur to professional. And Mignon du Preezdid it all with long blonde hair.

“We had to change people’s perception,” she says. “There was a lack of visibility. Nobody knew about us. Our games were not televised, and girls’ cricket was not a popular sport in schools. The hardest part was convincing girls to participate in the sport

There was no girls’ team at her elementary school, so like many of the first female cricketers, she played with boys. “There was one parent who complained because there was a girl [du Preez] on the team and her son was not playing, and I remember the coaches saying, ‘But she’s better than him,'” she recalls.

Du Preez was only 12 when Mignon du Preez scored 258 in a 40-over match and “kind of realised that cricket could be a career choice.”

Five years later, she made her international debut. “It was during the vacations, and one of the players got injured, and I was called up,” she explains.

South Africa’s national team matches were televised for the first time in seven years of their career. SuperSport broadcast the three-match T20I series between South Africa and England in September 2014. That same year, du Preez’s team had advanced to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup. Interest from broadcasters was the reward for a good campaign, but they were unable to repay the faith straight away. South Africa were completely outclassed in their first two games in England and lost the third as well, although they put up a better fight.

Du Preez was halfway through her captaincy at the time, a role she was thrust into almost by accident at the age of 22 when the regular captain was injured. “I was a very young captain and felt like I was thrown in at the deep end and didn’t really know much,” Mignon du Preez explains. “On the first few tours, I almost needed a script to know who was bowling when and where.

“But I thought I was really good at dealing with people. I had an open-door policy and was committed to getting the best out of the players. We weren’t professionals, so we just tried to change the perception

That same year, du Preez played her first and only Test match, scoring a century that she considers one of the highlights of her career, though not for the reasons you might think.

“It was really special, but also quite a challenging experience,” she said. “The thing I remember most was getting out in the second innings,” she says. “Because I had played so well in the first innings, I was hoping I could pick up where I left off. Poonam Yadav was bowling to me, and I had my mind set on hitting her with my feet when she threw the ball up. But she’s also a leg-spinner, so if she threw it to leg, a sweep was a good option. She ended up throwing it up and down her leg, and I double-stepped and missed it completely, so I was up. It wasn’t a normal test match strike. These days, with so much innovative cricket being played, you can get away with it, but it wasn’t the typical drop you see in a Test match.”

For most South Africans, the game would have gone unnoticed. The women’s team only became a major talking point in national cricket in 2017, when du Preez stepped down as captain but played her 100th ODI and South Africa reached the semifinals of the 50-over World Cup. “From that point on, people took notice and our players became role models,” he said. “That was the point where the big change happened,” Mignon du Preez explained.

South Africa will be in the spotlight for women’s sports in 2023. The country hosted the inaugural U19 Women’s T20 World Cup last month and the Senior World Cup this month. In July/August, the country will host the Netball World Cup, and the women’s football team will compete in its second consecutive World Cup – an incredible feat considering the men have not qualified for the event in 20 years (they automatically qualified as hosts in 2010).

Du Preez no longer plays for South Africa, but is still an avid observer on the sidelines and an athlete through and through. She was also in the nets on the day of this interview.

“It’s almost like riding a bike, but it’s not always like that,” she says. “The last time I did not play for a while, I had trouble with timing because I was so intent on getting the bat to the ball that I was too early on every shot. But I think today I was much more relaxed. I think that comes with age. You are allowed to make mistakes in practice, and I made fewer than I expected.”

Du Preez, like many other cricketers, has signed up for the WPL auction, where she hopes to land a contract that will change her life. While Mignon du Preez is aware that the growth of the leagues could pose a threat to the international game, no one will blame her for wanting to make money after spending so much of her career in the amateur game. “These leagues pay their players really well, but at the end of the day you want the best players to be available for the national team, and to do that you have to pay them well enough so they want to play for their country,” she says.

That’s essentially the reason for her own resignation as well. Du Preez was unable to keep her central contract after she pulled out of ODI cricket last April because the CSA does not offer contracts that cover only one format. Needing to pay her bills, she decided to retire and seek opportunities in franchise leagues.

She will not make a national comeback at the World Cup, but she will participate in the tournament as a commentator. However, she will be rooting for South Africa. “If I think with my heart, I think they are going to win,” she says. “But realistically, Australia has dominated women’s cricket in recent years, and they are just so far ahead. They have a lot of talent to choose from. We in South Africa do not have such a big pool. But I am looking forward to seeing some other teams. England has also invested a lot, and India has been very good recently, and it would be very good if they do well, because if India does well, women’s cricket does well.”

Du Preez is interested in closing the gap between the top teams and the rest. She participated in the inaugural Fairbreak T20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates last year and has since served as a marketing consultant for the organization. She believes competitions like this help level the playing field.

“Fairbreak offers players from associated countries the opportunity to earn a living from cricket. They get their first professional contract and get to play with their idols. From Stafanie Taylor and Sophie Devine to Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka, we have had all the big names involved,” she says.

And while events like Fairbreak are competitive, it’s less about which team wins or loses and more about the people who benefit. “The camaraderie has made this tournament even more memorable. When you go to a World Cup, WBBL or Hundred, the atmosphere is electric and the competition fierce. At this tournament, the sport just brought everyone together. It was amazing to see how the players interacted with each other, how the full members shared their knowledge with the associate players and how everyone cheered them on. Everyone was cheering for Wini [Malaysia captain Winifred Duraisingam]. It’s growing and will provide more opportunities.”

Henriette Ishimwe, a then 18-year-old Rwandan player, took four wickets in four balls at the U-19 World Cup to lead Rwanda to a historic first win at a major tournament. Ishimwe had fans from her time at Fairbreak long before Mignon du Preez accomplished that feat. “My husband wanted me to speak to Henriette because he wanted her jersey,” du Preez explains.

Du Preez and her husband, Tony, broke another glass ceiling in the process. Female athletes have only recently become role models, especially in team sports, and du Preez believes that trend will continue as perceptions change. “I was on the commentary team for the U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, and I looked at the biographies of the players and realised that so many of the girls had female role models, and I thought: Wow, we did something right. Finally.”