Karabo Meso excited for second opportunity at ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup

South Africa’s Karabo Meso is four years ahead of schedule in her rise through the cricketing ranks. The wicketkeeper-batter from Soweto was one of the stars born at the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in 2023.

Then 15 years old, and the youngest member of the host nation’s squad, Meso repeated the same mantra in a myriad of media interviews.

“I told them all that I wanted to be selected for the Proteas in the next five years," she said.

Just 12 months later, she received the senior international selection that she craved but had envisioned in a more distant future.

“When I got that call, everything went silent,” remembered Meso, who got the news while in Ghana competing in the Africa Games. “It all happened really quickly. It shows that as much as you can plan your life, these moments won’t happen when you want them to happen.

“I couldn’t believe it, suddenly I was in a team with people I had only seen on TV.”

Meso’s rapid ascent is a perfect advert for the value and importance of the ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup as a platform for emerging talent.

Hailing from the largest township in South Africa, Meso comes from a family of athletes with her mum playing netball and her father softball. She was introduced to cricket while watching her sister playing a game.

“Their coach wasn’t happy with what they were doing on the field,” she recalled. “He said, ‘hey, come here’ and started throwing me balls in the nets. We were going for an hour and he told my mum, ‘you should bring her to practice, she’s got potential.'"

That was enough to convince Meso to shelve sprinting and pursue cricket, eventually falling in love with the discipline of wicketkeeping.

“Being a good keeper is about being the loudest person,” she insisted. “Just speaking, chirping all the time, helping to set the field, that makes a good keeper.”

Meso’s strong communication skills helped her to make the most of exposure to the senior Proteas set-up, featuring in two T20Is against Sri Lanka, in which she did as much looking and listening as talking.

“The best thing was seeing all of the players’ routines before and after the game, how they managed themselves, it’s really amazing,” she said.

“Whenever I was sitting on the ground, I would observe everyone, what they’re doing and what is working, right down to how they put their gloves on!”

Meso is one of seven South African players who are returning for a second crack at the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, which begins on 18 January in Malaysia.

With typical maturity, the 17-year-old takes her responsibility to pass on wisdom and experience to young players seriously.

“I never thought of being a senior player,” she admitted. “I’m going to help everyone who is in the same shoes I was in, at their first World Cup.

“We won’t be hard on them, because it’s their first and our second. We’re just going to tell them what I was told in 2023, just do your best.”