Kia Super League: Lizelle Lee keen to prove she is more than power hitter

Surrey Stars’ Lizelle Lee is keen to lose her tag as a power hitter – and steer clear of the wicketkeeping gloves in the KSL, as she tells Kalika Mehta...

Perched on the steps of a stairwell is not the most glamorous of places to carry out an interview with an international cricketer but it is where Lizelle Lee sits, smiling as we talk.

Known as the powerful opener at the top of the Proteas order, who can bludgeon her way to fast fifties, the 26-year-old showcased her skills with the bat in England during June and July.

Lee struck her maiden one-day international century - albeit in a losing effort against the World Cup winners - in a summer she considers one of her best. The Surrey Stars batter is now keen to shake off her label as a 'power' striker.

"It's something that I want, not always to be referred as the 'big hitter'," says Lee, becoming slightly more serious. "You've seen in the last few months they're mostly batting wickets now.

"There's so much footage going around now and it happened last year at the World Cup where teams blocked off all my strong points and I asked myself 'what am I meant to do now?'

"I had to go away and work on that, if my strong shots are blocked off how can I change the field? The game is growing fast and you need to be able to bat 360.

"It's a small advantage that helps me, knowing that I can bat 300 balls and it's something to look forward to when you're batting. Everything changed (for me) after the World Cup - my mentality, knowing if I can bat 50 overs the team will be in a good position.

"I worked on my skills, having more than one option. I've learned a few nice things about myself (playing in England) and I just hope I can continue that form for the next few tours and the T20 World Cup in November."

The laughter returns to the conversation fairly swiftly as the conversation turns to Lee's exploits behind the stumps during the ODI and T20 Tri-series with England and New Zealand.

With usual wicketkeeper Trisha Chetty not selected for the tour, Lee was thrown the gloves, with the results proving less than ideal.

With Sarah Taylor remaining brilliant behind the stumps, it is unlikely there will too much arguing over who take the gloves for Stars in the Kia Super League. "There have been some tears (this summer) but I'm working hard on it," Lee says beaming brightly.

"Just before the World Cup there was a series against the West Indies and Australia where I kept in both of them (for the first time as a South Africa player). Those games went better than these - I think it was beginner's luck!

"Last year at the World Cup they decided to go with only one wicketkeeper (in the team) and they told me I would be back up if something happened.

"I kept wicket a long time ago when I was 16 and 17 but I was one of those girls that if I caught the ball I would just throw it at the stumps.

"I would stand maybe a metre or two away from the stumps but I won't say that I should be surprised that I am keeping and there's no excuse for me not to be training as a keeper.

"It just shows you how much the game has grown that you can't rely on a single talent, the work never stops. It's something that I have to work on.

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"There's a lot of people who have said I shouldn't be too hard on myself but at the end of the day it's my job and I'm getting paid to do it, so I should be better and I should be hard on myself.

"Hopefully Surrey won't be asking me to keep! But I will be watching a few players and getting some pointers."

South Africa Women were involved in one of the games of the 2017 World Cup, facing England in the semi-finals at Worcester - where they fell just short as the hosts' ninth-wicket pair led their side to the final with two balls to spare.

Though many had been surprised that the Proteas' had reached the knockout stages in the first place, the loss hurt for the players, particularly Lee.

It hit the right-hander so hard that she struggled for consistency with the bat in the following series against India and Bangladesh. Struggling a little, Lee credits opening partner Laura Wolvaardt with helping bring back the fun.

"After the World Cup, where reached the semi-final but we didn't achieve our goal, I lost a little but of that enjoyment for the game," Lee admits.

"Seeing how positive Laura is about the game, brought back the love of cricket for me. When she came into our squad and the first game that she played, she had this calmness about her.

"She loves batting and it's something she brought back for me, enjoy my batting, go out there and have fun. She's always like 'I can't wait to bat, I can't wait to bat' in the changing room, that's always how she is and it's something she should never lose.

"Even though batting is a little bit of an individual game, it's a team sport and whatever gets the team over the line is good enough for me."

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Though it may not have been an entirely successfully tour, after losing the ODI series 2-1 and having two world records scored against them during the T20 Tri-series, South Africa are undeniably a young team on the rise.

The women are due to be the biggest winners from the new Memorandum of Understanding between Cricket South Africa and the South African Cricketers' Association, as they begin to move level with the male counterparts.

Lee is quick to recognise the positive changes captain Dane van Niekerk has brought to the side that is forcing people to sit and notice.

"After the World Cup, the people back home really appreciated what we did and was a really massive thing for women's cricket overall," she said. "Dane has changed this team into something that I don't think anybody thought could have happened.

"She bring so much to the team, a calmness, something extra and since she became captain, it has improved her as a player.

"A few times we've been batting together and she'll say to me 'you can play this shot, why didn't you do it?' She always backs up, has advice when things aren't going well and it's what we needed as a team.

"I can't fault her, she makes mistakes but she's young and is learning so much, she's a great leader for the team."

Watch 12 matches from the Kia Super League live on Sky Sports Cricket this summer - Surrey's first Sky Live fixture is against Lancashire on Tuesday, July 31.