SA vice-captain Chloé Tryon credits father for her cricket trajectory

Chloé Tryon can run out of fingers to count the people who helped shape and enhance her career, including SA Women’s Under-19 head coach Dinesha Devnarain, but the person who gets the first thumbs-up is her father.

The women’s Proteas vice-captain, who originates from Ifafa Beach, a small resort town on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, said her father started coaching her as soon as her hands were strong enough to hold a cricket bat.

The 29-year-old hard-hitting all-rounder who attended Scottburgh High School is in Christchurch in New Zealand where the SA team is preparing for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in the 50-overs format.

Their opening match is against Bangladesh on March 5 in Dunedin.

Tryon spoke with the media from Christchurch about her role in the squad and the team’s chances at the World Cup.

“I can’t not say, my dad,” Tryon said with a chuckle when asked who has played a big role in her cricket upbringing. “He started coaching me from a really young age and he is still my coach.”

The bubbly right-handed batter says the old man gives her a lot of stick to this day. “Even when I have done well he always wants me to take it up a notch.

“But I have got a lot of people that helped me out along the way, Dinesha Devnarain has been really good for me and it has been nice playing with her and her being a coach now is fantastic.

“A lot of people along the way, but I have to say my dad. I give him a lot of credit.”

Tryon made her Proteas debut as a teenager in 2010 against the West Indies in Basseterre. Today she is one of the experienced heads in the 15-player World Cup squad with 152 appearances, 2,129 runs and 58 wickets across all formats.

One of Tryon’s many career highlights was being named vice-captain to fellow all-rounder Suné Luus, who took over from injured captain Dané van Niekerk ahead of the ODI series against West Indies in Johannesburg in January.

Luus and Tryon were confirmed as first and second in command before the team left for the land of the long white cloud.

Tryon described her role in the leadership group and said there is not much a vice-captain can do over and above lending support to the captain.

“But I support Suné a lot and just making sure that I still lead from the front. We’ve got a really good relationship and it is nice that we work really well on the field but also making sure everyone is on the same page and making sure the players understand why we are here [at the World Cup] and our goal.”

Tryon said one of her strengths in leadership is her talkative yet calm demeanour. “I’m more outgoing and so I speak to everyone. I talk a lot and so I would say my talking is my asset and I think if I am calm it calms everyone as well.”

Tryon said she has the playlists of all her teammates and was not reluctant to say she is the one with the best taste in music — “because I listen to everything and I cater for everyone.”

The team, even without injured captain Van Niekerk, are among the favourites to go all the way at the tournament that runs from March 4 to April 3.

They will play two warm-up matches against India on Sunday and England on Tuesday in Christchurch before moving to Dunedin for the clash against Bangladesh on March 5.