Exclusive: Sune Luus on the Unlikely Star Who Inspired Her Spin Bowling

There are probably not too many cricketers that modelled their bowling action on former Proteas player Jacques Rudolph, as he was better known for his top-order batting, but that’s the case for SA women’s cricketer Sune Luus.

Rudolph, now aged 43, played 94 matches for South Africa across all three formats, and claimed just four wickets in that time, while he was much more prolific with the bat, scoring 3802 runs.

Rudolph’s rise to the Proteas came after making a name for himself at the Titans at SuperSport Park in Centurion, and that’s where Luus spent a good portion of her youth.

Now bowling mostly off-spinners these days, Luus recalls those formative days of her career.

Luus Reflects on Inspirational Leg Spin Journey

“I started as a leg spinner in my career. I looked up to the likes of Shane Warne and then Jacques Rudolph also bowled ‘leggies’. He’s actually the one who got me into leg spin,” Luus told SportsBoom in an exclusive interview.

“So those were just a couple of names that pop up. You watch a lot of cricket growing up. I basically grew up on the grass embankments of SuperSport Park. So literally everyone who played there, I just looked up to and I just tried to, you know, one day be in their shoes and play professional cricket.”

The 29-year-old Luus has now surpassed Rudolph by some way in terms of her international experience, with 258 matches across all three formats.

As Luus and the rest of the Proteas women’s squad are already busy with a training camp at the Cricket SA Centre of Excellence in Pretoria ahead of busy season culminating in the 50-over Cricket World Cup in India starting in September.

How a World Test Championship Victory Could Boost South African Cricket

Before that though, the men’s side will play in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June. 

Luus explained that it would be a massive boost for the sport in South Africa if the Proteas were to come away victorious.

“Yeah, I think South African cricket is on the up at the moment reaching semi-finals and finals as we go on. That's very good. I think getting that, I think already, you know, for them playing in the final is a great step for cricket in South Africa,” Luus told SportsBoom. 

“And also with the young squad that Shukri [Conrad] has, it's phenomenal. So I think if they were to lift that trophy, it would just lift the spirits even more. You know, the confidence in Cricket South Africa at the moment, on the field, people in the office, all the people around or behind the scenes and stuff. I think there's a lot of confidence and we just are all enjoying Cricket at the moment."

“So winning that, you know, that Championship, I think we'll just lift the spirits even more and just boost their confidence.”

The Fight for More Women's Test Cricket

As a stalwart of the Proteas women’s side, Luus who made her debut back in 2012, would dearly love if they could play more Tests. It’s a sad indictment on world cricket that there is hardly any Test cricket for women. This is best illustrated by the fact that Luus only played her first Test match in 2022, and has only played four in total.

Luus explained why she thought there was so little opportunity to play the longest format of the game for women.

“It's difficult with the timing throughout the year and where to fit it in and schedule. But we love playing Test cricket. It's a pity we don't get a lot of it. And there's no Test cricket this year, which is a shame."

“Next year, there are about three or four Test matches. So we're really looking forward to that. I think you learn so much about yourself and about your cricket playing a Test match. You have to be disciplined for longer, something we didn't grow up doing. You just play short, you know, 30 overs, 20 overs stuff.”