Eliz-Mari Marx shares insight into how she managed to forge her path in cricket which has seen her become one of the most promising young talents in South Africa.

Eliz-Mari Marx is an 18-year-old cricketer born in Pretoria, who has been playing for the Northerns Provincial Women’s senior side since she was just 13 years old, and who is also currently part of the SA U19 squad. She, unfortunately, wasn’t included in the Emerging touring squad for the most recent tour to Bangladesh but has dreams of making touring sides in the near future.

Marx started playing cricket when she was only 8 years old. She told me a fascinating story about how she got into playing the game.

“It was next to one of my brother’s club cricket games. They need a fielder, and their coach threw a white shirt at me, a very baggy white shirt, and just ever since then, my brother thought that I have the skill and he developed me into what I have now.

“There has also been a lot of coaches that I’ve been working with that have helped me. But everything started at the age of 8 for me.”

Marx has gone from an 8-year-old kid who was thrown into the deep end, to being one of the Northerns’ most talented all-rounders and a future Momentum Proteas star.

Having been in her senior provincial side for 5 years, Marx has played with and learnt from older, experienced players, since a young age.

“I think you learn quite a bit from the senior players and their experience. What they bring to the table, you can just dish up. For me, it was a very hard but long learning curve. You have to work with their experience, but also work with your own stupidity if I can put it that way. You have to take what they say and work with what they give you to work with.”

Since May 2020, she has been a part of the SA U19 setup. “It’s only a recent process that started. I was chosen to be in the side since May last year. I think it’s a great opportunity for myself and some of the other players to chip in and just knock on doors going forward.

“The SA Emerging and SA U19 World Cup at the end of this year will be a great experience for me to know how it is to play at the higher level. I think that will just open some more doors for me, hopefully going into the SA set up one day.”

Having played in all 3 WSL competitions, Marx has had a chance to play with and against various Momentum Proteas players.

“I think you’re always nervous when you get picked; last year with the draft, I was on the edge of my chair. I think just playing with Shabnim [Ismail] made a big difference for me in terms of bowling, even though I didn’t bowl. Also playing with Anneke [Bosch], who recently scored a 50 in India; batting with her was a very great experience, especially when she played the spin.

“That’s something you can learn from, and that’s someone you can learn from. Just having Tumi [Sekhukhune], and having Trisha [Chetty] and everybody around you, I think you are most comfortable, and you can just chat with them.

‘They are really cool people to be around, and having that experience around you makes you feel a bit better about yourself going into [the tournament] as a youngster. [The WSL] is a great experience and I think that women’s cricket is going in the right direction.”

“For the near future, I’d like to see myself in the next SA Emerging touring side. I think that will be a great experience going forward, just to have that on my CV if I can put it that way. Just to get that experience, just to get as many games as possible under my belt, before I knock on the SA doors.”

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