South African opening batter Tazmin Brits will play the T20 World Cup for something much bigger than the game; she will play for her mom.
Zeldine is a fixture on the sidelines of South Africa’s games and was due to travel to the tournament to support her daughter, but will not make the trip as she is currently receiving treatment for breast cancer.
“My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer just two weeks ago, so it continues,” Brits told ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast. “Struggle never ends. But now I know how to handle it. And now I know that you’ve got to keep moving. If you stand still, the world will swallow you in. You’ve got to keep moving.”
Her mother’s illness comes on the back of difficult times for Brits, who lost her father to Covid-19 in March 2021 and was seriously injured in a car accident in 2011, after which she contemplated taking her own life. At the time, Brits was a javelin thrower, set for the 2012 London Olympic Games, but the crash left her with a broken pelvis, burst bladder and dislocated hip.
She was told it would take a year to walk normally again, but was running after seven months, and while she worked jobs as a waitress and at a grocery store, with the support of her family, Brits managed to return to the thing that “feeds my soul” – sport.
At first, Brits tried to make a comeback in javelin and played cricket socially until she realised she was pretty good at it. Then, she made the switch.
“Let’s be honest, cricket and sports are fun, but it’s more fun when you win,” she said. “When I was playing cricket and scoring the runs, and I could see that I’m actually capable of doing this and that I can make a career out of it, I enjoyed it.
“I think that automatically made me change my whole entire mindset. If I was still playing sports and not getting anywhere, I think it would have been a difficult situation to get out of at the end of the day.” (ESPN Cricinfo)