Weekday Musings: Courage To Choose The Path To Happiness

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Natalie Sciver and Katherine Brunt

Here are some pictures of women cricketer couples. Looking at their happy faces, I felt that there is much more than their smiles. These women have faced immense challenges — not just as female athletes in what has long been seen as a man’s sport, but also in standing up for their sexual orientation.

Most of us tend to take it lightly, even joke about it, but few pause to see the inside story — how they have quietly chartered their own course with courage and dignity. That was the humble intent behind the piece: to do them some justice and save them from being misunderstood.

Just wanted to make one point, that much as we tend to label majority women cricketers as lesbians and sometimes view them through a lens of idle curiosity, a closer look at some of the well-known couples shows something far more meaningful.

These women have made clear their own choices and preferences, and have exercised their right to be happy. Their uninhibited happiness tells its own story. They’ve changed public perception by just living truthfully. In doing so, they’ve quietly shifted public norms.

Take, for example, the South African duo Dane van Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp.They’ve known each other since school — both talented, ambitious, and deeply competitive. Their relationship evolved naturally over years of playing together for South Africa. When they married in 2018, the South African team’s social media posted a simple message:

“Congratulations to our captain and our champion all-rounder — wishing you a lifetime of happiness.”

No euphemisms, no coy phrasing — just warmth. It was a subtle but significant act of normalization from a national board.

Another example is the English couple Natalie Sciver and Katherine Brunt. When they married in 2022, their teammates surprised them with a cake-cutting on tour. The England board posted the pictures with open joy. That moment — players of all orientations celebrating together — reflected the growing comfort within teams and the wider sporting community. 

Inclusiveness is no longer an abstract ideal; it is visible in the easy acceptance of people as they are, and in the quiet confidence with which these athletes live their truth. Change, it seems, is happening across a broad spectrum of society.

And if you notice, commentary today has also evolved. The once-frequent references to “grace,” “elegance,” or “femininity” have given way to a sharper focus on performance, tactics, and professionalism. The conversation is finally about cricket — not gender.

Even social media has helped normalize these relationships by showing players’ personalities — their humour, team bonding, pets, travels — making orientation just one facet of their lives, not the defining label.

Perhaps it’s time we too look at them with renewed respect — not for their choices alone, but for the authenticity and courage with which they have chosen their own path to happiness.


Lizelle Lee with Tanja Cronje


Ashleigh Gardner and Monica Wright


Megan Schutt and Jess Holyoake


Marizanne Kapp and Dane Van Niekerk

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