Table of Contents
- Here are some highlights from the interview
- Q: How did winning the ‘Women in social media’ award impact your career?
- Q: How has South Africa’s women’s cricket scene evolved over the years?
- Q: Could you walk us through your preparation process before going live?
- Q: If you could host a global sports event, which would you choose?
- Q: Which current players in modern cricket excite you the most?
- Watch the full interview
In a captivating interview with Cricket Times, South African broadcaster Lesego Pooe shared her journey from a childhood filled with cricket alongside her family to becoming a prominent figure in sports broadcasting. Lesego, who hosts Lions Cricket TV on SuperSport, not only brings passion to her commentary but also plays a significant role in advocating for women’s cricket. Her story is one of inspiration, driven by early influences from her father and brothers, who were avid cricket watchers.
Lesego’s narrative underscores the transformative power of mentorship and representation in sports media. Her journey began with a spark of interest at the tender age of seven, watching cricket with her family, which evolved into a professional passion after being inspired by Kass Naidoo, the first female cricket commentator in South Africa. This encounter not only motivated her to enter the broadcasting field but also taught her the importance of representation and recognition, especially for women in sports. Her dedication to her craft, coupled with strategic use of social media, has seen her rise from a YouTube content creator to a recognized voice in cricket broadcasting, particularly in advocating for and celebrating the growth of women’s cricket.
Here are some highlights from the interview:
Q: How did winning the ‘Women in social media’ award impact your career?
Lesego: Yeah, I won woman in social media and it was so great for me to walk away with that award because when you look at my journey the reason where I am today is because of the power of social media. I decided that I’m going to use this platform and this tool to get myself to where I want to be meaning having big broadcasters be able to see me and give me an opportunity in the broadcasting space because at the end of the day you know TV is where it’s happening right and so I remember I started my YouTube channel back in 2018 I was covering a T20 competition in South Africa and I used to do match summaries on my YouTube channel.
I specifically focused on cricket alone because I knew that I wanted to be in the cricket industry and be a cricket broadcaster and presenter and so for me to walk away with the social media award for G sports for 2021, it kind of felt like a full circle moment because that’s where I started that’s where my journey with cricket started and for me to walk away with that award it kind of validated the work that I was doing and that I was good at what I do and I was seen by the right people in this industry and so that kind of pushed me to be able to be seen by the relevant people right because even after that time I got to work for fair break I got to work for Super Sport now I’m a contracted broadcaster for Super Sport it’s been two to three years now and so that award really reminded me that my work is recognized and I’m heading in the right direction.
Q: How has South Africa’s women’s cricket scene evolved over the years?
Lesego: Women’s cricket has grown in Leaps and Bounds and I started around the time when women’s games were starting to be broadcasted a whole lot more and that speaks on the fact that there is an appetite for women’s cricket it has grown and it continues to grow and it’s good for superport to be that main broadcast that have broadcast right and they could showcase the games in in South Africa and so there’s definitely an appetite for women’s cricket and especially looking at the fact that the Proteas women’s team made it to the finals when the Women’s T20 World Cup was here in South Africa and there was an appetite for that and you could see that the stadiums were filled to capacity in Newlands and I was fortunate to be there and I remember thinking about a time when there would only be 10 to 20 to 40 spectators at a stadium but from me being able to see when there was around a time when there was no spectators to seeing a Newlands packed stadium for a woman’s game was beautiful to witness.
And like I said there definitely is an appetite and women’s game continues to grow and I love what Cricket South Africa has done they have given the women’s players the same match fees as the men yeah so they’re all on the same level what they’ve done is that they’ve also professionalized domestic Cricket for the women in this country and they’ve made it professional and it’s good and we know in the next coming years there’s going to be an SA20 Women’s League and that is so exciting there’s a buzz around women’s cricket and now there’s the Test cricket that’s happening between South Africa and England and the last Test match that took place was back in 2002 and you know we’re living in exciting times for women’s cricket and for me the reason why I advocate for women’s cricket was because I’m a woman I played the game and I understand what goes into just being a woman playing the game and that we’re skilled we’re talented and we deserve the sponsors we deserve to be professional we deserve the same amount of money that the men are getting we deserve it all and like I said living in exciting times for women’s cricket.
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Q: Could you walk us through your preparation process before going live?
Lesego: Preparation is so key that’s the number one fact okay it’s so important. So for example now I’ll be covering the South Africa versus England series I’m covering the T20s and so for me this is how preparation works I’m at my desk actually I’ve got a whole lot of notes right so what I usually do is go through I start off with so for example England I have to look at the games that they they’ve been playing what series have they participated in look at their World Cup the recent T20 World Cup campaign how it unfolded for them look at the standout performances look at what went wrong and be able to see this season how their campaign has been throughout this entire season and then be able to read.
I also read articles that have been written around England and even just the press releases heading into to this series against South Africa. What are they looking forward to what are they looking to improve and work on what statement would they like to make in the series against South Africa they also played Test cricket and so this is a great preparation for them to go into the Ashes against Australia and so you look at that there is such a beautiful story that you can get out of research and portray that story in your live games so from England look at South Africa’s performances their players that have gone to the WBBL how are their performances are. Are they going into the series against England with form or without form and that’s what you look at and so it’s the preparation, read a lot of articles. If there certain a players that you’re not familiar with look study the players read some articles on that player do the research and find yourself in a position where you feel like you’ve covered all your bases because that helps with the nerves you go into it knowing that you’ve covered all you needed to cover and you’re ready to rock and roll so that’s just an overview of how I go into my preparations.
Q: If you could host a global sports event, which would you choose?
Lesego: I’m looking forward to working at an ICC event that’s number one. I want to start off by being a digital Insider. I don’t know if you’ve seen that role at the ICC just work up start with the digital Insider I’ve got a state plan. I really love to get to a point where I work as a digital Insider and then progress into being one of the hosts for the any women’s ICC event and definitely want to work for a woman’s event but definitely India I’d love to find myself back in India I did tour with the Proteas woman back in 2019 I was a media manager just for a month and I was able to go to India.
I went to Vadodara, I went to Surat and I was able to just immers myself in the Indian culture and their food and India has always been a great country to go to and so I want to be able to find myself just covering the women’s league that side and so would be so great for me to be part of something so big because India whether it’s for men or for the women’s game Indians are really passionate about cricket and so I definitely would love to be part of that but I mean it’s endless The Hundreds the WBBL there’s so many T20 leagues that are happening for the women and whether I get one or two leagues that’s more than enough and hopefully it’s in the next coming years SA20 will be happening for the woman and I’d love to be part of that team as well so the world is my oyster.
Q: Which current players in modern cricket excite you the most?
Lesego: Laura Wolvaardt, let me tell you something she is a monster she trains she takes her cricket serious she takes her captaincy serious and we remember when she started off Laura was always dubbed to be someone who is the next best cricketer female cricketer right and but her game has always been she’s always been good in the 50 over format but there was a moment where she changed her game because she understood that T20 is where it’s happening and she started working on her game and now you would never say that Laura was more of the longer format person because now her T20 game exceptional. Her performances constant performances she’s always racking in the runs she’s always been the player that sets the tone for any game that South Africa plays she’s consistent she’s reliable and she’s exception. I mean her cover drives everybody speaks about Laura’s cover drives and she’s still young it’s hard to believe that she is still young and she’s got many years in this industry and so she is set to be one of the greatest female cricketers the world has ever seen and that’s a player that I’m excited about that’s a player that I will continue to be excited about.
