Diara Ramlakan is a professional cricketer, passionate batter and certified coach based in Johannesburg. She started playing at 7, went on to represent South Africa at Under-19 level, earn selection for the South African Emerging Women squad, and play for the DP World Lions. Coaching is her way of giving back to the game that shaped her.
Her story
It all started in Grade One, when a friend asked Diara to come along to cricket practice — the friend didn't want to be the only girl there, and Diara went to keep her company. That one afternoon changed everything. Growing up watching players like Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp showed her what was possible for a young girl with a bat in her hand. Now, as a Lions player and South Africa U19 representative, Diara wants to be that same inspiration for the next generation.
I wasn't the talented one
I want to be honest about something, because I think it matters more than any of my credentials. I wasn't the most naturally gifted player at any session I ever went to. I'm still probably not. What I had was people who believed I could get better, and a willingness to do the work when nobody was watching.
That's the whole philosophy here. I don't think great players are born and then discovered — I think they're built, slowly, by someone who does the work and someone who believes it's possible. Talent is mostly just the word people use for the result afterwards.
So I don't sort players into the ones with a future and the ones without. Nobody can honestly tell you where a ten-year-old's ceiling is, and plenty of people will tell you anyway. What I can tell you is where your child is right now, what the next thing to work on is, and what it'll take. Then we do the work.
What I won't do is sell you sessions on a promise I can't back. But I will never tell your child they haven't got it. That isn't mine to say, and most of the time it isn't true.
Why girls' cricket — and why that means everyone
I only went to my first cricket practice because a friend asked me to. She didn't want to be the only girl there, so I went to keep her company.
I want to be clear about what that means. I have a cricket career because another girl didn't want to be alone, and because someone thought to bring a friend. That's the whole beginning.
It's the reason Crease Coaching exists. Not because girls matter more, but because that feeling of not belonging is still most common for girls in cricket, and somebody should be doing something about it.
But I'd be missing my own point if I only coached girls. The whole idea is that nobody stands at the nets feeling like the odd one out. So my net is open — girls, boys, beginners, provincial players, anyone. Same coaching, same standard, same welcome.
Coaching philosophy
Anyone can become a good cricketer — it's decided by the work, not by the gift
Every player develops at their own pace — there is no rush
Cricket should be fun first, technical second
Confidence at the crease starts with feeling safe to make mistakes
The habits you build young are the ones that last
Every player deserves someone in their corner who believes they'll get there
Credentials & experience
- CSA Level 1 Coaching Certificate
- DP World Lions — professional franchise player
- South African Emerging Women squad
- South Africa Women Under-19 — national representative
- ICC Women's U19 T20 World Cup squad member
- Coaching players of all ages and skill levels
Where I'm going with this
Right now Crease Coaching is one-on-one coaching in Johannesburg. Over time I want it to be more — girls-only camps, school programmes, and a proper pathway for players who don't have one. I want to bring other women cricketers in as coaches, because there are very few ways for women in this country to earn a living from the game, and coaching should be one of them.
If any of that sounds like something you want to be part of, get in touch.