Sinalo Jafta was admitted to a rehabilitation facility for alcoholism in the autumn of 2022, the prospect of playing in a World Cup final just four months later seemed unlikely.

The South Africa wicketkeeper assumed her career was over and was not thinking about cricket at all.

The goal was to save my life, and that was my mentality,” Jafta, 28 said.

As far as my career was concerned, I was in the mindset that it was over.

Despite having 57 caps for South Africa across all three formats, Jafta admits she was drinking daily, but didn’t realize how serious her problem was.

Jafta hopes her story and her recovery can inspire others after reaching the milestone of a year of sobriety.

She says, in her first interview about the topic, that she started drinking during her first year of university. “I was playing hockey, we had socials, and I thought it was just a bit fun,” she says.

After a few years, it just became what I had to do to survive. Whether I was happy or sad, whatever emotion I felt, I would drink.”

After returning from the Commonwealth Games in summer 2022, Jafta’s emotions intensified, resulting in her entering rehab shortly thereafter.

Furthermore, she believes online abuse contributed to her negative thinking and fuelled her mindset.

Jafta recalls being in such a bad place that he didn’t care what happened to him.

It felt like I was drinking to death since I didn’t have anything left to give.”