Former skipper Dane van Niekerk has missed out on selection in the Women’s World Cup squad as Cricket South Africa named a 15-strong group for the marquee event on Wednesday. Van Niekerk had recently revoked her international retirement and was part of a 20-member training camp to prepare for the tournament but has eventually missed the cut.
She retired from international cricket in March 2023, after missing out on the home T20 World Cup for flunking CSA’s fitness examination. Van Niekerk, however, has been turning up domestically for Western Province and made herself available for international selection earlier today.
“I’m thrilled to announce that I have decided to revoke my retirement from international cricket. The time away has reminded me just how much I have missed representing my country and I am fully committed to giving everything to once again have that opportunity,” she said on Instagram.
Van Niekerk represented South Africa in 194 matches – 107 ODIs, 86 T20Is and 1 Test. She scored 4,074 runs and bagged 204 wickets in her international career. She also captained South Africa in 50 ODIs and 30 T20Is with the team winning 29 and 15 games respectively under her watch.
She became only the seventh player to do the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Women’s ODIs, and was also instrumental to South Africa’s campaign in the 2017 World Cup.
One of South Africa’s seasoned pros, Van Niekerk suffered a spate of injuries during the Covid period. She sustained a lower back injury in 2020 which kept her out for the better part of the year and on the verge of the ICC World Cup in 2022 in New Zealand, she suffered an ankle injury which ruled her out of the mega event.
Van Niekerk, now 32, had also apologized to Cricket South Africa for her knee-jerk response and was upbeat about getting a chance to represent her country once again. “I sincerely apologise to Cricket South Africa and the cricket family for how I handled my retirement, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to hopefully one day express my skills again on the international stage.”
