South African stalwart Dane van Niekerk will miss the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup after failing a 2km time trial.
Key points:
- South African prop Dane van Niekerk has missed out on selection for the Women’s T20 World Cup
- Van Niekerk failed Cricket South Africa’s 2km time trial fitness test
- The 29-year-old is one of the most decorated cricketers in South African history.
Van Niekerk has captained his country in all three game formats, but surpassed the nine and a half minute limit imposed by Cricket South Africa by 18 seconds.
The 29-year-old said she was “absolutely broken” by the decision.
Van Niekerk has not played international cricket since September 2021 and missed last year’s ODI World Cup due to a broken ankle.
“Dane was given a great opportunity to meet the minimum criteria for the physical fitness benchmark,” said selector Clinton du Preez.
“Lots of other players have gone down this path, they’re all pretty familiar with the situation and what’s required. In December, we clearly established where it needs to be.”
“Dane will always be missed on the cricket ground. We have reminded him of that.
“We also appreciate the effort he tried to put in to get to the fitness level.”
Sune Luus will be the team captain in van Niekerk’s absence.
“Dane was given a great opportunity to meet the minimum criteria or fitness benchmark to be eligible for the World Cup,” du Preez said.
“He recently did another fitness test and unfortunately it didn’t meet the minimum criteria, so he missed it.
“It’s purely based on the fact that he doesn’t meet the fitness criteria that he’s missed.”
Prior to his recent injury woes, van Niekerk was a mainstay in South African cricket for over a decade.
She is the only South African female cricketer to take over 50 wickets and score over 1500 runs in T20 internationals.
Van Niekerk has 194 caps for his country in all international formats.
South Africa will host the tournament and will play its first match against Sri Lanka in Cape Town on February 10.
