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Former Proteas Women's captain Dane van Niekerk has come out of international retirement after two years.
Van Niekerk left the green and gold in 2023 after being omitted from the squad for the T20 World Cup here at home, having failed a 2km time trial.
In a statement on Monday morning, the 32-year old apologised for the way in which she turned her back on the national team, and said the time away reminded her just how much she missed representing her country.
“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”, said a remorseful van Niekerk.
“I know the standards of the team and women’s game continue to rise, and I am ready to work hard to meet them.”
In May this year Proteas Women coach Mandla Mashimbyi revealed that he’d had a chat with the former skipper regarding what she needs to do to even be considered for selection for this year’s World Cup, and it seems she might be well on her way there after being invited to take part in their 20-player training camp in Durban starting today.
At the time, Mashimbyi said, “In terms of that (World Cup), she was not part of the plans initially, but you can never count anybody out. When the opportunity presents itself and she’s the one that’s available to make the team, or she’s fit enough to make the team, or she’s where she needs to be, then we can’t control that”.
Cricket South Africa’s fitness standards require female players to run 2km in nine minutes and 30 seconds, and van Niekerk had missed the cut by an agonising 18 seconds.
The camp in Durban will conclude in a week’s time, after which the team will travel to Lahore for a three-match ODI series against Pakistan.
They will then head to India for the 50-over World Cup, which begins on September 30.
The final squad for the tournament will be announced in the first week of next month.
