Former South Africa captain and all-rounder Dane van Niekerk will return to professional cricket this summer after signing with the provincial side of Western Province.
Western Province, the most successful team in the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Women’s One-Day Cup and the CSA Women’s T20 Challenge with 9 and 7 titles respectively, will welcome van Niekerk to their ranks.
Van Niekerk, a right-handed batter and leg-break bowler, represented South Africa across all three formats from 2009 to 2021 and captained the team between 2016 and 2021. She last took the field for South Africa in 2021 and retired from international cricket in March 2023, shortly after missing out on South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2023 squad due to not meeting CSA’s fitness standards. CSA required women’s national players to complete a two-kilometer time trial in 9:30. Despite recovering from a broken ankle, van Niekerk missed the mark by 18 seconds. This fitness episode led to her sudden decision to retire from international cricket.
CSA has since relaxed their fitness requirements, allowing both male and female athletes who do not meet the two-kilometer run time or whose skinfold measurements exceed the recommended levels to still be eligible to play at the discretion of the national coaches. This change sparked speculation about the potential return of Dane van Niekerk and Lizelle Lee from retirement.
Though she hopes to return to international cricket eventually, van Niekerk has “no timeline” for this goal. For now, her focus is on “playing again and having fun,” as she told ESPNcricinfo.
The 31-year-old had a distinguished career with the Proteas women, featuring in 194 international matches, scoring 4,074 runs, and taking 204 wickets.
Van Niekerk confirmed she will play “all the fixtures, if I am able,” with hopes of getting back into contention for higher honors. She emphasized that her top priority is to play again without any expectations, driven purely by her love for the game and her desire to represent her country at the highest level.
She confirmed she will play “all the fixtures, if I am able,” and hopes to get back into contention for higher honours. “My No.1 priority is to play again,” she said. “I have no expectations other than that. What will be, will be. I miss representing my country and playing at the highest level. It has nothing to do with anything other than that.”
(Quotes sourced from ESPNcricinfo)