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Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played from February 10 to February 26.
Dane van Niekerk, the regular Proteas captain, has not made the cut for the global showpiece event as she did not meet CSA’s fitness requirements and has been excluded on those grounds. Sune Luus will captain the squad at the tournament, which starts next month.
Van Niekerk last appeared for South Africa way back in September 2021. After that, she was ruled out of the 50-over World Cup due to an ankle injury, which kept her out of cricket for quite some time before she played three matches for the Oval Invincibles in the Women’s Hundred.
Since August 2022, the Pretoria-born hasn’t played any form of cricket. Further, Van Niekerk is also not a part of the South Africa squad for the ongoing tri-nation series involving India and the West Indies. Luus, who is currently leading the Proteas Women, will continue to captain the squad at the multi-team tournament.
“Dane was given an extensive opportunity to meet the minimum criteria for the fitness benchmark. She recently did another fitness test and did not meet the minimum criteria, and that’s why she has missed out,” said Clinton du Preez, women’s selection convener of CSA.
“Dane did not meet the minimum requirement for the 2-kilometre time trial. The management assisted her into trying to get there, but she did not meet the minimum requirement. The skill set of Dane as a cricketer will always be missed on the cricket field. We have reminded her of that. We also appreciate the effort she tried to put into meeting the fitness level,” Du Preez added.
Notably, South Africa will begin their World Cup campaign in a Group A fixture against Sri Lanka in Cape Town on February 10. This Group has other teams, such as Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh. Similarly, Group B comprises of England, India, Pakistan, Ireland and West Indies.
South Africa Women’s squad for T20 World Cup:
Sune Luus (capt), Chloe Tryon (vice-capt), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Laura Wolvaardt, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Delmi Tucker, Annerie Dercksen.
Non-traveling reserves: Micaéla Andrews, Tebogo Macheke, Tumi Sekhukhune
