Dane van Niekerk out of Proteas Women’s World Cup Squad despite comeback talks

Dane van Niekerk will not be part of the Proteas Women World Cup squad, head coach Mandla Mashimbyi confirmed on Wednesday. 

“She’s definitely not part of this World Cup, she won’t be going,” Mashimbyi stated. 

Van Niekerk’s decision to revoke her retirement from the international game has been the hot topic as a group of 19 players gathered for a training camp in Durban this week. 

Mashimbyi said Van Niekerk’s presence at Kingsmead was part of a wider plan to build the base of playing options looking ahead to 2026.

“She is someone we are looking for towards the future. There are series in which she might be involved in the future and hopefully when she ticks all the boxes she can showcase all her skills again,” said Mashimbyi. 

Van Niekerk said earlier this week that she had held fruitful conversations with Mashimbyi and Cricket SA’s director of national teams, Enoch Nkwe, about returning to the Proteas.

Last season she played for Western Province, where her returns with the bat were solid in the T20 and 50-over competitions. 

But she also acknowledged she had much work to do, given how the team had evolved since she had last been involved in 2021.

“I’m watching the players with their skill, there’s a massive difference from two years ago. For me, it’s about seeing where I’m at and I’m probably not where everyone is at the moment,” said Van Niekerk.

Mashimbyi wants Van Niekerk to impart her vast knowledge acquired over a 16-year international career that included 107 ODIs, 86 T20Is and three ODI World Cups. He said Van Niekerk remained a vital cog in the SA cricket wheel.

“She’s captained the team, she played for a long time and she’s been successful. The experience she carries is something we will miss [if we didn’t have it] and bringing back a player like that was a no-brainer.

“She’s like any other player now, she needs to work her way up again, earn her place as well. [We are] exposing her to the environment so that she understands the expectations, and hopefully can carry on from here, really understand how she wants to go about things. One day when she gets a call-up she can have an impact immediately,” said Mashimbyi.

He said he was happy with what he had seen in the first few days of the camp, where the focus had been on fitness but also skills work on a Kingsmead strip that is the closest to mimicking what SA will encounter at the World Cup, which will be hosted in India and Sri Lanka. 

The Proteas start the tournament on October 3 against England in Guwahati.

They head to Pakistan before then for three ODIs as a warm-up for the tournament. 

“Those matches will give us the chance to make sure everything is in place. It is for them to play with freedom, so that they understand where they are with their own games and if we play well there, we can take confidence into the World Cup.”