Van Niekerk misses World Cup due to CSA's strict fitness policy

The absence of Dané van Niekerk from the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup again spotlights Cricket SA’s stringent fitness demands and will ask serious questions about the side's morale. 

The player failed a late fitness test and was omitted from the squad announced on Tuesday morning by convener of the women’s national team selection panel Clinton du Preez. 

Describing her absence as “very unfortunate”, he said Van Niekerk was given every opportunity to meet fitness standards, but despite showing major improvement since December, she did not achieve the targets. These related to the 2km time trial, which for women’s players must be completed in 9 minutes 30 seconds. 

“She was given extensive opportunity to meet the minimum criteria. We also arranged for an extra test very recently, but she still failed to achieve the criteria,” Du Preez said.

Van Niekerk, 29, has been the Proteas captain since 2016, when she took over from Mignon du Preez. She led the side to two World Cup semifinals — in the 2017 50-over tournament and two years ago in the T20 competition, when the Proteas came up short against Australia in Sydney. 

Without her, the team will be led by Suné Luus. 

Van Niekerk’s absence is a huge blow to the Proteas, who have lost the experience of Du Preez and Lizelle Lee, who recently retired.

Lee quit international cricket last year in shocking circumstances while on tour in England. She later explained it was because she and CSA could not agree on her not meeting fitness standards involving her weight.

Cricket SA have deployed strict measures in the past year, with Sisanda Magala missing Proteas selection last year for a series against Bangladesh. He was also prohibited from playing provincially for the Lions in the CSA T20 Challenge earlier this season for not adhering to fitness requirements, specifically the 2km time trial, which for men has to be completed in less than 8 minutes 30 seconds.   

At the time, director of cricket Enoch Nkwe said stringent adherence to fitness requirements was an attempt by CSA to bridge the gap between domestic cricket and the international game.

Van Niekerk missed the recent triangular series involving the West Indies and India for the same reason. 

“It’s about us remaining consistent with our decisions. This is not something that has happened recently,” Du Preez said. “We’ve had open discussions with everyone. They were all familiar with the situation and what was required. We discussed it with Dané in December, where it was clearly set out what she needed to do and where we expected her to be.”

Du Preez said he doesn’t expect morale to suffer as a result, pointing out that Van Niekerk hasn’t been a regular in the squad recently. She missed last year’s World Cup with a fractured ankle and the team’s subsequent tour to England.

“The team is gelling nicely. I do believe the team has pulled together, has accepted the decision. There is a lot of responsibility on the players and the leadership to take this forward and try to keep the team together.”

Van Niekerk’s wife, Marizanne Kapp, posted a broken heart emoji on social media shortly after the announcement. Kapp, the team’s best player, also recently referenced an article highlighting the challenges cricketers from different countries have faced in passing fitness tests. 

South Africa will play Sri Lanka in the opening match of the World Cup on February 10 at Newlands in Cape Town. The Proteas are in the same group as defending champions and favourites Australia, and will also face New Zealand and Bangladesh.  

Proteas World Cup squad

Suné Luus (capt), Chloé Tryon, Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Delmi Tucker, Laura Wolvaardt.

Non-travelling Reserves: Micaéla Andrews, Tebogo Macheke, Tumi Sekhukhune