Former South Africa captain revokes international retirement

Originally posted on Guerilla Cricket | By Aryan Surana | Last updated Aug 25, 2025 5:52 AM ET

Former South African skipper Dane van Niekerk has revoked her cricketing retirement. She took to social media on Monday, August 25, to make the announcement.

“I’m thrilled to announce that I have decided to revoke my retirement from international cricket. The time away has reminded me just how much I have missed representing my country and I am fully committed to giving everything to once again have that opportunity,” she said on Instagram.

The former South African captain had retired in 2023 at the age of 29 having been overlooked for the squad for a home T20 World Cup, after flunking the fitness test mandatory for selection. Sune Luus took over the reigns of the Proteas for that tournament.

Van Niekerk represented South Africa in 194 matches – 107 ODIs, 86 T20Is and 1 Test. She scored 4,074 runs and bagged 204 wickets in her international career. She also captained South Africa in 50 ODIs and 30 T20Is with the team winning 29 and 15 games respectively under her watch.

She became only the seventh player to do the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Women’s ODIs, and was also instrumental to South Africa’s campaign in the 2017 World Cup.

One of South Africa’s seasoned pros, she suffered a spate of injuries during the Covid period. She sustained a lower back injury in 2020 which kept her out for the better part of the year and on the verge of the ICC World Cup in 2022 in New Zealand, she suffered an ankle injury which ruled her out of the mega event.

Van Niekerk, now 32, also apologized to Cricket South Africa for her knee-jerk response and was upbeat about getting a chance to represent her country once again. “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.”

This article first appeared on Guerilla Cricket and was syndicated with permission.

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