Dané van Niekerk was left out of the Proteas squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup because she failed a 2km time trial.
Cricket South Africa’s fitness standards require female cricketers to run 2km in nine minutes and 30 seconds.
Van Niekerk missed the mark by 18 seconds.
“Dané was given an extensive opportunity to meet the minimum criteria for the fitness benchmark for eligibility for the World Cup,” said Proteas Women convenor of selectors Clinton du Preez.
“She recently did another fitness test and unfortunately did not meet the minimum criteria and therefore has missed out
“It’s purely based on not meeting the fitness criteria that she has missed out on making the team.”
Van Niekerk hasn’t played for the Proteas since September 2021 after sustaining a left ankle fracture in January 2022. She returned to action in the Hundred last August and took part in the CSA Women’s Super League in December.
The 29-year-old posted on Instagram that she was “absolutely broken” after being left out of the squad.
Suné Luus will continue to captain the Proteas in Van Niekerk’s absence.
South Africa and Sri Lanka will contest the opening game of the T20 World Cup on Friday, 10 February at Newlands.
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