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In a candid chat on ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast, 32-year-old South African all-rounder Dane van Niekerk opened up about her tumultuous time away from international cricket, a period marked by retirement, reversal, injury setbacks, and a haunting mental block with her bowling.
The Proteas star, who reversed her March 2023 retirement in August 2025, detailed her “lost years” of self-doubt, weight struggles, and the yips that have kept her from bowling in matches for over two years. Her explosive batting comeback against Ireland, highlighted by a blistering 88 off 47 balls in the second ODI, signals a fighter reclaiming her spot, even as she embraces a “beginner’s mindset” to rebuild.
Dane Van Niekerk’s international journey began brightly. She debuted in ODIs on March 8, 2009, against the West Indies at Newcastle, amassing 2,263 runs in 85 innings at an average of 37.09 and a strike rate of 67.79, including 10 half-centuries and a century. With the ball, she claimed 138 wickets in 103 innings at 19.14 apiece and an economy of 3.46, featuring six four-wicket hauls and two five-fors across 109 matches.
𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭! 🔥
Dane van Niekerk making her presence felt on international return! 👏#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/ffNtvcgUvA
In T20Is, since her June 11, 2009, debut at Taunton, she scored 1,939 runs in 79 innings at 28.51 with a 96.75 strike rate and 10 fifties, while snaring 65 wickets in 82 innings at 20.96 and 5.45 economy, including a four-wicket haul in 88 games. Her lone Test in 2014 against India at Mysore yielded 22 runs and 1 wicket.
Her hiatus stemmed from a broken ankle, fitness pressures, and the infamous two-kilometre time trial failure ahead of the 2023 T20 World Cup. Retirement followed exclusion from that squad, but van Niekerk’s fire reignited this year. Leading South Africa’s 2-0 T20I and ODI series wins over Ireland (under Laura Wolvaardt), she exploded for 62 runs at a 229.62 strike rate across two T20I innings (third highest for SA) and that match-winning 88 (47 balls, 13 fours, 3 sixes, 187.23 strike rate) in the second ODI, powering a record 375/6.
The podcast’s emotional core was van Niekerk’s bowling nightmare. Last bowling over two years ago, to wife Marizanne Kapp in a warm-up, she “rolled the ball” in horror, a skill that once came instinctively, now frozen under pressure. “It was to my wife, Marizanne [Kapp], in a warm-up game. I rolled the ball. I’ve never rolled a ball in my life,” she shared, the embarrassment lingering. Despite ranking fourth in SA ODI wickets and third in T20Is, she freezes in games: “When I have a ball in my hand, I can bowl in the nets, but the moment there are eyes on me, I freeze.”
Coach Mandla Mashimbyi urges a beginner’s outlook: “Just admit you’re bad at it now and be okay with it, and then from there you can only get better.” Van Niekerk, working on the mental side, vows patience: “I’m allowing myself to just feel at the moment, to get into the team. I wholeheartedly believe I’ll still bowl for my country again.” Relaxed CSA fitness rules help, focusing on those who “look like a cricketer, move like a cricketer and think like a cricketer.”
For Dane van Niekerk, fitness is no longer a punishment, it's health and fun. 💪#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/XQp60cYblB
Van Niekerk didn’t shy from her fitness battles, gaining 12 kilograms post-injury and feeling the weight, literally and figuratively. “‘I played the fool with myself’. I thought I could still move the way I did when I wasn’t 12 kilograms heavier,” she admitted. Rejecting punishment vibes, she reframes it: “My connection to fitness was so negative. I want my connection to just be healthy and fun.” Stigma aside, her focus stays sharp: “My job is to win games for my country.”
Batting anchors her return: 21* off 8 in her T20I opener, 41 off 19 next, and that ODI fireworks. Pragmatic about leagues like WBBL (last in 2021-22) or WPL (2023), she eyes reality without full all-round skills: “I’ll never put my name up as an allrounder if I’m not an all-rounder.”
CPL involvement hints at power-hitting appeal, but her north star gleams brighter: the upcoming 10th edition of the T20 World Cup in 2026, hosted by England and Wales from 12th June to 5th July 2026. She could be the vital cog fueling South Africa’s ultimate quest for glory. Van Niekerk’s story resonates as raw resilience, a blueprint for any athlete clawing back from the brink.
(Quotes sourced from Espn Cricinfo)
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