South African all-rounder Dane van Niekerk will turn out for Guyana Amazon Warriors during the 2025 Women’s Caribbean Premier League, her first taste of franchise cricket in almost two years.
The Warriors confirmed on Friday that van Niekerk, New Zealand seamer Molly Penfold and Ireland wicketkeeper-batter Amy Hunter come in as like-for-like replacements for Shabnim Ismail, Lauren Winfield-Hill and Madeline Penna. The switch gives the 32-year-old another chance to play T20 cricket abroad after a quiet spell since the 2023 women’s Hundred.
Back then she was also signed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the inaugural Women’s Premier League, but she never made the XI and was let go before the 2024 season. A stint in the Caribbean is, therefore, new territory.
Van Niekerk briefly stepped away from the international game after missing out on South Africa’s 2023 home T20 World Cup – a fitness test cost her a place and pushed her into announcing retirement. She has since rowed back on that call, re-entered domestic cricket with Western Province and even attended a recent national training camp, though she remains outside the squad for the ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka starting 30 September.
Head coach Mandla Mashimbyi, asked about her prospects last month, kept the door open: “She’s being looked at for future series.” How quickly that possibility turns into a recall may hinge on her WCPL form.
On the home front van Niekerk enjoyed a productive 2024-25 season, finishing fourth on the CSA Women’s Pro20 run-scorers’ list, fuelled by a brisk hundred and a half-century.
Guyana launch their WCPL campaign against Trinbago Knight Riders in Providence on Saturday. Early points there could set the tone for a side still searching for a first title – and for van Niekerk, a useful platform to remind selectors, and anyone else, what she still brings.
