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Dané van Niekerk made her international debut for the South African Women’s cricket team at the age of 15, when most of her friends were doing what normal teenagers do. The Centurion High School pupil has made impressive strides in her cricket career, since starting out in the backyard with her elder brother Gerrit at the age of 10.

“My brother is the one I look up to; he is actually the one that got me into cricket. We started out playing at home then I got introduced to Bakers Mini Cricket,” she says about the birth of her career.

It also came as no surprise that it was Gerrit who got her interested in the art of leg-spin, which luckily for her, has proven to be a natural ability.

“My brother is a leg spinner so he taught me a lot about the technique. At first I didn’t take it seriously, it was something that I was trying out then I realised that maybe specialising wasn’t such a bad idea.”

Australia’s blonde wonder-boy, Shane Warne, is one of her favourite cricketers and she even goes as far as calling him her legend. Warne took over one thousand wickets in his international career and terrorised batsman with his mastery of leg-spin; a path she keenly wants to follow as she bravely states “I want to be the best spinner in the world!”

One of the reasons that make Dané such an asset to the national team is the lack of leg-spinners within the women’s game, it could even be seen as a niche market. The presence of a player of that calibre is a plus for any bowling attack.

“Dané is a match-winner. She has a scarce talent (leg-spinner), once she is given time to grow into her role she will contend with the world best, she has an exciting future ahead of her,” exclaimed national women’s coach, Noor Rhode.

The women are currently in action in the Inaugural ICC Women’s World Twenty20, being hosted alongside the men’s event. The women are playing against the same group opponents they faced at the ICC Women’s World Cup in Australia in March (West Indies, New Zealand and Australia) and are unfortunately still looking for their first win in the tournament, having lost to both New Zealand and West Indies in their opening games.

Participation in this event means that Dané now has two World Cup events under her belt, a clear indication of the potential that can still be unleashed.

“The World Cup in Australia was an awesome experience for me. Starting young allows me to gain as much experience as possible. If you look at it, by the next world cup I will already have the experience of a world cup behind me, which will go a long way out on the field.”

Strutting in to bowl against household names such as Australian captain, Karen Rolton, and New Zealand all-rounder, Haidee Tiffin, could not have been an easy task, but she admits it got easier by the game.

“In the beginning I was all nerves but after each game I developed the confidence and started to back myself.”

Back herself she did, she had the best World Cup averages in the team taking four wickets for 35 runs at an average of 8.75, this, against some of the best opponents in the world.

After such a successful start, it would be easy to lose the plot with overzealous aspirations but “kleintjie”, as she is known by her team mates, seems to have a cool and sensible head for someone who still has to ask for permission to leave school.

“I’m going to take it one day at a time.” Her future goals were daringly stated, but what about her short-term plans? “I want to work on my batting and move up the order,” she modestly says.

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