The absence of Dané van Niekerk from the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup, once more put the spotlight on Cricket SA’s stringent fitness demands and will ask serious questions about the morale of the side. Van Niekerk failed a late fitness test and was omitted from the squad that was announced on Tuesday morning by the convener of the women’s national team selection panel, Clinton du Preez. Describing her absence as “very unfortunate,” Du Preez said Van Niekerk had been given every opportunity to meet the fitness standards but despite showing major improvement since December she had still not achieved the necessary targets. Those related specifically to the 2km time trial, which, for the women’s players, must be completed in 9 minutes 30 seconds. Van Niekerk, 29, has been the Proteas captain since 2016 when she took over from Mignon du Preez. She led the side to two World Cup semifinals — in the 2017 50-over tournament, and two years ago in the T20 competition when the Proteas came up short against Australia in Sydney. In her absence the team will be led by Sune Luus. “She was given extensive opportunity to meet the minimum criteria. We also arranged for an extra test very recently, but she still failed to achieve the criteria,” Du Preez said. Van Niekerk’s absence is a huge blow to the team, which has already lost the experience of Mignon du Preez and Lizelle Lee, who have recently retired. Lee quit international cricket last year in shocking circumstances while on tour in England and later explained it was because she and CSA could not agree about her not meeting the required fitness standards — which in her case involved her weight. Cricket SA have deployed very strict fitness measures in the last year, with Sisanda Magala missing out on Proteas selection last year for a series against Bangladesh. He was then also prohibited from playing for his provincial team the Lions in the CSA T20 Challenge earlier this season for also not adhering to the fitness requirements, specifically the 2km time trial, which for men’s players has to be completed in under 8 minutes 30 seconds. At the time director of cricket Enoch Nkwe explained the stringent adherence to fitness requirements was an attempt by CSA to bridge the gap between domestic cricket and the international game. Van Niekerk missed the recent triangular series that also involves West Indies and India for the same reason. “It’s about us remaining consistent with our decisions, this is not something that has happened recently,” Du Preez explained. “We’ve had open discussions with everyone, they were all familiar with the situation and what was required. We discussed it with Dané in December, where it was clearly set out what she needed to do and where we expected her to be. ” Du Preez said he doesn’t expect the morale to suffer as a result of the decision, pointing out that Van Niekerk hasn’t been a regular part of the squad recently. She missed last year’s World Cup with a fractured ankle and the team’s subsequent tour to England. “The team is gelling nicely, I do believe the team has pulled together, has accepted the decision made. There is a lot of responsibility on the players and the current leadership to take this forward and try to keep the team together. ” Van Niekerk’s wife, Marizanne Kapp, posted a broken heart emoji on social media shortly after the team announcement. Kapp, the team’s best player, also recently made reference to an article highlighting the challenges some cricketers from different countries have faced in passing fitness tests. South Africa will play the opening match of the World Cup on February 10 at Newlands against Sri Lanka. The Proteas are in the same group as defending champions and favourites Australia, and will also face New Zealand and Bangladesh. Proteas World Cup squad Suné Luus (capt), Chloé Tryon, Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Delmi Tucker, Laura Wolvaardt. Non-travelling Reserves: Micaéla Andrews, Tebogo Macheke, Tumi Sekhukhune.