CSA must continue to stand firm and refuse to bend the rules for individuals.

You don’t earn to be bigger than team nor the sport because nobody should ever be bigger than the team or the sport.

“If you want to make everyone happy, don't be a leader, sell ice cream”. This is a quote many of us would’ve come across once or twice in our lives. A quote that speaks to the difficulty of not only being a leader but working with people in general. Maybe it is in the DNA human beings to be hard to please. Now going back to the quote, CSA took a stance when it comes to the fitness standards across the two national teams and provincial set up. A stance not many seem to understand but, one must commend the fact that the board has remained unshaken regardless of the backlash that has come with this.

Building up to the Women’s T20 World Cup, there was a lot of talk about Dané van Niekerk’s possible return. How she would boost the team’s chances of doing well because she is a fantastic player and a good captain. Her presence would’ve definitely brought some balance to the side, albeit on paper. CSA left everyone shocked when Dané was not announced in the squad. Speculations were made until it was clarified that she had failed a fitness test. The cricket fraternity then became divided. Some people felt Dané should have been in the squad regardless and they went as far as questioning the use of the test she failed in cricket. Some believed that the standard was made for everyone to meet and making exceptions for certain players would only make matters worse.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve read a number of interviews where Dané expressed her unhappiness with the whole thing. Well, one wouldn’t have even guessed how she must have been feeling because she went as far as retiring from international cricket. A decision I feel was rash but who am I to say? One thing I’ve picked up from these interviews is the fact that Dané feels like this was a personal attack on her and that she deserves better. A bit mind boggling considering the fact that even players from the men’s side have gone through the same. Someone like Sisanda Magala has missed out on domestic cricket and opportunities with the Proteas because he couldn’t pass the test. He took it on the chin, went back and worked hard. I remember JJ Smuts was once in a similar situation and a few other players last season couldn’t play domestic cricket because they couldn’t meet the fitness requirements. None of them have gone on to sulk and moan about how they feel they deserve better.

Perhaps a bit of entitlement kicked in for Dané, who feels that because she has played for the country for 14 years, she somewhat deserves special treatment. Sometimes, players tend to get entitled to the point that they forget that they are not soldiers in the army who are risking their lives but sportsmen and women who get paid to play a sport they love so much. Not to say playing international cricket is easy but, I’m sure a lot of people would kill to represent their countries at a sport they love even for half of what they get. Lest we forget that it’s their selection into the national team that has opened doors for them to be picked to play in other leagues. They owe the country as much as the country owes them. Not sure if she even has interest in giving back to the game.

Sometimes, in life, we need to stand infront of a mirror and look at ourselves very closely in order for us to see the light. So far Dané has continued to make this about herself, how she feels, what she wanted, what she hoped for but nothing on CSA and the standard set for everyone to achieve. It’s time for Dané to look to guys like Sisanda Magala for inspiration, dust herself off and work hard to go back to her best.

We can only hope that CSA will maintain this energy. Players need to know that nobody is bigger than the team. A fitness standard that has been created by professionals who know what they’re doing needs to be met regardless of what the public says. CSA has shown great leadership in this regard and even though many may question the test, we know it was created by people who are professionals.