South Africa’s neighbour Namibia has only five cricket clubs and nine grounds but the team is rubbing shoulders with sport’s elite
Frankie Fredericks, the renowned sprinter of the 90s who happens to be a four-time Olympic silver-medallist, is a legend in Namibia and the country’s most famous sportsperson. Celebrated boxer Julius Indongo, the unified WBA, IBF and IBO world champion in the light welterweight division, comes a close second. In terms of popularity as a sport, football is way ahead; rugby isn’t far behind though.
Before the ongoing T20 World Cup, names like Gerhard Erasmus, David Wiese, Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit and Bernard Scholtz hardly rang a bell for the common Namibian. Cricket, in itself, has very little base in the southern African nation. The sport mostly is limited to the capital city Windhoek, where five clubs fight it out in the Premier Division. The Namibian national cricket team comprises of players from these clubs.
The entire country has just 9 cricket grounds. In terms of resources, cricket in Namibia is as dry as the Namib desert – from which the country derives its name.
Still, Namibia led by Erasmus, inspired by Wiese and galvanised by their coach Pierre de Bruyn, achieved the unthinkable by entering the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup. They first defeated Netherlands, a far experienced team at ICC events, and then went on to beat a Test-playing nation in Ireland. The Ireland victory not only helped them qualify for the Super 12s, but also guaranteed Namibia a spot in next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
“We are a small cricketing nation, we run a tight ship, and it (entering the Super 12) means a lot,” Erasmus said in a press conference. “Ours is a small country, and a small number of people play cricket. We should be proud of ourselves.”
Namibia’s first match in the Super 12 stage is against Scotland on October 27. Later, they will play high-profile teams like India, Pakistan and New Zealand in their group.
Coach de Bruyn was a top allrounder in South Africa’s domestic cricket in the late 90s and early 2000s. The 44-year-old still commutes from Centurion in South Africa to Windhoek to help out the young Namibian cricketers. “It’s ultimately a dream that has come true for these players. They were seven or six-year-old boys dreaming of playing against India or Pakistan in a World Cup and it’s going to happen “All they had the last few years until now was to watch these guys on TV and dream about it. Now they’re going to wake up in the morning and know that it’s real. I’m just so pleased for them,” de Bruyn said.
“We are ecstatic. We are not an organisation with the luxury of a lot of resources around us. I have got just 18 players to pick from in my national squad and I know what they’ve put in the last three years.”
This has been no mean feat. Two years back, Namibia had only four contracted players. After they secured ODI status in April 2019, they managed to increase the pool. Funding from the ICC played a crucial role from a logistical and resource point of view.
“ODI status is our bread and butter, our livelihood,” said De Bruyn. “It enabled us to go from having four contracted players to 17 – overnight we became professional.”
“Had we not entered the Super 12, there was a huge amount to lose. The stakes were high for us, probably more than any other team. We are talking about finances here and so many other things,” he added.
With ICC’s funds, de Bruyn managed to rope in an old friend, Albie Morkel, a top white-ball cricketer of South Africa in his time, as assistant coach – unsurprisingly on a part-time basis.
But the game-changer was getting the services of South African allrounder David Wiese, who qualified to play for Namibia through ancestry. Wiese’s father was born in Namibia. Wiese had played 6 ODIs and 20 T20 Internationals for South Africa. He even played a few matches at the 2016 T20 World Cup. But then, in 2017, signed a Kolpak deal with Sussex which made him ineligible to represent South Africa anymore.
Following Brexit, Kolpak registrations were terminated and Wiese was free to return to international cricket and Namibia came knocking. “I had some good conversation with coaches de Bruyn and Morkel. I felt so fortunate and grateful,” he said.
Frankie Fredericks, the renowned sprinter of the 90s who happens to be a four-time Olympic silver-medallist, is a legend in Namibia and the country’s most famous sportsperson. Celebrated boxer Julius Indongo, the unified WBA, IBF and IBO world champion in the light welterweight division, comes a close second. In terms of popularity as a sport, football is way ahead; rugby isn’t far behind though.
Before the ongoing T20 World Cup, names like Gerhard Erasmus, David Wiese, Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit and Bernard Scholtz hardly rang a bell for the common Namibian. Cricket, in itself, has very little base in the southern African nation. The sport mostly is limited to the capital city Windhoek, where five clubs fight it out in the Premier Division. The Namibian national cricket team comprises of players from these clubs.
The entire country has just 9 cricket grounds. In terms of resources, cricket in Namibia is as dry as the Namib desert – from which the country derives its name.
Still, Namibia led by Erasmus, inspired by Wiese and galvanised by their coach Pierre de Bruyn, achieved the unthinkable by entering the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup. They first defeated Netherlands, a far experienced team at ICC events, and then went on to beat a Test-playing nation in Ireland. The Ireland victory not only helped them qualify for the Super 12s, but also guaranteed Namibia a spot in next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
“We are a small cricketing nation, we run a tight ship, and it (entering the Super 12) means a lot,” Erasmus said in a press conference. “Ours is a small country, and a small number of people play cricket. We should be proud of ourselves.”
Namibia’s first match in the Super 12 stage is against Scotland on October 27. Later, they will play high-profile teams like India, Pakistan and New Zealand in their group.
Coach de Bruyn was a top allrounder in South Africa’s domestic cricket in the late 90s and early 2000s. The 44-year-old still commutes from Centurion in South Africa to Windhoek to help out the young Namibian cricketers. “It’s ultimately a dream that has come true for these players. They were seven or six-year-old boys dreaming of playing against India or Pakistan in a World Cup and it’s going to happen “All they had the last few years until now was to watch these guys on TV and dream about it. Now they’re going to wake up in the morning and know that it’s real. I’m just so pleased for them,” de Bruyn said.
“We are ecstatic. We are not an organisation with the luxury of a lot of resources around us. I have got just 18 players to pick from in my national squad and I know what they’ve put in the last three years.”
This has been no mean feat. Two years back, Namibia had only four contracted players. After they secured ODI status in April 2019, they managed to increase the pool. Funding from the ICC played a crucial role from a logistical and resource point of view.
“ODI status is our bread and butter, our livelihood,” said De Bruyn. “It enabled us to go from having four contracted players to 17 – overnight we became professional.”
“Had we not entered the Super 12, there was a huge amount to lose. The stakes were high for us, probably more than any other team. We are talking about finances here and so many other things,” he added.
With ICC’s funds, de Bruyn managed to rope in an old friend, Albie Morkel, a top white-ball cricketer of South Africa in his time, as assistant coach – unsurprisingly on a part-time basis.
But the game-changer was getting the services of South African allrounder David Wiese, who qualified to play for Namibia through ancestry. Wiese’s father was born in Namibia. Wiese had played 6 ODIs and 20 T20 Internationals for South Africa. He even played a few matches at the 2016 T20 World Cup. But then, in 2017, signed a Kolpak deal with Sussex which made him ineligible to represent South Africa anymore.
Following Brexit, Kolpak registrations were terminated and Wiese was free to return to international cricket and Namibia came knocking. “I had some good conversation with coaches de Bruyn and Morkel. I felt so fortunate and grateful,” he said.
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