The Namibian dugout at the end of the game against UAE was left in tears,
a heart wrenching seven run lost made them exit early from the World Cup 2022,
a tournament they started promisingly few days ago but just like last year
world cup they showed they are one of the best teams beyond Test nations
When Namibia lost the game
against UAE in final over, the camera panned to David Wiese, the Namibian All
rounder was left in state of dejection. He knew the importance of the win, it
was not for the sake of place in Super 12 but it also meant that Namibia would
be once playing against top Test nations, a chance they rarely get. It would
have also meant that popularity of cricket in Namibia would have increased
manifolds.
Beyond 12 Test nations, the
second tier of the ICC forms another 8 Countries which includes promising
cricket teams (Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, United Arab Emirates, Papua New
Guinea, Nepal, Oman and United States).
The first four of them which includes Namibia have been the most
impressive ones and been consistently impressing the cricket viewers through
their performances over last 2-3 years.
Namibia which has one of the
smallest populations among cricket nations has defied all limitations to
qualify for the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups. Through their performance in both
the editions where they have defeated Test nations (Ireland and Sri Lanka) they
have showed that they are among the most competitive teams beyond Test nations.
Along with Netherlands, Scotland and UAE, Namibia could be termed as Best 4
beyond Test Members of ICC.
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| David Wiese - An Important Cog |
Cricket has very old history
in Namibia, where the game could be traced way back in 1909 but it started to
gain its hold only post independence, from 1990s onwards. In 1992, Namibia
became associate member of ICC and by 2012, they been able to compete for World
Cup spots. In next 8 years they were able to take their game to the next level,
first by competing for the spot for 2023, World Cup in India and then by
qualifying for the T20 World Cup in United Arab Emirates in 2021 and in
Australia in 2022.
By playing for the two
consecutive T20 World Cup, they were able to showcase the skill that the
national team possesses. In both the editions, Namibia defied all the odds to
perform beyond expectations. They have impressed the cricket experts, fans and
administrators in spite of the limited facilities that they have.
Namibia has a very small
population and above all a very minor cricket playing population. Unlike that
of Football and Rugby which enjoy huge popularity, cricket is limited mainly to
Windhoek, Capital of Namibia. There are only five clubs who play among
themselves in the domestic league of Namibia and the national players are
selected among these clubs only.
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| Captain Gerhard Erasmus is an inspiration figure |
The whole of country only
have 9 cricket grounds, which is nothing compared to even countries like New
Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland. Pierre
de Bruyn, the former South African cricketer is the coach of national team
shares his experience about how in spite of having only 18 players at his
disposal from which he has to select the team for the World Cup, last year they
did what majority of the countries think unthinkable.
Regardless of their performance, they know money is
crucial for survival in modern day sports. For payment of salaries to
cricketers, staff, maintenance of infrastructure, investing in grass root
level, the governing body needs money and lot of money. This could be understood
from the fact that till April 2019, Namibia had only 4 contracted players but
after they received ODI status things changed with the funding of ICC. Now they
have 17 Contracted players.
Things look positive for the future as they have
formed core group of players but Namibia is also aware that competition is huge
beyond Test nations as the stakes are high to get the ODI status. Teams ranked
between 14-20 in ODI Status have been fighting neck to neck to secure place for
the marquee 50 over World Cup Tournament, which will be held in India in
October- November 2023.
Top 3 teams will qualify from the 7 teams who are
pitted against each other in the ICC ODI World Championship Division 2. Namibia
is currently at no.5 and would need to perform well in upcoming rounds. There
is lot of things at stake, a chance to play in front of the biggest cricket
crowd in the world, exposure in playing at the biggest stage in cricket but
most importantly the ICC fund that every participant will receive might do
wonders and help cricket grow in the country like it has done recently for
Ireland, Afghanistan and Netherlands.
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