I’M writing this letter to express my concern about the state of cricket in Namibia. It amazes me that so long after independence Cricket Namibia still manages to field an all white team again and again. It makes me wonder what other people across the world say when they play against an African team that only has one player (Picky Ya France) of colour.
How the sports ministry, the sports commission and sponsors (MTC) allow this is beyond me. Is this a ‘bra-skap’ exercise or is it a clear sign of racism that everyone just chooses to ignore? I, for one, think that this is totally unacceptable. I am a former cricketer, the same person who wrote a letter that was published in The Namibian on the 8th of April 2004 about the state of cricket in Namibia headlined “Cricket in Namibia is dying” and I have attached a copy of this. Almost ten years after this letter was published nothing has changed – how on earth is that possible? So, we’re are looking at almost fifteen plus years that Cricket Namibia receives sponsorships for development from MTC and the ICC (International Cricket Council) and what have they got to show for it? Picky ya France who didn’t even come through a development programme?
What happened to the Burton van Rooi’s and the Polly Negongo’s? Is it perhaps because they were treated like dogs that they don’t want to be involved any longer? It still amazes me that after apparently taking the game to the people for all these years that there isn’t a single player of colour. I don’t want to make this a race issue, but it surely looks like Cricket Namibia is making one hell of an effort to keep this team as white as possible. Every single year you get reports that there are 3 000 to 4 000 kids playing cricket in schools, are all these kids white?
Do they want to tell me there’s no continuity and none of these kids are able to go on and play at junior age group levels? Is this used to eye-blind sponsors and the ICC that there is something happening, while in fact it’s just a load of rubbish? Fake numbers being passed on to the ICC and cricket ends up winning development awards, which they don’t deserve. How cricket wins this award is beyond me, because if you look at hockey then you will soon realize that they should have won these awards for the past ten years or more, because they have been doing development from as far back as I can remember. Put the national hockey teams and the cricket teams next to each other and you will clearly see what I mean.
Why MTC still wastes it’s money on cricket I don’t know, it’s clear that they are not willing to take the game to the previously disadvantaged. Yes, I’m white but I was brought up in such a manner as not to see colour or race and it’s sad to see how white kids get the opportunities black kids will never get. If matters continue like this then I’d rather not see cricket being played in this country. The current state of affairs needs to change and it needs to change drastically otherwise this would continue for another ten years and after that another ten years.
These are issues that need to be addressed and made clear to Cricket Namibia. Someone needs to do something and do it quickly. I will not stop writing these letters and will make sure it gets to the ministry, MTC, ACA and the ICC. Cricket is in shambles at the moment and these are the consequences of not doing this correctly from the start. I surely hope someone gets up and exposes Cricket Namibia for what they really are!
Kind regards
Concerned Cricket Lover