I hope you will allow me to direct this e-mail of concern to you in reference to the current worrisome situation of cricket in Namibia. I have been following your articles on cricket very closely and found most of them to be spot on.
Namibian cricket held its annual executive elections last weekend, 28th of May 2016, and what is really nauseating is that the entire board is lily white and that ancient hand is back in the fold again as a board member.
Transformation has been admirably looked after over the past year or two at age-group level, while the national team is properly presented with players of colour.
However, my understanding now as many retired cricketers, including myself note, cricket has been represented and controlled by one single club in Namibia for far too long.
Here, I’m solely referring to Wanderers, as I can’t recall ever seeing a player of colour representing this club, yet they have been occupied with cricket for well over more than 15 years.
If one takes a closer look at the composition of the new board, it’s back to the drawing board again.
My major concern is that cricket has significantly reached the black community and looking at the current head coach, who is black, it is a good step forward for the overall development of Namibian cricket.
Nevertheless, signs of racism are still rife in Namibian cricket, obviously not openly, but definitely undercover. In all honesty, a close eye on this sport code would reveal that transformation is taking shape from age groups to the senior national teams.
A new board member, who has managed and administrated cricket for many years, is back in the fold, and I have first-hand inner understanding as to why this particular sporting discipline was labeled as a white man’s sport.
I love the game of cricket, but if the Namibia Cricket Board left out the only member of colour for the new election, what will happen at the office of Cricket Namibia? I’m just asking.
From my information, more than half the office is administrated by blacks, while the national team now has four or six cricketers of colour, certainly a good sign.
The Namibian A-team, as per news articles, was represented by seven or nine cricketers of colour. If I recall correctly, three to four years ago or more, the usual lame excuse advanced was always that there were no talented cricketers of colour available for selection.
For interest sake, look at the cricketers of colour’s ages now, and one would wonder why they claimed we did not have cricketers of colour. In conclusion, will Namibian cricket remain an exclusive all-white controlled sporting discipline over the next two or four years? I’m just asking.
– Concerned former national cricket player