The 2024 Over-50s Cricket Tournament was officially launched by the Veterans Cricket Association of Namibia in Windhoek last week.
The tournament features Namibia, Zimbabwe and two teams from South Africa.
The tournament includes eight 45-over matches from the competition, which started on 17 to 21 November.
The tournament, proudly sponsored by Nedbank Namibia to the tune of N$100 000, kicked off on Sunday.
It will run till 21 November.
Namibia took on the South Africa Proteas team at the new High-Performance Oval.
South Africa won the match, while Zimbabwe faced the South Africa A team at Wanderers Cricket Ground.
Speaking at the tournament’s official launch, Cricket Namibia CEO Johan Muller welcomed the visiting teams to enjoy the tournament.
“I recognise the local organising committee for a job well done in putting this together. To the visitors, enjoy your stay in Namibia, and good luck to all of you during this tournament,” he said.
Nedbank Namibia’s head of marketing and communications Gernot de Klerk thanked the visiting teams, and lauded the organisers for keeping veterans’ cricket alive.
“Nedbank Namibia is proud to sponsor the tournament. This tournament not only showcases the enduring talent and passion of veteran cricketers, but also highlights the invaluable role they play in inspiring future generations, and fostering the spirit of sportsmanship. As money experts who do good, our aim is to partner with like-minded organisations like Cricket Namibia to create platforms like these where veteran players can showcase their athleticism,” he stated.
He added: “We would like to thank Cricket Namibia for walking this journey with us as we continue to inspire our future stars. It’s a privilege to see Namibia hosting teams from across the continent. We wish all participating teams the best of luck as they compete in this exciting and historic event”.
Speaking at the launch, Namibia Over-50s cricket captain Dawie Hartzenberg said the pressure was on them as the home team.
“We have clear and realistic targets that we want to achieve in this tournament. We would like to improve our play from the previous tournament. We want to be a serious competition to our opponents during this tournament. It is also important for us to inspire the future Namibian generations to take the sport seriously,” he said.
Zimbabwean captain Darrell Goodwin said they came to win and have fun as a unit, while making friends on and off the pitch.
South Africa’s Proteas captain Mario Solomons said veterans’ cricket is growing by leaps and bounds on the continent, and they were looking forward to this tournament.
“We are here to defend our title, as this tournament is vital for the development of the game. In Cape Town, we started with only eight teams a few years ago, and now we have 24 teams. We call upon other African countries to start veterans cricket teams and join us,” he said.
His views were echoed by Russell Bennett, the captain of South Africa A.
He said his team is here to compete, and they would like to inspire other veterans to continue playing cricket.
“We would like to meet new people, and see friends whom we haven’t seen in a long time, as well as create long-lasting friendships,” he said.
South Africa Proteas were set to play Zimbabwe yesterday, whereas Namibia was scheduled to play the South Africa A team.
Here are the remaining fixtures:
20 November: Zimbabwe vs Namibia Wanderers Sports Club 10h00
20 November: South Africa vs South Africa A United Sports Club 10h00
21 November: Position 1 vs Position 2 Wanderers Sports Club 10h00
21 November: Position 3 vs Position 4 United Sports Club 10h00