The Richelieu Eagles will kick off the International Cricket Council Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 against Nepal in Kirtipur tomorrow.

Namibia will play The Netherlands and host Nepal in the first of 24 tri-series which will take four teams to within one step of qualifying for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027. 

Canada, Oman, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America are the other teams in the eight-team league that will comprise 144 matches in the lead-up to the World Cup Qualifier.

The top four teams from League 2 will make it to the World Cup Qualifier. They will be joined by four teams coming through the Qualifier Play-Offs as well as teams which don’t qualify automatically, based on the ICC ODI rankings.

Meanwhile, the Richelieu Eagles have arrived in Katmandu, Nepal for the four ICC Men’s CWC League 2 games and four T20 games against The Netherlands and Nepal. The ODI games form part of the pathway towards the 2027 World Cup to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. 

The three countries are set to participate in the forthcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, slated to be jointly hosted by the USA and the West Indies. Consequently, they will capitalise on the chance to play T20 matches as part of their preparation for the big stage, which is four months away.

Ruben Trumpelmann, who missed two tours hosted in Namibia due to injury, is joining the team this time around. Another exciting addition to the squad is youngster Jack Brassell. Brassell had an impressive performance in the 2024 ICC Men’s U19 World Cup in South Africa, and he has once again been selected to represent Namibia, this time in Nepal.

The Namibian squad for the tour includes Gerhard Erasmus as the captain, with Zane Green as the wicketkeeper. JJ Smit will serve as the vice captain, while players like Michael van Lingen, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Shaun Fouche, Ben Shikongo, Jan Frylinck, Niko Davin, Tangeni Lungameni, Bernard Scholtz, JP Kotze and Malan Kruger complete the squad.