The International Cricket Council (ICC), at its recent annual conference held in Birmingham, UK, recognised and awarded Cricket Namibia (CN) for having the best development programme and also as an associate member with the best performance. 

The conference, which was attended by over 107 countries, saw CN walking away with the prestigious ICC Development Initiative of the Year, and ICC Associate Member Men’s Performance of the Year awards.

CN chief executive officer Johan Muller and CN president Rudie van Vuuren were present at the occasion to receive the two awards on behalf of the national cricket body. CN’s patron Francois Erasmus was also honoured and awarded in absentia by the ICC for Lifelong Service to Cricket. 

“We are proud to have a passionate patron who has been working with the board of directors in reaching the ultimate goal: ‘to be a globally competitive, professional, values-based and inclusive sport of choice’. Growing international value and global exposure are important elements for Cricket Namibia. Our national men’s team, The Richelieu Eagles, have been resilient and courageous, which has taken them to the global stage to compete at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in the United Arab Emirates. The Eagles were one of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup’s great inspirers, progressing from the first round of the competition to then go toe-to-toe with some of cricket’s heavyweights,” said Van Vuuren.

“Being recognised by the ICC with such prestigious awards is an honour and motivation to always keep flying higher. We are proud to be a part of this cricket dream, and to represent Namibia. We are proud of working towards the vision to be an inclusive Namibian sport of choice, as 67 000 children across Namibia have been exposed to the game of cricket through the Ashburton Kwata Cricket programme, and have now become part of the cricket dream.”