Cricket Namibia (CN) yesterday announced a 16-member squad that will represent the country at this year’s T20 ICC Men’s World Cup in Australia from 16 October to 13 November.
The tournament, which will see the Eagles of Namibia facing the likes of Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Group A of Round 1, was originally scheduled to take place in 2020.
However, in July of the same year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the tournament had been postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Eagles will get their campaign underway on the opening day of the tournament with a clash against Sri Lanka, before going on to face the Netherlands on 18 October and the UAE on 20 October.
Group B consists of Ireland, Scotland, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
This year’s World Cup will mark Namibia’s second consecutive appearance at the global showpiece, following last year’s remarkable run that saw them reach the Super 12 phase of the 2021 T20 World Cup to automatically qualify for the 2022 tournament.
Namibia’s 16-member squad will again be led by captain Gerhard Erasmus, who will be deputised by Johannes-Jonathan ‘JJ’ Smith.
Meanwhile, batters Lohan Louwrens and Divan la Cock as well as bowler Tangeni Lungameni are all set to make their World Cup debuts in Australia.
The Eagles will be bolstered by old-time campaigners, such as Stephen Baard, Nicol Loftie Eaton, Bernard Scholtz, Helao Ya France, Jan Frylinck, Ruben Trumpelmann and David Wiese, amongst others.
The ICC T20 World Cup currently consists of 16 teams, comprising the top 10 teams from the world rankings at the given deadline and six other teams chosen through the T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
The event is generally held every two years.
Australia are the current defending champions, having beaten New Zealand in the 2021 final to win their first title.
Namibia’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad:
Gerhard Erasmus (c), JJ Smit (vc), Divan la Cock, Stephen Baard, Nicol Loftie Eaton, Jan Frylinck, David Wiese, Ruben Trumpelmann, Zane Green, Bernard Scholtz, Tangeni Lungameni, Michael van Lingen, Ben Shikongo, Karl Birkenstock, Lohan Louwrens and Helao Ya France.
- ohembapu@nepc.com.na