THE Namibian Richelieu Eagles scaled new heights during 2023, but their failure to reach the Super 12s stage of the T20 World Cup in Australia left fans feeling somewhat deflated.
Namibia had started off so well, beating Sri Lanka by 55 runs in their opening match in Geelong when they produced a brilliant team performance.
Namibia posted a competitive 163/7, with Jan Frylinck scoring 44 and JJ Smit 31 not out and then dismissed Sri Lanka for a paltry 108, with David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo and man of the match Frylinck taking two wickets each.
It was the first time that Namibia had beaten a top-tier nation at the T20 World Cup, and after that tremendous start they just needed one more win from their final two group matches against fellow second-tier nations The Netherlands and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to progress to the Super 12s.
They, however, could not emulate their achievements at the 2021 T20 World Cup, when they reached the Super 12s, as they lost both matches after underwhelming performances.
Against The Netherlands, Namibia were restricted to a modest 121/6, with the Dutch reaching the target for the loss of five wickets, while a David Wiese-inspired comeback against the UAE (55 off 36 balls) just fell short, as Namibia reached 141/8 in reply to UAE’s 148/3.
It was certainly a big disappointment but a month later, the ICC announced that Namibia and Zimbabwe had been selected to co-host the International Cricket Council (ICC) U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2026.
Namibia had already been selected to co-host the senior men’s Cricket World Cup with South Africa and Zimbabwe in 2027, and the latest announcement further underlined the steady progress that Cricket Namibia had made on and off the field of play.
At the ICC awards in June, Namibia made international headlines when they won one continental and two global awards.
The ICC Development Initiative of the Year award was in recognition for Cricket Namibia’s Ashburton Kwata Mini-Cricket Programme for increasing participation by more than 70% to about 67 000 children, while more than 17 000 children played regular matches.
The Richelieu Eagles won the ICC Associate Members’ Men’s Performance of the Year award for their eight-wicket victory against Ireland at the 2021 T20 World Cup, while the national women’ team, the Capricorn Eagles, won the
Africa Women’s Performance of the Year for their eight-wicket victory against Tanzania in a World T20 Africa qualifier in 2021.
Leading up to the 2022 T20 World Cup, the Namibian Eagles had a jam-packed season during which new heights were scaled.
In February, Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus and pace bowler Ruben Trumpelmann received international recognition when they won the Associate Members’ best batting and bowling awards respectively, at the 2021 international cricket awards, organised by the leading international cricketing website ESPNcricinfo.com
In April, a tour by Ireland A heralded in a busy international calendar, with Namibia winning the T20 series 2-1 and drawing the 50-over series 2-2.
Immediately after their departure Uganda arrived, with Namibia winning the T20 series 2-1 and drawing the 50-over series 1-1. In the second T20 match, Erasmus hit a scintillating century off only 47 balls, and in the third, JJ Smit produced a stunning all-round performance, scoring 71 runs and taking 6/10, which included four wickets in five balls.
In May, Namibia toured Zimbabwe and made history when they won the T20 series 3-2, to beat a Test nation in a series for the first time.
In June they beat Hong Kong 3-0 in a T20 series in Windhoek and in July beat the USA and Jersey in a Tri-Nations series at home.
In September they staged their first Global T20 tournament against the DP World Lions from South Africa and the Lahore Qalandars from Pakistan, and after losing the T20 series, they struck back with a 2-0 win against the Qalandars in their 50-over series.
In between, the Eagles were also very active in the Cricket World Cup League 2 tournament, playing five Tri-Nations series throughout the year.
In March, Namibia travelled to UAE where they lost 2-0 to the hosts and drew 1-1 to Oman; in July they travelled to Scotland where they lost 2-0 to the hosts and beat Nepal 2-0; and in September they travelled to PNG where they beat both PNG and USA 2-0.
In November, Namibia hosted two Tri-Nations series, beating PNG 2-0 and drawing 1-1 against the USA in the first; and then beating Nepal 1-0 and drawing 1-1 against Scotland in the second.
Namibia’s steady points accumulation saw them moving up to third position on the log, and with several matches in hand they are now well placed to finish amongst the top three and clinch a place at the final 2023 World Cup Qualifier.