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NAMIBIA Richelieu Eagles captain Gerhard Erasmus received a high accolade yesterday when he won the International Cricket Council’s Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year award.
Erasmus had a great year, excelling as one of the world’s leading batters, while he also led Namibia to a sensational victory against Sri Lanka at the T20 World Cup, as well as to third place in the ongoing World Cricket League (WCL) Division tournament.
During 2022 he was the world’s leading batter in the One-Day International format, scoring 956 runs at an average of 56,23, while he also excelled in the WCL 2 series, scoring 1 166 runs at an average of 48,58.
Erasmus yesterday said he was delighted to win the award.
“I’m delighted to have been awarded the ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year award. It’s really been a great year for me. I contributed on the field to the Namibian cause and many successful stories for the team.
“I definitely have to thank my teammates as well as the coaching staff for contributing to my game,” he said.
“My most exciting moment was scoring the ODI 100 against Oman, after coming in at a tough spot and going on to win the match. I also scored more runs in the T20 series against Zimbabwe to get our first international T20 win over a full member nation.
“That was definitely a highlight, and playing in the World Cup as well. So it was great to have had a successful year personally and also for the team,” he said.
The ICC’s website, icc-cricket.com, yesterday posted an article, saying Erasmus had an excellent year, making his mark in both the 50-over and 20-over formats of the game.
“The 27-year-old came close to amassing 1 000 ODI runs during the calendar year, a feat more impressive considering just eight of his 20 innings were in home conditions,” it said, with the article continuing:
“Erasmus made a statement with a match-winning knock of 121 not out against Oman in Dubai to begin his year in ODI cricket, and the right-hander went on to make eight half-centuries.
“He raised his bat in Scotland and Papua New Guinea on the League 2 trails, before filling his boots with two Tri-Series on home soil.
“Erasmus also chimed in with a dozen wickets on the circuit, as he led Namibia to 13 wins from their 21 ODIs in the year, making a late push in the Cricket World Cup League 2 race.
“On the T20I front, Erasmus continued to evolve in the power game. He made an unbeaten century against Uganda in a home T20I series, before making multiple contributions in his team’s historic T20I series win over Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
“Erasmus’ batting contributions helped the team at their second consecutive T20 World Cup campaign, and leading his team to victory over Sri Lanka to begin the campaign will no doubt be his highlight.
“As the team recovered from 93/6 to 163/7, Erasmus was smart with his rotation of bowlers, who backed things up in a strong collective effort. The skipper took the catch of Dushmantha Chameera to complete the comeback win, a result that put the world on notice.
MEMORABLE PERFORMANCE
“In possibly the greatest individual performance seen in the Cricket World Cup League 2 cycle, Erasmus dragged his side out of trouble against Oman at the ICC Academy in Dubai.
“Erasmus walked out with his side 34/2 in the tenth over of the first innings, though the Namibians found themselves in a deeper hole, as the left-arm pace of Bilal Khan (4/42) wreaked havoc.
“Bilal and Kaleemullah extracted life from the surface to bring a number of Erasmus’ teammates undone, and at 53/7, the skipper had to carry on with the tail.
“A 50-run eighth wicket stand with Nicol Loftie-Eaton started the rebuild, and he found another partner in number 10 Bernard Scholtz, who made a gutsy 30 from 52 deliveries. Erasmus brought up his half-century in 75 balls while picking up the pieces, but upped the ante in the back-end, making his maiden ODI century before finishing with 121* off 120 balls in a total of 226.
“In the field, Erasmus ensured Namibia hit back emphatically. Six of Namibia’s seven bowlers claimed wickets to rout Oman for just 116, a 110-run victory.
“Erasmus was an obvious choice for Player of the Match.” – Additional reporting icc-cricket.com
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