Wicketkeeper-batter Lohan Louwrens, batter Divan la Cock, and pacer Tangeni Lungameni are the three new names in Namibia’s 16-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia from October 16 to November 13.
The squad will be led by skipper Gerhard Erasmus and sees a rich blend of youth as well as experience. Many of the impressive performers from the 2021 Men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE have been retained as Namibia hopes to replicate their superlative performances from last year in Australia.
In their maiden outing in the Men’s T20 World Cup last year, Namibia impressed one and all with their performances, coming out of a tough draw in Round 1 that included Sri Lanka, Netherlands, and Ireland to qualify for the Super 12 stage of the tournament. Though they lost to Sri Lanka, Namibia won against the Netherlands and Ireland to enter the Super 12 stage, where they were placed alongside Scotland (won by four wickets), New Zealand, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan.
Skipper Erasmus will bank on the likes of JJ Smit, Stephen Baard, Jan Frylinck, Nicol Loftie Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, and globe-trotting David Wiese, who were members of the squad from the campaign in 2021, to put better performances in the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup.
In Australia, Namibia has been placed alongside Asia Cup 2022 champions Sri Lanka, Netherlands, and the UAE in Group A of the Round 1 stage of the tournament. They will open their campaign against Sri Lanka on October 16 at Kardinia Park in Geelong. They will face the Netherlands on October 18 and the UAE on October 20 at the same venue.
Before kickstarting their journey in Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Namibia will play warm-up matches against Ireland on October 11 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and against Zimbabwe at the same venue on October 13.
Pierre de Bruyn remains the head coach while former South Africa all-rounder Albie Morkel continues to be the assistant coach. His brother, former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel, will be the side’s bowling consultant.
Namibia squad: Gerhard Erasmus (captain), JJ Smit, 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, Helao Ya France.
