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Eyes
On Africa : A Special Feature by Hemant Sharma
from Lusaka, Zambia |
NAMIBIA
 The
first ever on-record Cricket match played in
"S-W Africa" was at the OKANJANDE concentration
camp, just after the surrender of German troops
to the South African Troops. Other On-record
games are believed to date as far back as
1909.
However organized Cricket was played in the
1930s
when the "South-West
Africa Cricket Union"
was formed. And in 1962 S-W Africa (Namibia) was
allowed to participate within the South African
Country districts tournament for the first time
ever. School coaching began in
1973
and the S-W African Schools Cricket Union was
born under the leadership of Louis Berger.
After
achieving Independence in 1990, Namibia Cricket
Board was successful in attaining ICC Associate
Membership in 1992.
Youth teams from under-13,15,17 & 19 have
been participating in the UCBSA country
districts tournaments successfully. The Namibia
U-15 is the All Africa
Champion for 2 consecutive years now and
U-19 won it this year as well. The U-19 Namibia
team has participated in three U-19 ICC World
Cups and won against Test Playing nation of Sri
Lanka in New Zealand. The Senior Namibia Team
was the 4th representative of Africa in the 2003
Cricket World Cup alongside Hosts South Africa,
Zimbabwe & Kenya. Namibia also got the honours
of being hosts to a 6-Nations ICC Tournament in
Capital Windhoek including International teams
from Canada, Holland, Kenya, Namibia, Sri Lanka
and Zimbabwe. Namibia truly represents the
NEW FACE OF AFRICAN
CRICKET now and the improvement and
development of their game was clearly visible in
their recent UNBEATEN
performance in the World Cup Qualifiers in
Zambia which they won.
ICC Status :
Associate Member
Elected to ICC: 1992
No. of players : 1900
Number of clubs : Unknown
World Cup : 2003
ICC Trophy Best : 1994, 1997 (plate
winners), 2001 (runners-up)
Address of governing body : Namibia Cricket
Board,
PO Box 457, Windhoek 9000
ICC WC qualifying trophy latest
7th August,2004.Namibia finishes
Unbeaten, Uganda come second.
Uganda 125 all out
Namibia 126/3
What was tipped as the clash of the two best
sides in the week long event could not deliver
the much expected competitiveness. Namibia who
was the favorite team from the onset of this
tournament didn't allow the highly impressive
Uganda team any chance to displace them from
their reign. Namibia ended the Ugandan challenge
when the central Africans were bundled for just
125. The anticipation and expectations of the
people to witness a close match between the two
best teams of the tournament so far didn't last
long. And as a habit of this ruthless Namibian
side, this game too ended before the full 100
overs were bowled in the day. Namibia gathering
full 25 points from their 5 games ended with
rank 1. Although the result of this game would
have had no impact on the qualifications, but
the Uganda team was hoping to overcome the
mighty south-western Africans and win more than
just respect. Playing the game in the best of
spirits, these two teams have earned their right
now to represent Africa in the 2005 Ireland Mini
World Cup.
6th August,2004. Namibian dominance
continues, Botswana bows down.
Namibia 252/3
Botswana 64 all out(34 ovr)
Jan Berry Berger finished off what he
couldn't do in the last game. He missed the
honour of being the first centurion of the
tournament on Wednesday against Zambia, but
today he was determined to repeat his efforts
and it paid off against a low-in-confidence
Botswana. He scored 102 before being Run Out.
The story of the match continues to be similar
like the previous Namibian games, Namibia put on
a total of 252 for 3 wickets at the Lotus club
and they crumbled the opposition batting line up
before they could realize what hit them. Agile
and fearless bowling and fielding did not let
the Botswana team to have any remote chances of
creating an upset. The habit of early finishes
continued as Botswana was sent home packing in
the 34th over with the team score of 64 only.
Namibia plays Uganda tomorrow on the last day of
the tournament. Both Namibia and Uganda have
remained undefeated so far in the event and
tomorrow's game will prove which team out of
them will have the honours to be called the best
African associate cricket team.
4th August,2004. Zambia crashes as
Namibia cruise on.
Namibia 237/5
Zambia 101 all out(32 ovr)
The winning spree of the enthusiastic home
team came to a screeching halt as the Namibian
team thrashed Zambia by the biggest margin seen
in the tournament so far. Led by an almost
flawless 97 by Jan Berry Berger, Namibians put
on a total of 237 for 5 wickets at the LSCC
grounds. Poor catching and fielding display by
the Zambians taught more than a few lessons to
the home team and administrators that a World
Cup appearance is a distant dream if things
don't improve in the future. Tournament favorite
Namibia outclassed and outplayed Zambia and the
experience they gained from participating in the
2003 World Cup clearly outweighs them to every
other team in the tournament. Batting, which is
considered Zambia's main strength failed to make
any impression as six of their batsmen went
without troubling the scorers. A late mini
resistance by the tail enabled the hosts to
cross the 100 run mark and salvaging some
statistical pride. Apart from Uganda, the
Namibians considered the home team to be a
challenge, but this illusion quickly disappeared
as suggested by the victory margin of 136 runs
highest in the tournament.
3rd August,2004. Namibia beat
Tanzania in a jiffy.
Tanzania 96 all out
Namibia 100/3(12 ovr)
Whoever is willing to put their money on
Namibia for this tournament is playing it safe.
With many players with the experience of the
2003 world cup, this Namibian team is playing
like hungry hunters. Yesterday they sent Nigeria
home early, today the Tanzanians tasted some
quick Namibian hammering on the Metropolitan
club ground. Playing first, Tanzania could
muster only 97 against the impressive south
westerners. The Namibians showed that they don't
like to delay matters specially when it comes to
winning. The required target was achieved in 12
overs with 7 wickets still safe in the kitty.
After finishing their job, the Namibians chose
to observe the Zambia-Nigeria game hoping to
pick some clues for their next game against the
hosts.
2nd August,2004. Namibian eagles
pounce Nigerians.
Nigeria 30 all out
Namibia 30/0
Before the sun could warm up Lusaka enough on
the National Farmers day, a sight of plight was
seen at the LSCC club when the tournament
favorites Namibia were given a chance to prey
upon the Nigerian cricket team. By getting
bundled out even without getting the team total
above 30, It was Game, set and match Namibia
within the first few hours of the day. Those who
were lazy in getting up in the morning can now
only hear what others have to say about the
brilliant Namibian bowling and the paltry
batting display of the Nigerian team. After
grabbing a thumping victory, the Namibians chose
to visit the Metro club and spent their day
watching the entertaining Zambia-Botswana game
and getting a good idea of the abilities and
weaknesses of these teams helpful for the next
upcoming matches. Oh did i forget to mention...
that Namibia did score the necessary 30 odd runs
to complete the win.
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