Namibia to host Uganda

Namibia will host Uganda in an international cricket series in Windhoek from 5 to 13 July. 

The series will consist of four T20 matches as well as two 50-over matches. The T20 matches will take place on 5, 6, 8 and 9 July starting at 14h00 while the 50-over matches will take place on 11 and 13 July, starting at 09h30. All the matches will be held at Trustco United Park in Olympia, Windhoek.

Announcing the series on Tuesday, Cricket Namibia’s CEO Johan Muller said it will help prepare them for the upcoming T20 World Cup qualifiers later this year. 

“We are proud to bring another international team to Namibia. This series allows us to attract high-quality cricket to our shores and provides an excellent platform to develop our depth. It is a crucial part of our T20 preparation for the Africa Qualifier in November,” he said.

Pierre de Bruyn, the head coach of the Namibian cricket team, expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming series and emphasised the importance of this opportunity to shape their T20 strategic planning.

“We want to evolve our T20 game and become a force in T20 cricket. We need to change our thinking, upskill ourselves, and identify the right players for executing the T20 brand we aspire to play,” he said. 

“For me its a great opportunity to start our T20 strategic planning in terms of where we want to evolve our T20 game to, especially with the World Cup qualifiers coming up in November. It gives us time to start looking at fresh combinations within our T20 team as well as the type of T20 cricket that we want to play. I think it’s important to start that process of getting certain players in the right roles, so that we are able to execute a certain brand of T20 cricket that we want to play,” he added. 

De Bruyn said he will try and introduce some new players into the 50-over teams. 

“The 50-over games provide a great opportunity to give a lot of fringe players opportunities, guys that have peformed in club cricket and some young players who have really trained hard. These matches can serve as an opportunity to look at our high performance players, while we aim to have a good balance in the team with some senior players who will guide the new players,” he said. 

Laurence Mahatlane, the head coach of the Uganda teamsaid they were excited about the tour while it provided agreat opportunity to add depth to their squad. 

“We are grateful to Cricket Namibia for keeping the relationship alive. This series has allowed us to test the depth of our squad and expose new players to world-class competition. We look forward to this opportunity to further develop as a unit,” Mahatlane said.