CRICKET Namibia on Tuesday announced the final 14-man squad that will represent Namibia at the T20 World Cup qualifiers in Dubai next month.
The four players who were dropped from the initial 18-man squad are opening batsman Picky Ya France, all rounders Gert Dippenaar and Bredell Wessels and bowler Christopher Coombe. All four players are now non-travelling reserves.The 14-man squad will be captained by all-rounder Sarel Burger and includes opening batsmen Ewald Steenkamp and LP van der Westhuizen, while vice captain Raymond van Schoor can also open the batting if need be.The middle-order batsmen include Craig Williams, Gerrie Snyman, Christi Viljoen, Gerhard Erasmus, Nicolaas Scholtz and Ian Opperman, while the bowlers and lower-order batsmen are Louis Klazinga, Bernard Scholtz, Hendrik Geldenhuys and Zhivago Groenewald.The Namibian team will leave for Dubai on March 6 and will play two friendly matches against the United States and Afghanistan before the tournament starts on March 13.Namibia will play in Group B along with favourites Ireland, Scotland, Kenya, Uganda, Oman, Italy and the United States.Group A consists of Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Canada, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Denmark and Nepal.The top three teams in each group will qualify for the knockout stages with only the top two teams at the end of the tournament qualifying for the T20 World Cup which takes place later in Sri Lanka.Namibia is in the toughest group along with tournament favourites Ireland and Scotland, but they are confident of doing well, according to Cricket Namibia CEO Graham McMillan.’Our immediate aim is to finish amongst the top three. If we can reach the knockout stages, anything can happen, especially in the T20 format of the game,’ he said. -namibiasport.com.na
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