Namibia’s Snyman desperate for success

NAMIBIAN cricketer Gerrie Snyman is one of those infuriating sportsmen who undersells his own talent.

Worse still, he has converted himself from an opening bowler who occasionally bats to an all-rounder who hits the ball thunderously hard, and yet still bowls in the mid-eighties with a braced front leg.
According to Cricinfo, Snyman alone has not been able to lift Namibia’s one-day form, however, and although they are still within yelling distance of reaching the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup in 2011, the team has been a disappointment so far.
That is until Namibia outplayed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday.
It is the sort of win that Snyman, relaxing in his hotel with a coffee and a cigarette, had expected of his team more consistently in the first round.
‘We have to play out of our skins to qualify. If we play like we did on Saturday, we can reach the top four. And we really should have played like that in the first round,’ he noted.
They did not, and it was a surprise.
Granted, Namibia are not the world’s most renowned cricketing nation, but they have gradually begun to put in place key development programmes, all without the help of the government.
As befits the nation, their cricketers are tough, outdoor people, rugged and ruthless.
Their four-day form in last year’s Intercontinental Cup initially raised eyebrows, but that was soon replaced by an acceptance that their standards had rapidly improved in the past two years.
They fell to Ireland in the final, though there was no shame in that.
Said Snyman: ‘I reckon we are a better one-day side than in four-day cricket. People see us differently, thinking we are a better four-day side. We do not know why.’
He added that the whole Namibia is a strong set-up of hard-hitting batsman.
‘But in four-day cricket, we got so used to playing long innings, long patient knocks, that we been behind the rate the whole time (in this tournament) in ICC 2011 qualifiers,’ he noted.
In one-day cricket, you have 50 overs, you have to go after the bowlers, and make use of the first 15.
‘We are fit and our preparation was perfect. We played a lot before we came here, and were in good nick. I do not know if it (poor form) was the pressure or not. Half of the team has been in this situation before, so we should be able to take it,’ stated Snyman.
Namibia’s developmental story is depressingly familiar. No money. Not a dime is offered by the government, and only the occasional sponsor is interested in opening their wallets, which goes some way to explaining why their training regime is so rigidly enforced: results are craved desperately.
The more they win, the greater chance they have of an exponential increase in funding by the ICC. Money alone is not enough, though. Just look at Bermuda’s last calamitous four years in spite of US$11 million in funding.
Importantly, Namibia have looked to their neighbour South Africa for help.
‘We play in their three-day tournament, then have a one-dayer directly after. Our preparation has been great,’ said Snyman.
‘Some of the boys, though, had to work and could not be at all the games, which made it a little bit difficult. I am lucky to be semi-pro. This is all I do. Playing in South Africa is really helping, and we are using a lot of youngsters to play in that set-up so that they can see what it is all about, so they are not thrown into the deep end,’ he noted.
‘The professionalism is sort of there not exactly where it should be but nearly, and we practice in the morning, have training and gym sessions and so on, then the national training sessions begin at 17h30 and goes to 20h00,’ noted Snyman.
Other guys come from work and have to practice. So it is a hard set-up.
‘There is some money from sponsors and so on, but if we get into the top six or four of this tournament it will all change,’ he said.
Everything will change. Development programmes, you name it. At the moment, if you take Scotland and Ireland they have the money to get in professionals who have played county cricket.
‘That just takes their set-up and quality up a notch,’ he noted.
Snyman’s own quality has ratcheted up several notches in the last six years.
In 2003, his batting was little more than an after-thought, yet the name Snyman is now synonymous with power-hitting in Associate cricket.
‘I have had a few trial games for Worcestershire and Warwickshire and would definitely love to play county cricket. Namibia has always stood in the way. I had have to give up Namibia if I want to go in that direction, which I do not want to do yet,’ he said.
‘I have been a quick bowler all my life who became a batsman through really hard work, practicing on my game plans. I have worked so hard on it,’ said Snyman.
‘If you want to make the top sides, you cannot just go in as a bowler. I think it was in 2004 or 2005 when Andy Waller (the former Zimbabwean batsman) who coached Namibia sat me down. If you want to become a batsman, he said, this is what you should do. He just made it clear that you play your game. If it is in your slot, hit it. He took my natural ability to hit the ball and made me into a better batsman rather than a slogger,’ he noted.
Snyman was the third-leading run-scorer in last year’s Intercontinental Cup, top-scoring with a brutal 230. His game now rounded, Snyman’s aspirations are also heading up.
‘I want to become a proper professional cricketer. If we qualify, it will be the biggest step up ever. Funding will increase big-time from the ICC, massively,’ he stressed.
Meanwhile, Namibia was due to play yesterday in their second last match before taking on Afghanistan tomorrow in the Super Eights of the ICC 2011 qualifiers.
– Nampa. Additional information by Cricinfo