The Namibian cricket season gets underway on 15 September when the Richelieu Franchise T20 competition will be held at the United Sports Ground.
Four teams will be in action, namely the Windhoek Jets, Etosha Wildcats, Fish River Eagles and the Namib Desert Lions, while the tournament will run for 10 days with the final scheduled for 24 September.
The teams include Namibia’s top international cricketers and upcoming junior national players, as well as several players from Pakistan and Jersey and South Africa.
Six Pakistani players from the Lahore Qalandars that toured Namibia last year will be in action, as well as two national Jersey players and four players from Cricket South Africa’s development structures.
On paper, the Windhoek Jets seem to have the strongest line-up, featuring five regular Namibian national players over the past year.
Niko Davin and Divan La Cock will open the batting, while the rest of their top-order includes established national players like Jan Frylinck, Zane Green and Shaun Fouche. Fringe national players JC Balt and Joshua Julius also strengthen the top-order batting line-up.
Some of the upcoming juniors include pace bowler Junior Kariata, who was Namibia’s top wicket taker at the Africa u19 World Cup Qualifier in Tanzania last month, and Welwitschias Cricket Club seam bowler Simon Shikongo.
The Jets also include Welwitschias batter Erich von Mollendorf and Lahore Qalandars wicketkeeper-batter Faridoun Jaffery.
The Fish River Eagles feature experienced national opening batter Stephan Baard, and Malan Kruger, who has also represented Namibia, while the middle-order includes national players Michau du Preez, Helao Ya France and Ruben Trumpelmann.
Some of the upcoming juniors include national u19 players, wicketkeeper-batter JW Visagie and all-rounder Zacheo van Vuuren; Welwitschia all-rounder Addo Ita and WHS Old Boys all-rounder Henry van Wyk, while all-rounders Nyasha Nyashadzaishe from Wanderers and Ahsen Bhatti from the Qalandars are also included.
The Namib Desert Lions include four regular national players in opening batter Lohan Louwrens, all-rounder Karl Birkenstock and national captain Gerhard Erasmus, who was also Namibia’s cricketer of the year, and pace bowler Tangeni Lungameni.
They have several exciting youngsters including national u19 captain Alex Volschenk, Hansie de Villiers, PD Blignaut and Woutie Niehaus, who all represented Namibia at the Africa u19 World Cup Qualifier in Tanzania, while upcoming bowlers Handre Klazinga and Dylan Leicher, who have both represented the national team on occasion, are also included.
Also making the squad are Salman Fayyaz and Naeem Khan from the Qalandars, and Julius Sumerauer from Jersey.
The Etosha Wild Cats include national top-order batters Michael van Lingen, JP Kotze and Nicol Loftie-Eaton; national all-rounder JJ Smit; and national bowlers Ben Shikongo and Bernard Scholtz.
Some of the upcoming juniors include Tangi Nuuyoma, who has already represented the senior national team, and top-order batters Ryan Moffett and Hanro Badenhorst, who both represented Namibia at the Africa u19 World Cup Qualifier in Tanzania.
Taha Mehmood and Usman Khalib from the Qalandars are also included, as well as George Richardson from Jersey.
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