Africa-Press – Namibia. CRICKET Namibia has announced a full programme of international matches for the Namibian Eagles as well as the national women’s side, the Capricorn Eagles.
With the Eagles due to compete at their second successive T20 World Cup in Australia in October, several international tours have been lined up in preparation, while they also have a full programme to look forward to in the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) League 2 50-over series.
The Namibia A side will also be in action, with the aim of giving fringe international players more opportunities and of broadening the Eagles’ player base, according to CN CEO Johan Muller.
“With the Eagles once again competing in the T20 World Cup this year, we need to strengthen our player base, and as such several tours have been arranged where Namibia A will compete, with the aim of giving fringe national players more international opportunities,” he said.
First up for the Eagles is a tour to Dubai at the beginning of March for a CWC League 2 tri-nations series against UAE and Oman.
The CWC League 2 forms part of the 2023 50-over World Cup pathway, with the top three nations progressing to the final 2023 Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament.
Oman currently lead the log on 29 points from 22 matches, but the chasing pack, including Namibia have several matches in hand and could still close the gap.
Scotland are second on 16 points from 12 matches, followed by the United States (14 points from 16 matches), UAE (11 points from 9), Namibia (10 points from 9), Nepal (8 points from 8) and Papua New Guinea (0 points from 12).
Namibia’s first home series will be from 18 March to 5 April when Namibia A will take on the Ireland Wolves in three T20 and five 50-over matches. Although it won’t count as full international matches, both teams will be quite strong according to Muller.
“Ireland will bring a squad of 15 players, with only about three or four of their first choice players not available due to other T20 commitments elsewhere, while Namibia will rotate its squad a bit to give some of its fringe players a chance,” he said.
Directly after that tour, Uganda will arrive for a series of three T20s and two 50-over matches against Namibia A, while Hong Kong will tour Namibia in June for another series of three 50-over matches against Namibia A.
Towards the end of June, Namibia will host a T20 ti-nations series against the United States and Jersey, which the latter two countries will use as preparation for their T20 World Cup qualifying tournament, while Namibia will also aim to sharpen up their T20 skills ahead of the T20 World Cup in October.
In July, Namibia will travel to Scotland for a CWC League 2 series against the hosts and Nepal, while Namibia will host two more CWC League 2 tri-nations series against the United States and PNG in September and November.
At the end of November, Namibia is scheduled to host another CWC League 2 series against Scotland and Nepal.
Besides that, Cricket Namibia is also planning to host between four and six teams at an international T20 series at the beginning of September. So far the South African franchise, the Titans, have confirmed their participation, while negotiations are also underway with an Indian state side, according to Muller.
Meanwhile, the fixtures for the 2022 T20 World Cup have been announced, with Namibia taking on Sri Lanka in Geelong on 16 October, while they play two more teams that still need to qualify at the same venue on 18 and 20 October. If they manage to qualify for the Super 12 stage they will have several more matches lined up against the world’s top cricketing nations.
The Capricorn Eagles will also have a busy year with Namibia hosting Uganda in April, while Zimbabwe could possibly also join them.
In July, Namibia will tour the Netherlands, with some matches against Germany also a possibility, and in October, Namibia will host an international tournament with the visiting teams still to be confirmed.
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