Recently, there has been more exciting news coming out of Namibia. The country has arguably been one of the most active countries during the ongoing pandemic with a number of introductions and changes being introduced. Now, with lockdown measures being eased in the country competitive action has been able to restart in the country with a six aside competition taking place. Alongside this, there have been exciting announcements regarding the media and a challenge aiming to promote tourism in the country.
Competitive action returns
Between the 18th and the 20th of September, a six-a-side tournament was hosted by the CCD Tigers, which saw eight men’s teams compete. Four clubs took part in the tournament, meaning that two teams from each club participated. The competing clubs were the CCD Tigers, WHS Old Boys, Trustco United and Zebra’s cricket club with a number of Namibia’s international players taking part. The tournament format dictated that each team’s innings lasted five overs, with each outfield player having to bowl an over.
There was plenty to enjoy about the tournament but arguably it was more important to see cricket being able to restart in the country after such an extended break. The tournaments conclusion saw CCD Tigers 1st team come up against WHS Old Boys 1st team, after Trustco United 1st secured third.
The game had a plethora of international talent taking part and promised to be a good insight into Namibian domestic cricket, all be it in an unusual format. The match started with the Old Boys winning the toss and electing to bat first, with national team players Zane Green and Craig Williams opening the batting. Green got the scoring underway and top scored as he scored 31 from 10 balls, with his innings ending abruptly as he was run out. Williams (10), Gerhard Erasmus (11*) and Ruben Trumpelmann (19*) all scored double figures as the Old Boys finished on 72-2 from their allocated 5 overs.
During the CCD Tiger’s chase, it was the Old Boys who gained the early momentum as Mauritius Ngupita claimed the wicket of Stephen Baard. A recovery was then built between Nicol Loftie-Eaton (22) and Joshua Julies (15), but the the Old Boys sucessfully defended their total with the Tigers finishing on 58-2.
Green’s final innings saw him claim the award for the tournament’s top run scorer as he finished with an aggregate of 114 runs off 48 balls whilst Bard came close finishing on 108 off 40 balls. Mohammed Saleem, who played for the Zebra 1Xi, was the tournaments top wicket taker with a tally of five. Zacheo van Vuuren of Old Boys and Jason Bolton of Tigers 2Xi both finished on three wickets and were the closest to Saleem’s tally. Trumpelmann won the award for all-rounder of the tournament after finishing with 96 runs off 30 balls and took two wickets, with Loftie-Eaton also being in the running for the award finishing with 95 runs off 42 balls and took two wickets. There were plenty of exciting performances on show and whilst the Old Boys 1Xi won the main trophy, there was also silverware for the Trustco United as their 1Xi won the Plate trophy with the Old Boys 2Xi winning the Bowl final.
When talking about the tournament, Old Boys and national captain Gerhard Erasmus praised CCD for hosting the tournament speaking to The Namibian: ‘It was great to see CCD creating an opportunity for cricketers in Namibia to play the game. At WHS Old Boys, development is at the forefront and therefore it was great to have two teams entering, with our youngsters getting the opportunity to play alongside the seniors … It was well organised and good quality cricket, so it was very rewarding to walk away as the Cup and Bowl winners, as well as winning some nice prizes. A few Old Boys players also won some individual prizes so all in all, it was a successful weekend of cricket’.
With the Namibian men’s team having a busy schedule during 2021 due to the T20 world cup and a number of rearranged figures, there is a fantastic opportunity for players to put their name forward for selection. Whilst the CCD Sixes tournament may not have been what traditionalists are used too, it is no less important for the players looking to find their form.
Cricket Namibia form alliance with Future Media
During a previous conversation about transformation the Vice-president of Cricket Namibia, Polly Negongo, stated the importance of media outlets. Negongo emphasised the role that media outlets have to play in aiding the sport to continue to develop; with it being stated that media outlets having a big role in allowing Namibian people to become exposed to cricket and ultimately sparking an interest.
As a move to bring Cricket Namibia closer to the media, Johan Muller recently announced that Future Media has become the Association’s media partner. Muller, who is Cricket Namibia’s CEO said:
‘Cricket has become a vehicle to drive brand exposure for corporate companies. The association of commercial partners with Cricket Namibia programs will provide marketing and exposure for all entities involved. The purpose of the partnership with future Media is to provide the necessary platform to create awareness and provide exposure to all cricket programs … Cricket Namibia has a very clear strategy to drive cricket to the northern regions and smaller communities of Namibia. Future Media provide the perfect partner to drive the awareness of this strategy. Their four different radio stations capture the audience of the wider geographic regions and almost the entire Namibia. Future media has aligned themselves to serve a very diverse audience in the country and we are privilege to partner with them’.
With Gary Stroebel, the CEO of Future Media, reflected that ‘Cricket has already achieved so much and behind the scenes is a management team that understands their mission and provides a sports platform for variety of entities to get involved. Between our four brands, we are reaching between 75% – 80% of all economically active Namibians across different scopes of the world, and the idea is to inspire the Namibian youth … Thank you for getting us involved with the game of cricket. Cricket is a sport that accommodates everyone. The younger generation from different towns can now dream of playing at big stadiums because of what Namibian cricket is doing … Our job at Future Media is to make sure that the message of CN reaches out to the Namibian population’.
Eagles take to running – #EaglesChallenge
The Namibian male and female national teams have challenged each other to a competition with a deeper meaning. The competition that has become known on social media as the #EaglesChallenge is a tourism awareness campaign. Around the world, tourism has been one of the worst affected industries due to the on-going pandemic. The first aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the issues faced by the tourism industry but secondly to open an avenue for financial support to the specific and identified organisation of every team’s choice.
The national teams have challenged other cricket teams worldwide, Namibian sporting codes and entities to a 5km run, with times being recorded and submitted. The challenge is open to everybody with times being able to be submitted via a screenshot of a running app (e.g. Strava) on the Cricket Namibia website. The #EaglesChallenge race consists of various participation groups and is open to all entities including national teams, corporates, school teams and club teams.
If any donations are entered through this challenge, Cricket Namibia urges that it must be donated directly into the account of the supported tourism entity.
To participate in the #EaglesChallenge visit https://www.cricketnamibia.com/eagleschallenge/
One for the road
And finally – any Namibia update would not be complete without another public service announcement ad from the men’s team, this time around responsible drinking:
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