International cricket is set to return to Namibia with the country’s governing body announcing a bilateral series against Uganda to take place next month.
Cricket Namibia launched the Castle Lite Series this morning in Windhoek, with T20Is and one day matches pencilled in from April 2 to April 9, providing both countries preparation for future international endeavours.
The Namibians are just seven months away from their T20 World Cup campaign in India, while both countries are preparing for 2022 T20 World Cup qualifying, and are deep into 2023 World Cup pathways events.
“Cricket Namibia is glad to announce the return of International cricket on home soil,” CEO Johan Muller stated.
“We want to thank Uganda for taking this opportunity to travel to Namibia. We are looking for a strong on-field challenge of high-level cricket.
With no international action for over a year, Namibian coach Pierre de Bruyn stressed the need to fill the calendar in the lead-up to major tournaments.
“Every match is crucial building up to the T20 World Cup and allows for us to look at new combinations and possibly a couple of fringe players.
“The players trained very hard during the lockdown period and this is a fantastic opportunity to show off their skills.”
On top of 2022 World Cup qualifying, Uganda meanwhile are preparing for Challenge League action in Jersey later this year. Not resting on their laurels after a perfect five-from-five start to the competition, pitting themselves against and ODI team in Namibia will be an ideal test according to coach Laurence Mahatlane.
“It is an exciting tour as Namibia is where we want to be. It will give us the opportunity to see where we are against an ODI team and what areas we still need to work on.”
Fixtures for the tour will be announced on March 25. No spectators will be permitted at the Wanderers ground over the week due to Covid-19 regulations, though accessible streams of the matches are to be finalised.
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