Eagles out to restore pride 

The Namibian Richelieu Eagles will be out to salvage lost pride and some vital points when they take on the UAE in their final Cricket World Cup League 2 (CWCL2) Tri-Nations match at the United field today. 

The series, which also involves the USA, has not gone according to plan, as the Eagles have lost all three their matches to date and after initial hopes of catching the leaders in the series, they are now fighting for survival at the wrong end of the log. 

The USA have been the big winners in the Namibian series, winning all four their matches to move up to second position on the log on 12 points, but Namibia have now dropped down to fifth position on eight points, while they have played several more matches than their rivals. 

Canada, meanwhile, have gone to the top of the log on 14 points, after winning all three their matches in their current Tri-Nations Series against Oman and Nepal in Ontario. They can stretch their lead even further if they win their final match against Oman today. 

The Netherlands are third on 12 and Scotland fourth on nine points, while Oman (6), Nepal (3) and UAE (2) make up the rear.

There is still a long way to go in the series which will only be completed in December 2026, but national coach Pierre de Bruyn on Tuesday admitted that things had not gone according to plan.

“Obviously, it’s not the results that we wanted and it’s not the results we planned for, and that makes Thursday’s match even bigger, to try and walk away on a high note in the series, and pick up some vital points in the Cricket World Cup League 2 tournament,” he said. 

“But I also believe that it has put a lot of things into perspective, regarding where Associate Cricket is moving towards, and the benchmark from the previous cycle is just not good enough anymore. We are getting a very good indication, especially against top sides like USA, Scotland and UAE as well, that you’ve got to evolve quickly, but it’s not like we embarrassed ourselves, they were just better on the day” he added. 

The top four teams in the tournament will progress to a final qualifier for the 2027 Cricket World Cup, but according to De Bruyn it is of greater importance to retain their status in the CWCL2 tournament. 

“It’s going to be a tough journey going forward, not just for Namibia, but for all the Associate teams, to qualify for the 50-over World Cup is going to be very tough, but I think our focus has got to be to retain ODI (One Day International) status, to make sure that we finish high enough on the log to secure ODI status in 2026, and to have another cycle of three years in the CWCL2 tournament,” he said. 

“That’s the main focus right now – there’s going to be 12 ODIs in 2026 and I’m very optimistic and positive that a lot of the young guys that I’m giving chances now will have built up experience and will come through when it really matters at the back end of this cycle,” he added. 

Left arm spinner PD Blignaut who is only 18 and 20-year-old all-rounder Dylan Leicher made promising ODI debuts against the USA on Sunday, with both picking up a wicket while Leicher scored 32 runs. 

Regarding today’s match against the UAE, De Bruyn said he was confident that they can turn their fortunes around. 

“The UAE have a lot of quality in their side, but we should have won the first game that we played against them, it was a very small margin loss for us, but that gives us hope that we can beat them, and Thursday’s match is going to be huge for us,” he said.

“We’ve prepared well  and our players are in form, especially Michael van Lingen and Nicole Loftie-Eaton are batting beautifully, and I know that the players will give 100 percent,” he added.