Young Eagles learning to fly 

The Namibian Eagles take on the USA in their final Tri-Nations T20 international tomorrow still in search of a win in the series.

A 40-run defeat to the UAE on 29 September, was followed by a 13-run defeat to the USA two days later and a six-wicket defeat in their second encounter against the UAE on Wednesday. 

That followed a meagre run in their 50-over Tri-Nations series when they only managed one win out of four matches against the same opponents, but national coach Pierre de Bruyn said they are busy rebuilding a new squad and it will take time. 

“From a results point of view, it’s obviously not ideal and quite disappointing. However, we’re in a transition phase where we’re rebuilding a squad and there’s a lot of young players getting chances. We are missing four or five players that played in the World Cup recently, so we’ve got to try and be two steps ahead in giving opportunities to certain players and also try different combinations to build for the T20 World Cup qualifier in Uganda in June next year,” he said.

“We’re fully aware that it’s going to take a bit of time to rebuild a new squad, and identify each player in certain roles, but we won’t stop competing in difficult times, because it will stand us in good stead in eight to 12 months’ time,” he added. 

“These younger players, they need that exposure right now. Sometimes it comes off, but sometimes it takes longer for them to find their feet, so we’ve got to accept that and realise that we are in a rebuilding phase,” he said.

Experienced all-rounder David Wiese retired after the T20 World Cup in June, while star pace bowler Ruben Trumpelmann is out for six months due to knee surgery. 

Besides that, explosive opening batter Niko Davin was unavailable due to work commitments, while Michael van Lingen, who is still only 26 years old, has also retired due to work commitments according to De Bruyn.

“Nico Davin is a full-time worker, so his availability is a challenge when it comes to playing full tournaments. Michael van Lingen retired after the ODI series, so that’s a big loss for us. He’s going into a full-time work environment now,” he said.

Especially Van Lingen’s retirement is a big loss as he was Namibia’s star batter in the 50-over tri-nations series, scoring 246 runs at an average of 61,50 and a top score of 107, and his absence was felt in the T20 series.

Jan Frylinck was drafted into the opening role but except for a brisk 20 in the first match against the UAE, he didnt make much of an impact, while Namibia regularly lost early wickets which put pressure on the middle order. 

In their second defeat to the UAE on Wednesday, in fact, Namibia had a disastrous start, losing three wickets for only two runs, and they couldn’t recover as only Zane Green (52 not out) and JJ Smit (28) offered much resistance in a meagre total of 110. 

Several youngsters were drafted into the team like Dylan Leicher (20), Jack Brassell (19), Jan Balt (20) and Jan Izak de Villiers (23), with the latter making his T20 international debut in the first match against the UAE, but they mostly made inauspicious starts and in the end Namibia’s experienced core of players carried most of the burden. 

Captain Gerhard Erasmus is Namibia’s top batter in the series so far with 114 runs at an average of 38,00 and a top score of 77, while JJ Smit has scored 91 runs at an average of 30,33, and Nicol Loftie-Eaton 59 runs at an average of 29,50. 

Erasmus has also starred with the ball, and is Namibia’s top wicket taker along with fellow spinner Bernard Scholtz and Brassell, who have all taken three wickets to date. 

Tomorrow they take on the USA for the second time, and after running them close in a 13-run defeat the first time around, they certainly have the potential to pull off a win.