Spotlight on – Zane Green

NAMIBIA’s u19 cricket captain, Zane Green is a modest and unassuming young man, but what he lacks in assertiveness, he makes up for by leading by example and earning the respect of his opponents and team mates on the field of play.

He also earned the respect of his nation and made an indelible mark in Namibian sporting history by leading his side to victory against the defending world champions South Africa and overall seventh place at the u19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh last week.

Although his batting was not that great, he excelled as a wicketkeeper, taking the most catches at the tournament, while his leadership style played a big role in the team’s success.

According to team coach Norbert Manyande, Green’s discipline and responsibility has made him a natural leader.

“The big thing is he leads by example. He is quite disciplined and focussed on what needs to be done on the field. He’s got a calm head on and off the field and he helps the guys around him not to panic and to stay focussed.

“When players messed up, dropped catches or so, he never shouted, he was always reserved and quiet. But he is the senior player in the team – he has played more u19 and senior matches for Namibia than anyone else and the guys respect him for that,” he added.

The 19-year-old Green has certainly earned respect through his performances and is now leading an exciting, new generation of cricketers to take Namibian cricket forward.

Born and bred in Windhoek, Green’s earliest memories are of playing backyard cricket with his cousins Ashley van Rooi and Mark Olivier, who also represented Namibia u19 at the World Cup. Ashley played at the 2008 World Cup in Malaysia, while Mark, who later tragically died in a motor car accident outside Swakopmund, played at the 2006 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

“They inspired me a lot and I also wanted to be like them and play at the u19 World Cup,” Zane said.

He went to Pionierspark Primary School, where some of his early team mates included Niko Davin and Mushi Honga, who were both members of Namibia’s u19 team in Bangladesh.

Zane excelled as a batsman, opening the batting for Pionierspark and was selected for the Namibian u11 team for the first time in 2007.

He became a regular member of Namibia’s youth teams, from u11 up to u19 level, and continued to excel at Windhoek High School. Here he already made the u19 first team in Grade 10 and helped his side win the Momentum Schools Trophy two years in a row.

In 2012, he was player of the tournament at a South African junior competition, and two years later he was among the top five batsmen at the u19 Khaya Majola Coke Week in South Africa.

In 2014 he represented Namibia at his first u19 World Cup in Dubai, where he scored a 50 in their victory against Canada, and last year he was the player of the tournament at the u19 African World Cup qualifying tournament, where he scored 155 not out against Botswana.

Zane was called up to the national senior side for the first time in 2013 at the age of 16 and although he initially struggled, he started to make his mark last year.

In December he scored 65 and 48 against Eastern Province, but it was his innings of 181 for Namibia u19 against Namibia A a month later that set the tongues wagging.

It was a brilliant performance, coming off 168 balls and including 19 fours and six sixes, which helped Namibia u19 to a landslide 196-run victory. Namibian batting great Gerrie Snyman, who was playing for Namibia A that day, later said it was one of the best innings’ he had seen.

After Namibia’s success in Bangladesh last week, Zane and his team mates have now raised the bar of expectation, but he said a new-found self belief has raised their confidence.

“The biggest thing we learnt is to believe in ourselves and each other.

If you just believe in yourself and your team mates then you can do anything – you can even defeat the defending champions at the World Cup,” he said.

One on One with Zane Green

When and where were you born?

Windhoek, 11 October 1996.

What schools did you attend?

Pionierspark Primary and WHS.

This year I started doing a degree in sport psychology at the University of Johannesburg. I’m excited and it’s a new challenge that I am looking forward to.

My favourite cricketer was Adam Gilchrist of Australia. He inspired me to become a wicketkeeper-batsman and he was also left-handed, like me. My cousins Mark and Ashley also inspired me.

What role did your parents play?

My father always tried to motivate me and if I had a bad day, he would encourage me and say it happened to the best players; like AB de Villiers who got three ducks in a row against England – he’d tell me stuff like that to make me feel better. I always go to the gym with my father and the support I got from him and my mother was amazing.