David Adetona
29 July 2011
The Namibian national U/19 cricket team is currently in Ireland where they are competing in the hope of securing a place in next year’s Cricket World Cup in Australia at a date yet to be announced.
The qualification matches started on Thursday, this week and will end on 9 August.
“An extremely vigorous programme awaits the Namibian team in the next two weeks. They will play two warm-up games on Tuesday and Wednesday this week against Vanautu and Nepal. Thereafter the qualification process starts on Thursday with nine further 50-over matches in 12 days.
“The tournament will be a true test for the team’s fitness, commitment and character. The team before this qualifier matches was subjected to rigorous preparation, which include regular fitness tests and skill coaching by the national coach, Johan Rudolph,”said Marsia Reed, development manager of Cricket Namibia.
Team manager and assistant coach, Norbit Manyande and technical advisor, Doug Waston, assisted the national coach to prepare the team for the on-going qualifiers in Ireland.
Next year’s U/19 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup will be a one-day cricket competition for sixteen international cricket teams.
“The 10 nations with International Cricket Council full membership which consist of Australia, India, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe automatically qualify for the World Cup tournament. Six additional teams will be determined in Ireland among top associate cricket teams at U/19 level,” Reed explained.
AllAfrica – All the Time