At a ceremony held on Wednesday night at the WHS Old Boys Cricket Club in Windhoek, the Namibia U19 Cricket World Cup team received their caps.
This was the last of the preparations that will take place in Namibia.
Guest speakers at the function included John Ekongo from MTC, former Springboks and IRB Ruby World Cup gold medallist Balie Swart, and Sarel Burger, the current Namibian cricket captain.
Ekongo wished the team well in their endeavours and stated that he knew that the team would do the country proud. He placed emphasis on the need for the team to be competitive and come back with a few good wins against the full member countries.
This message was reinforced by Balie Swart, who urged the team to ensure that they never give up and to make sure that they earn the respect of the opposition.
Namibia’s U19 cricket captain Stephan Baard said,
“We have prepared really well for this tournament. We have put in a lot more work and we are extremely fit. We have gone through two qualification events and as a team we are really prepared for the challenges that await us in Australia.”
When asked about the draw, he had this to say, “I am relishing the prospect of testing myself against some of the best U19 cricketers in the world. We will take it one game at a time starting with the two warm ups against West Indies and Zimbabwe.”
The squad departs this Saturday morning for the Tukkies HPC in Pretoria. They will face a Tukkies academy side in two 50-over encounters before they leave for Brisbane on the 1st of August.