Namibia selects strong squad for FNB T20 Trinations Series 

Namibia’s cricket selectors have named a strong side to take on South Africa and Zimbabwe in the FNB T20 Tri-Nations series which starts this weekend.

Gerhard Erasmus will captain an experienced side that has depth and quality in all departments of the game.

Erasmus, himself, has developed into one of the world’s top all-rounders with his solid batting at number three and his penetrating off spin bowling.

In T20 Internationals he is currently ranked as the 14th best all rounder in the world, while he has scored more than 2 000 runs at an average of 32.03 and a highest score of 100 not out.

Top order batter Jan Frylinck has been in a rich vein of form over the past year, having broken some records in the process. In September last year he shattered the national T20 record when he smashed an incredible 134 runs against Nigeria, while he also hit Namibia’s fastest half century ever, with his 50 against Zimbabwe coming off only 13 balls.

Recently he was in fine form in the World Cup League 2 One Day International (ODI) tournament in The Netherlands where he was the top scorer of the series, scoring 246 runs at an average of 82.00.

At the top of the order, the reliable Malan Kruger and Louren Steenkamp, who plays professionally in Ireland, will also add experience and batting options while the return of exciting batter Michael van Lingen has added more quality up front.

Van Lingen earlier this year came out of early retirement and immediately showed what Namibia was missing some great performances in an international 50-over series against Hong Kong and Nigeria. In his first match against Hong Kong he scored 127 off 113 balls, including 18 fours and one six, while in his second match against the same opponents he scored 66 of 45 balls.

The explosive all-rounders JJ Smit, Nicol Loftie-Eaton and Ruben Trumpelmann add more quality and depth in the middle order.

Smit, known for his devastating batting, is also a match winner with the ball and is currently ranked 28th in the world in T20 international cricket.

On Namibia’s recent tour to The Netherlands he impressed with the ball, taking career best ODI figures of six wickets for 27 runs against Nepal to steer Namibia to a comfortable eight wicket victory.

The mercurial Loftie-Eaton is also a match winner with both bat and ball. Two years ago he smashed the quickest T20 century in history off only 33 balls, although that record has since been overtaken, while last year he became only the fourth bowler in T20 internationals to take four wickets off four successive balls.

Trumpelmann, meanwhile, will lead the bowling attack with his raw pace and swing bowling, while he is also a destructive batter with a T20 best of 46 runs and an ODI best of 55.

Other fast bowling options include the youthful Max Heingo and Jack Brassell, while the world class Bernard Scholtz will lead Namibia’s spin bowling attack.

Scholtz is currently ranked seventh in the world in ODI bowling, while he is probably the most economical bowler in the world in ODI cricket at the moment with an economy rate of just 3.34 runs per over.

The reliable batter and wicket keeper Zane Green adds depth in the batting department, while there are also some exciting and talented newcomers like Junior Taanyanda, Alex Volschenk, JC Balt and Waldo Smith in the squad.

The Namibian squad is as follows:

Gerhard Erasmus (captain), Jan Frylinck, Louren Steenkamp, Malan Kruger, Michael van Lingen, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, JJ Smit, Zane Green, Ruben Trumpelmann, Alex Volschenk, Junior Taanyanda, Bernard Scholtz, Jack Brassell, Max Heingo, JC Balt, Waldo Smith.

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