Twee Old Boys, naamlik Stephen Baard (2010) en Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (2018), het onlangs vir Namibië aan die T20 Krieket-wêreldbekertoernooi deelgeneem. Stephen vertel meer oor die ervaring en die lesse wat geleer is.
Old Boy and Namibia opening batsman Stephen Baard (2010) labelled his team’s T20 World Cup 2021 campaign as “surreal”, according to a report on the SportsCafe website, which appeared on 11 October before their last game against India, which India won.
Namibia, in their T20 World Cup participation, were slotted alongside Sri Lanka, Ireland and Netherlands in Group A of the Qualifiers Round 1. They registered impressive wins against Ireland and Netherlands to storm into the Super 12s. They defeated Scotland first up in Super 12s, before going down to full-members Afghanistan, Pakistan and New Zealand thereafter.
“It’s been absolutely massive. We’ve enjoyed every single minute of it. We want to compete, we’re here to compete, but in the same sense, we want to learn as much as possible. We want to see what these guys do on and off the field and up until this point, it’s been surreal,” were Stephen’s exact words.
The opening batsman added that it is tough to learn in a short space during a tournament like this.
“We’re used to playing in qualifiers where every game is almost a do or die type game. Here, the intensity is so much different to what we’re used to and the discipline is so much better than what we’re used to but it’s a great learning experience.
“It is tough, I’ll be honest about that. It is tough to learn in a short space of time in between games when you only have two or three days in between. To execute your plans and talk about different approaches to different players at this level, it can be quite tough, but it’s a great experience and it’s great to be part of it. Going forward, I know we’re going to the World Cup next year as well, so it’s something that we need to work on for the next 12 months.”
