Howzat! – Grow the beautiful game of cricket

Karnataka, the provincial cricket team from the state of Karnataka in the southwest of India, recently paid a visit to the Richelieu Eagles for five 50-over matches in the capital city.

The talented Karnataka players, with Bangalore as their capital city, dominated the Namibian senior men's team by winning three out of the five one-day games played at United in Windhoek.

"Well, we lost three games and only won two," some Eagles supporters might lament under their moustaches. However, certain figures might shed light on our local talent and unsung Namibian heroes.

Karnataka, with its expansive area of 191 791 square kilometers, is home to a population of over 61 million people. In contrast, Namibia has an estimated population of 2.5 million individuals scattered across its vast expanse of 825,615 square kilometers. Remarkably, Karnataka could fit into Namibia approximately 4.3 times. (Bless our soles.)

Karnataka has long been recognised as a breeding ground for cricket talent. Throughout the years, the state has produced numerous renowned players who represented India's senior national team.

Prominent names that immediately come to mind include the batsman Rahul Dravid (1996-2012), the right-arm leg-spinner Anil Kumble (1990-2008), the batsman/wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa (2006-2015), the right-arm fast bowler Javagal Srinath (1991-2003), the batsman/wicketkeeper Kananur Lokesh (KL) Rahul (2014-present), the batsman Mayank Agarwal (2018-2022), and the batsman Bhagwat Chandrasekhar (1964 to 1979).

Karnataka boasts around 500 top cricket clubs and an estimated 1.5 million cricket players, contributing to their own commercialised T20 competition.

In contrast, Namibia has only five Premier League cricket clubs with 60 players available for selection in the national team.

Considering these statistics, we must acknowledge the immense cricket talent we have in the Land of the Brave. It is crucial to support the Eagles and their endeavours. Namibia's cricket is only semi-professional, and most players still have day jobs to support their families.

This means that after a full day's work, the players must dedicate additional hours for practice to be considered for the Eagles. It is not an easy task.

Although Cricket Namibia is doing extremely well with its Ashburton Mini Cricket development programme, only time will truly reveal the success of their efforts over the next two decades.

Cricket needs to grow from grassroots level, and that will take time to plant the seed in primary schools for girls and boys to play the beautiful game of cricket as their first choice sports.

The current Namibian national squad includes Stephen Baard, Niko Davin, Michau du Preez, Jan Frylinck, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Tangeni Lungameni, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, Ruben Trumpelmann, Michael van Lingen, Picky Ya France, Karl Birkenstock, Gerhard Erasmus (captain), Zane Green, Divan la Cock, Lo-han Louwrens, JJ Smit (vice captain), Shaun Fouché, and Handré Klazinga. The young, talented, and promising Namibia under-19 player, Gerhard Janse van Rensburg, had a few spells versus Karnataka. But we need more juniors to come through the ranks.

Cricket is for the whole nation, not just a privileged few.



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