Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus on Oman T20 world cup opener
01/06.2024
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
01/06.2024
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
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00:00 Yeah, as you say, a new day, a totally new tournament.
00:03 We've had a fair amount of success
00:05 over the last couple of tournaments.
00:08 And we'd like to better that.
00:10 And perhaps the expectation is there,
00:12 at least from back home, to really do well.
00:15 So starting off well is obviously first call.
00:19 We had some good success, actually,
00:21 against Amman the other day.
00:23 So winning that series 3-2.
00:25 So coming into that game with pretty much a good idea,
00:30 good information that we have, and good confidence.
00:33 [INAUDIBLE]
00:41 [INAUDIBLE]
00:57 Yeah, the Associates have long been
00:58 sort of knocking on the door.
00:59 And they've had probably mixed success,
01:02 but good successes over the past.
01:04 And they've given, at least in white-ball cricket,
01:08 they've given many, many destinations a good run.
01:10 And I think continuously the gap keeps on closing.
01:15 That's due to many reasons.
01:16 You know, due to just more players in the Associate world
01:19 from different countries, but also just more exposure.
01:22 And I think with that exposure comes a different skill
01:25 set and different mindset.
01:28 It's not that big a novelty anymore
01:30 to play against at a high level guys, guys who play
01:33 professional setups all year long.
01:35 So yeah, the gap definitely is closing.
01:38 And as one of the voices of Associate cricket,
01:41 you always try and boost Associate cricket.
01:44 You've got to step up on the field, actually,
01:46 and then do that work there rather than trying to urge.
01:51 For more opportunities, you've got to show why you want them.
01:54 Yeah, very nice.
02:00 We've been here for a fair while now.
02:02 So St. Kitts was good.
02:06 Trinidad was very good.
02:07 So different to what we're used to with humidity and stuff.
02:10 We pride ourselves in good fitness and good standards.
02:13 And you get to get used to a bit of--
02:16 get acclimatized to perhaps only the humidity
02:19 and the type of sweetness and perhaps on and off showers,
02:22 that type of thing.
02:24 And what are you guys expecting?
02:26 [INAUDIBLE]
02:27 Yeah, I think that's probably going to be one of the--
02:35 one of the playouts of this tournament
02:36 is that's going to work out for betting sides.
02:38 They're probably going to have to decide what sort of risk
02:41 factor they take on.
02:43 Obviously, with the ruling in the IPL,
02:45 with the extra impact that it makes,
02:48 it frees it up a little bit.
02:49 So yeah, my early shot is that the scores might not
02:53 be that big.
02:54 One, probably because of conditions.
02:56 Two, also because of that ruling.
02:58 And three, also just because of the consequence of tournament
03:01 cricket.
03:02 And being from an Associate country,
03:04 we're not unfamiliar with the pressures
03:08 of playing consequence cricket and consequence tournaments
03:10 like that.
03:11 It's pretty cutthroat at the Associate level, where
03:14 most of your games are basically for livelihoods
03:17 or for qualifying, for moving up in tiers or down in tiers.
03:20 So tournament type of cricket usually
03:24 suits the Associate nations.
03:27 They've got only something to gain in the highest sort
03:33 of ranks of whiteboard tournaments,
03:34 like the FIFA World Cup and the T20 World Cup.
03:37 So that type of pressure and consequence on the games,
03:44 it would be interesting to see how other teams, especially
03:46 teams that go really hard up top,
03:48 with all the likes of [INAUDIBLE] as well,
03:52 really coming out in the park and swinging.
03:55 So it'll be interesting to see how everyone goes about it.
03:58 I guess it's just a risk factor that you
04:01 decide to take on as a team.
04:03 Yeah, pretty hard game, to be fair, for us.
04:11 So as I said earlier, just the exposure and the level
04:16 of cricket that you get exposed to when facing the likes
04:19 of Josh and good spinners like Samson,
04:23 all of those guys that continuously play
04:26 so many games, so many whiteboard games
04:28 through the year, that's where you benchmark yourself
04:32 on as an Associate nation.
04:33 You want to be playing lots of cricket.
04:35 You want to be playing against the best.
04:36 And lots of the guys have gotten a feel of that over the years.
04:40 Unfortunately, it doesn't come around enough
04:43 for the Associate teams.
04:44 And they're not sort of exposed to that year round.
04:47 So making that jump up in tournament
04:50 and making it very quickly is what's
04:54 really challenging but cool at the same time.
04:57 So with our previous tournament, we've
05:00 had the exposure in the first--
05:02 like in our first World Cup with [INAUDIBLE]
05:04 got beaten badly, but then had a great tournament.
05:07 Just to up at that level from the start and sort of,
05:11 yeah, I guess break the duct from the start
05:14 and get onto that level is what's probably more valuable
05:17 than obviously getting thrashed in the World Cup game
05:20 like that.
05:20 So still lots to take out of that top again.
05:23 [INAUDIBLE]
05:28 Yeah.
05:29 [INAUDIBLE]
05:38 I don't really say over-roared, but I just
05:40 say the skill exposure and the level of skill,
05:44 although it's closing.
05:46 As I said, the exposure is far and wide.
05:49 It's every second you have to get
05:50 to play against the world's best.
05:51 And every now and again, some of us
05:53 get an opportunity in the franchise world
05:55 and get to play against the English boys, the Australian
05:58 boys, and all the best cricketers of T20
06:00 cricket in the world.
06:01 And you sort of climb into that skill gap all the time.
06:05 Because it's far and wide and you
06:07 struggle to get pitches against the world's best,
06:11 it often is quite a struggle to just come to the tournament
06:14 and sort of expect yourself to be on that level already.
06:16 And you can see sparks in between of being
06:19 able to compete at that level.
06:20 It's about putting it all together on the day,
06:23 playing your best game.
06:24 We did that in Australia against Atlanta
06:27 and got a considerably good result.
06:29 So it's them.
06:32 It's how you get it out of the fights
06:34 and how you get it out of the lines.
06:36 Yeah.
06:36 Yeah, I think so.
06:41 With three tournaments behind our back,
06:44 lots of guys playing around the world,
06:46 there's not that feeling of being overwhelmed
06:49 or feeling involved, not that feeling of not belonging,
06:53 stepping on the field with a bunch of aliens
06:57 or something like that.
06:58 It's more a feeling of stepping out
06:59 of the line against your peers.
07:01 And although they constantly playing high-level cricket,
07:04 you've got to also compete at that level.
07:08 So I won't be stepping back to any of the so-called best
07:13 nations.
07:14 It's white-billed cricket.
07:15 They are dull, so it's white-billed cricket.
07:17 We've got to try and combat that and prepare very well.
07:20 I don't see any of the best nations these days,
07:24 seeing any of the associated nations off lightly.
07:26 And they'll do analysis.
07:27 They'll do proper planning against all of our batters.
07:31 That's going to be a very good exposure for us again.
07:33 And only something to gain that frees us up a little bit
07:37 and perhaps tightens them up at the back end of the tournament.
07:41 I think our fixture run is also reasonable and kind to us,
07:46 to us in a sense.
07:47 Yeah.
07:48 Do you have to replace any people that are
07:52 in the squad or the squadron?
07:54 Yeah, we've got a younger squad this year,
07:57 which is exciting in itself.
07:59 We've had a few guys over the last two years
08:02 playing professional jobs at Anglia too
08:06 and have had a discipline each year too.
08:08 So we've had the likes of Jack Russell from the '90s
08:12 coming through into the squad.
08:13 And like I say, young guys who have played more than five
08:17 caps or so.
08:17 So those types of names are very exciting to see.
08:21 But also exciting to see guys who've
08:23 maybe been around the fold for quite a while,
08:25 but they probably haven't made that extra step up.
08:29 Just perhaps you can do their roles being a little bit more
08:32 reserved sometimes.
08:33 And it's nice to see those guys also unlocking their talent.
08:37 Yeah, it's the likes of Zane Green, the type of players
08:40 really as a captain I'm looking forward to see
08:43 if some of them or more of those players in our squad
08:46 that have been members for a long time
08:48 can maybe make that step up in this tournament.
08:50 Thanks, captain.
08:55 Thank you, guys.