Craig Williams

It took years of hard work, toil and sweat for Namibia to make it to the World Cup, who did more than just to make up the numbers. After eliminating Ireland, they are set to take on the world&#39;s best teams in the Super 12s &ndash; a stage they have reached for the first time in their history. It is indeed a momentous occasion for Namibia, who have a population of 2.5 million, to be among the final 12 teams in the T20 World Cup, a journey that started way back in 2018, with them playing in the African Qualifiers in 2018.Namibia beat the Netherlands and Test-playing nation Ireland in the first round of the T20 World Cup to make it through to the next round and they are set to ring in a new era in their cricket history<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/history-beckons-as-scotland-namibia-seek-maiden-win-in-super-12s-1635249844732" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;when they take on Scotland</a> on Wednesday (October 27)In an exclusive chat with Cricket.com,&nbsp;batter Craig Williams &ndash; Namibia&#39;s second-highest run-getter in T20Is &ndash; spoke about the team&#39;s journey into the Super 12s, skipper Gerhard Erasmus, on the commendable job the coaching staff has done, among other topics.Here are the excerpts from the chat:Cricket.com (CDC): It was an emotional moment when David Wiese hit those winning runs against Ireland. Walk us through the emotions in the middle and in the dressing room when that moment arrived.<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/articles/093cb09d4a20746ffb0613c3640db5b89c476848.png" style="width: 900px; margin: 5px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Craig Williams (CW):&nbsp;It was extremely emotional for the whole team. It&rsquo;s been a three-year process since Pierre de Bruyn, Albie Morkel joined us of rebuilding and getting new things in place. The moment was fantastic but I think the emotion came from the amount of work that&rsquo;s gone in the last three years, the amount of sacrifices, early hours in the gym, look weekends of play, long trips away from home. All came together when we realised we&rsquo;ve done something extremely special for the country.CDC: What does making it to the Super 12s mean to cricket in Namibia? Would you rate this as the best moment in your career?CW:&nbsp;Definitely rate this as the highlight of my career. I&rsquo;ve been playing for 13-14 years and it is by far the biggest highlight. I&rsquo;ve been to more than 15 of similar types of qualifiers and this is the first one we&rsquo;ve managed to pull through, which just shows how hard the competition is. I think for Namibia, it&rsquo;s just fantastic because now all of our kids can believe that hard work pays off and it is possible to achieve your dreams and goals. For cricket in&nbsp;Namibia and for sport in Namibia this is just a fantastic achievement for the country and is definitely something that&rsquo;s going to boost all sports in the country moving forward.CDC: Tell me about this journey - right from the Qualifiers and now among the top 12 teams in the World Cup - how would you sum it up?CW: The journey started when we travelled to Uganda in 2018. It then went to Dubai for a month to play against 24 countries out of which only eight went through. That was extremely difficult and everyone were fighting for those four places to get to the World Cup. Just qualifying to that qualifier was really hugely emotional experience.Then having to come to another qualifier at the World Cup and&nbsp;qualifying for the main tournament &ndash; it has been a two-year process, two-emotional roller-coaster which is very difficult to describe. Every game you play is win or lose, go home, extreme disappointment or extreme happiness and achievement. It&rsquo;s been a two-year process. I&rsquo;m glad we&rsquo;ve managed to get this far because now we go straight to the next World Cup. We skip a whole lot of qualifiers and a whole lot of stress.In a country like Namibia, we&rsquo;re not fully professional so, to have guys who are working and studying and still trying to be professional cricket players, it&rsquo;s an unbelievable story and an unbelievable achievement.CDC: Some teams like the Netherlands have struggled to&nbsp;find form due to the lack of T20 cricket since the Qualifiers in 2019. Even Namibia have had limited game time before the T20 World Cup. How did you and the rest of the team cope with it and put in a commendable performance in the tournament?CW: We probably have not had as many games as what we would have like. That&rsquo;s what the Netherlands struggled with, but we have never stopped training. Even in the lockdown, we would be doing coaching sessions on Zoom with our coaching staff. We did backyard cricket training where you had to post your batting and bowling. The coaches were able to look at our technique from Zoom calls. It&rsquo;s been tough preparing in Covid times, but we haven&rsquo;t stopped.You just take your hat off to the coaching staff for they were able to think outside the box. How they were able to find ways to keep us on our toes. We haven&rsquo;t played as many games as we would have liked. We&rsquo;ve played five series though which was fantastic that the guys were able to organise games for us. Our preparation has been extremely good compared to maybe some of the other countries like Netherlands.CDC: You batted at three in the first couple of matches but opened in the game against Ireland. You have been juggled quite often in the batting line-up. Is that something you are comfortable with? How do you deal with all the shuffling?<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/articles/cba7e6769ac9165221857497a4e9fe7445690887.png" style="width: 900px; margin: 5px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">CW: In T20 cricket you have to be able to adapt, you have to be able to play different roles. As one of the senior players, I don&rsquo;t mind being moved around. I am happy to open, to bat at three or to carry drinks as 12th man. The whole team has got that attitude that as conditions change as the opposition changes, we also need to adapt. I&rsquo;m just happy to be able to contribute, to still be able to play. So, I&rsquo;m comfortable with any tactics or plans the coaches need on any given day.CDC: We&#39;ve seen what a talented batsman Gerhard Erasmus is, but what would you say he is as a leader?CW: Gerhard as captain has been extremely good for the team. He&rsquo;s a leader. He has led a lot of different teams. He was captain at Maties (Stellenbosch University) when he was in university, he was the captain of the Under-19 Namibian team. So, it&rsquo;s not anything new for him to be a leader. The way he manages guys and leads by example is fantastic. He&rsquo;s a natural.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/articles/6632ed20c6f879e57d1681334b54cc508a082d5c.png" style="width: 900px; margin: 5px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">When the pressure is on he manages to step up and show everybody why he is in that position. We are very blessed as a team and a country to have someone like him. They are one in a million, they don&rsquo;t just come around every single day. He has been absolutely fantastic for us. He is still young. He&rsquo;s still got another 10-12 years of playing for Namibia, of leading Namibia, to keep breaking records and taking us to the next level.CDC: David Wiese has put up a couple of match-winning performances in the tournament already. How important was it for Namibia to rope in someone of his experience?CW: David has been fantastic for the team, he has played around the world and he showed that when the pressure is on, he really steps up. It&rsquo;s been fantastic to have someone of his caliber join our team. He is proud to be playing for Namibia and to be doing well for us. Players travel, go to different countries, they look for opportunities and we&rsquo;re just fortunate to have a Namibian like David come back and join us.&nbsp;I know it&rsquo;s been in his plan for a long time to come play for Namibia and with Covid, that&rsquo;s delayed the process for two years. It&rsquo;s fantastic to have him as part of our squad and to have his experience with our next generation learning from someone like him. It&rsquo;s just not what he is doing on the field, winning us games, it&rsquo;s also what he is doing off the field as well &ndash; teaching the next generation of what it is all about.&nbsp;Because of someone like him, we will see the next young Namibians, the next David Wiese coming through the pipeline sometime soon.CDC: You&#39;ll be facing some terrific sides in the Super 12s. Any side or player(s) you or looking forward to facing and why?CW:&nbsp;Going through to the Super 12s, gives us an opportunity to test ourselves against some of the best teams in the world. We just want to make the Namibians proud by doing our best. On the day anything is possible. We have already had some tough games already to get this far. It&rsquo;s a privilege to play against the best players in the world, I can&rsquo;t single out one team or one player I would like to play against. Every single one of them is going to be a fantastic experience. Hopefully we can just keep clear heads and play the ball, not the player and continue to make the Namibians proud.&nbsp;CDC: Ever since Pierre de Bruyn took over as head coach, it has been onwards and upwards for Namibia. How has it been working with him over the last two years or so?CW: Pierre is a world-class coach. He&rsquo;s got a huge pedigree. He coached for a long time in South Africa. He played first-class cricket himself for 18 years. He knows what it&rsquo;s all about. You can relate to him as a player because he played at a very high level himself. He came to Namibia and made us believe in ourselves. He brought in a new culture of respecting each other, respecting the game and that&rsquo;s made a big difference. From a coaching perspective, he knows how to handle and treat players because he has been in our shoes.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/articles/1ca9b9bd7d0e968f23ffa1c0c80e118827d924ea.png" style="width: 900px; margin: 5px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">He is brilliant at managing different situations, different types of players. He is always thinking of new ways to make us better. To think what it took Namibia when he came in two and a half three years ago to where we are now, it&rsquo;s a true attribute to how good he is and how he is able to take such a small team and achieve greatness.I don&rsquo;t think there is enough said about how good this guy is as a coach. &nbsp;He has brought Albie Morkel along with him. Albie is Mr. Cool under pressure situations because he has been playing in the IPL and also for South Africa. He is able to relate and help us handle those situations.&nbsp;CDC: Tell me a bit about your cricketing journey. What/who drew you towards the game growing up?CW: I was born in Namibia and grew up in Pretoria. At the age of six, in Pretoria watching the greats back in the day play, I just loved their game. I wanted to be a professional cricket player for as long as I can remember. I didn&rsquo;t want to sit in an office, I wanted to be out in the field, play and compete. Namibia gave me those opportunities.&nbsp;I moved to Namibia when I was 23 after spending some time in the UK playing cricket. Namibia gave me the opportunity to play first-class cricket and to live my dream. There&rsquo;s a lot of hard work, lots of disappointments, lot of qualifiers we didn&rsquo;t make it to get to where we are now. Every single day just appreciate the opportunities we have been granted and hard work does really pay off. That&rsquo;s the biggest lesson I&rsquo;ve learnt. Be persistent and resilient and the rewards will come. That&rsquo;s the message I send to the kinds at my cricket academy in Windhoek is that every day you spend in training and try to get better is one step closer to achieving your dreams and your goals.&nbsp;Namibia is a beautiful country. Our people have been through so much with drought and Covid and fires and recessions. This is just a beautiful story how this small group of people have been able to compete with the giants. We hope all the people back home can take into their personal lives and just realise that dreams do come true.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

In an exclusive chat veteran Namibia batsman talks about his side's journey in the T20 World Cup, the role the coaching staff has played and more

ICC World Twenty20, 2021

Namibia

Craig Williams: Namibia blessed to have Gerhard Erasmus as captain

After a<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/clinical-afghanistan-crush-scotland-by-130-runs-1635184753500" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;crushing defeat at the hands of Afghanistan</a>, Scotland, who won all three matches in the first round of the T20 World Cup, will look to return to winning ways against Namibia, who like the opponents have made it to this stage for the very first time.The Scottish batsmen were bamboozled by the spin duo of Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman and Rashid Khan, who finished with figures of 9 for 29 against them. This comes as a surprise as Scotland batsmen are among of the best players of spin among the teams in the competition.Before the Afghanistan game, Scotland had scored at a run-rate of 7.6 against the spinners and their average and strike-rate against them read a commendable 33.9 and 26.8 respectively, which is among the best in T20Is this year. However, all&nbsp;three areas of taken a massive hit since the game against the Afghans, which could be put down to a bad day in the office.After the heavy loss against Afghanistan, Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer vowed to come back stronger in the next game. And if I were Namibia, I would take that warning very seriously.&ldquo;We fought hard in the field. It&#39;s just a level check to see where our standards are. We&#39;ll be better for it in the next game. We have a great bunch of players and belief in the side. Belief among the players is key. It&#39;s not like we&#39;ll be locked up in separate rooms. We&#39;ll come together in the hotel. We have to keep moving forward,&rdquo; Coetzer had said.With Namibia boasting of spin options like Bernard Scholtz, Pikkya Ya France and also the leg-spinner Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, the Scotland line-up may not be tested as much as they were against Mujeeb and Rashid, but it&rsquo;s a test they will be looking to overcome nevertheless.The Namibians have however, been dependent on their top four batsmen to do the job, and luckily for them, they have deliveries. The likes of David Wiese and Gerhard Erasmus have come to the fore on more than one occasion in the tournament to take Namibia over the line.Wiese&rsquo;s experience with both bat and the ball has been a blessing for Namibia, who like Scotland, look to register their first-ever win in the Super 12s.In his last two matches, Wiese has picked up three wickets and with the bat, he scored an unbeaten 66 against the Netherlands and in the game against Ireland, he smashed 28 not out to take his team to the next round. Erasmus, the leading run-scorer for Namibia in T20Is, scored a crucial 32 and unbeaten 53 in those matches. Safe to say, Namibia&rsquo;s fate in this tournament, rests in their hands.Not to forget, left-arm seamer Jan Frylinck, who has been a key figure in Namibia&rsquo;s rise. He registered the fifth-best figures in T20Is just days before the T20 World Cup and continues to be crucial cog in the Namibia line-up given his ability to read the conditions quickly and deliver accordingly. &nbsp;Speaking of left-arm seamers, Namibia have three frontline bowlers of this type in their XI, which is more than any other team perhaps have in their entire squad this tournament. Rajasthan Royals (RR) often played a similar combination with Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya and Mustafizur Rahman together in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and it made sense especially if you were playing in Abu Dhabi.Three out of Namibia&rsquo;s five matches are being played in Abu Dhabi, which has seen 21.12% of the wickets being picked up by left-arm fast bowlers, which is the best after right-arm fast bowlers who have picked up over 50% of the wickets. Hence, the Eagles could continue with this combination at least in Abu Dhabi.<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/articles/816388ddc19640bd0eae128d56347a9919d41930.png" style="width: 900px; margin: 5px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Likely XI:&nbsp;The only choice Namibia have to make is whether to have Stephan Baard back in the XI in place of Michael Van Lingen to add further depth to the batting department, considering Baard would open with Craig Williams dropping to No. 3.&nbsp;Both Scotland and Namibia will need their top-order, especially the openers to fire, as they have been below par this tournament so far. Among teams that have played at least three matches in the tournament, the Namibian have openers has the worst run-rate, the Scottish team finds itself in the bottom half of the table when it comes to the runs and balls per wicket ratio.<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/articles/eb39b8c3ca8f70b2da7324129889162fd6e84eeb.png" style="width: 900px; margin: 5px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Scotland might also consider strengthening their spin department with Hamza Tahir waiting in the wings, which might relieve some pressure in getting a few overs from Michael Leask, allowing him to focus on his batting.Bradley Wheal could make way for Tahir, which will leave Scotland with just two frontline pacers in Josh Davey and Safyaan Sharif with Richie Berrington also chipping in with his medium-pacers if needed.Scotland:&nbsp;George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (c), Matthew Cross (wk), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Wheal/Hamza TahirNamibia: Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Michael van Lingen, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Pikky Ya France, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard ScholtzPowered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

While Scotland were crushed by Afghanistan, Namibia will start afresh after their excellent show in the previous round

Kyle Coetzer

Gerhard Erasmus

Jan Frylinck

Richie Berrington

Scotland

History beckons as Scotland, Namibia seek maiden win in Super 12s

After a spirited performance by Namibia in their opening encounter against Sri Lanka in the ICC T20 World Cup, they will lock horns against the Netherlands in their second league match in an afternoon encounter at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The Dutch outfit is stepping onto the field after a dismal performance against Ireland and will look to make amends in this must-win encounter. The two sides have competed only once in the T20 internationals, with the Netherlands registering a comprehensive 44-run win.&nbsp;&nbsp;SUGGESTED TEAM<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/articles/14d5ad48a3b666fca85c7beac9bbae6240602fa6.png" style="width: 600px; margin: 5px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" code="200">While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your team from Cricket.com&rsquo;s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.GROUND DETAILSThe average first innings total at the Zayed Cricket Stadium will be around the 150-run mark. However, with plenty of cricket played at the venue in the past couple of months, the wickets will be sluggish in nature, making it hard for the batter to play their free-flowing game. In the T20s since 2019, the pace bowlers have picked up 510 wickets in 142 innings at a strike rate of 19.3 compared to 255 wickets at a strike rate of 23.7.&nbsp;SUGGESTED CAPTAINMax O&#39;DowdMax O&#39;Dowd anchored the innings against Ireland in their last encounter by notching up a well-compiled half-century at the top of the order. The right-handed batter scored 51 of 47 deliveries studded with seven boundaries to help the Netherlands post a fighting total on the board. In this must-win encounter for the Netherlands, O&#39;Dowd will be the crucial player opening the batting and will look to give the team a flying start at the top of the order.&nbsp;Our Criclytics player projector predicts O&#39;Dowd to score 34-50 runs in this match.X-FACTORSCraig WilliamsThe leading run-scorer for Namibia in the previous clash against Sri Lanka, Craig Williams, anchored the innings by scoring 29 off 36 deliveries to help the side post 96 runs on the board in the first innings. The 37-year old has scored 537 runs in 19 innings at an average of 33.6 and a strike rate of 125.17 and will be a vital cog in the middle order of the side.&nbsp;Our Criclytics player projector predicts Williams to score 29-43 runs in this match.&nbsp;Ben CooperWhile Ben Copper was dismissed early in the last game against Ireland, the left-handed batter is one of the most experienced players in the side. With 1230 runs in 54 innings, the onus of the batting department will rely heavily on him in this must-win encounter. The 29-year old will look to make optimum use of the field restrictions and will be one of the players to watch out for in this clash.Our Criclytics player projector predicts Cooper to score 29-43 runs in this match.JJ SmitOne of the upcoming all-rounders in world cricket, JJ Smit, will be one of the key players for Namibia in this match. The left-arm pacer will be crucial to the fortunes of the side in the middle overs and will also play a handy role with the bat down the order. With 375 runs at an average of 34.09 and 20 wickets, Smit will be an X-Factor heading into this much-awaited match.Our&nbsp;Criclytics player projector&nbsp;predicts Smit to score 17-25 runs and pick up 2-3 wickets in this match.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Here are a few tips that might help you create your fantasy team for Match 7 of the ICC T20 World Cup between Namibia and Netherlands in Abu Dhabi. 

Ben Cooper

Max O'Dowd

JJ Smit

Netherlands

Namibia vs Netherlands, ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Match 7: Fantasy Preview

One of the firm favourites to progress to the Super 12 of the ICC T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka will lock horns against Namibia on Monday, 18th October in an evening encounter at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Sri Lanka will enter this iconic tournament riding high on confidence after their 2-1 win against India at home earlier this year. On the other hand, Namibia have a win percentage of 81.8 and have won 18 out of the 22 matches they have played thus far. The two sides are yet to face each other in the T20 international.&nbsp;SUGGESTED TEAM<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/articles/dfff7f505ccaca489e3c4b69c62933fd9e58ea5f.png" style="width: 600px; margin: 5px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" code="200">While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your team from Cricket.com&rsquo;s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.GROUND DETAILSOne of the three venues in the recently concluded Indian Premier League, the wicket at the Zayed Cricket Stadium is expected to get slower as the game progresses. The average first innings total at this ground is around the 150-run mark. The pace bowlers have conceded at an economy rate of 7.5 compared to 6.6 by the spinners and picked up 93 wickets since 2019 in T20 international matches.&nbsp;SUGGESTED CAPTAINWanindu HasarangaWanindu Hasaranga has been one of the vital cogs in the bowling unit of Sri Lanka and often picked up crucial wickets to dent the opposition batting unit in the middle overs. With 36 wickets in 23 innings at an average of 15.45, the leg spinner is second on the ICC T20I bowling rankings. The 24-year old will be one of the players to watch out for in this encounter.&nbsp;Our Criclytics player projector predicts Hasaranga to pick up 0-1 wickets in this match.&nbsp;X-FACTORSDavid WieseDavid Wiese will be one of the key players for the Namibia side heading into this world event. Plying his trade for South Africa in the early stages of his career, the all-around has years of experience in this form of the game. One of the strengths of Wiese is his ability to take pace off the ball and making optimum use of the variation in his arsenal. With the sluggish wickets on offer, his ability to use the variations will be vital. The 36-year old will also provide the team with much-needed impetus down the order with his attacking style of play.Our Criclytics player projector predicts Weise to score 17-25 runs and pick up 0-1 wickets in this match.&nbsp;Avishka FernandoThe right-handed batter has been in sublime form leading up to this mega-event by notching up consistent performances in the warm-ups games. While Avishka Fernando is an opening batsman, he batted in the middle order during the lead-up to the tournament. With three half-centuries in the last five encounters, the 23-year old will be one of the X factors heading into tomorrow&#39;s clash.&nbsp;Our Criclytics player projector predicts Fernando to score 29-43 runs in this match.Craig WilliamsCraig Williams is one of the mainstays in the batting unit of Namibia in this competition. The 37-year old has been in prolific form in the build-up to this event by smashed four half-centuries in the last five encounters. With 508 runs in 18 innings at an average of 33. 86, the right-handed batter will be a crucial player and shoulder the bulk of the responsibility of the side in the batting department.&nbsp;Our Criclytics player projector predicts Williams to score 32-48 runs in this match.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Here are a few tips that might help you create your fantasy team for Match 4 of the ICC T20 World Cup between Namibia and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. 

craig williams

Craig Williams: Namibia blessed to have Gerhard Erasmus as captain

History beckons as Scotland, Namibia seek maiden win in Super 12s

Namibia vs Netherlands, ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Match 7: Fantasy Preview

Namibia vs Sri Lanka, ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Match 4: Fantasy Preview