Namibia's Kotze uses failure to spur him on in World Cricket League Division 2

Africans hope to keep on the road to ICC CWC 2011 after missing out on this year’s showpiece

Namibia captain Bjorn Kotze wants his side to use its failure to reach this year’s ICC Cricket World Cup (ICC CWC) in the Caribbean as motivation to succeed in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (ICC WCL Div.2), which starts in Windhoek on Saturday.

Namibia reached the showpiece event when it was held in southern Africa in 2003, its first time at the top table of international cricket, but missed out this year after failing to win through in 2005’s ICC Trophy.

“Our failure in the 2005 event still hurts me and now is the time to make amends and settle scores with some of the teams,” he said ahead of the start of the six-team event that also involves Argentina, Denmark, Oman, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“I still remember we narrowly lost to the UAE in 2005 and failed to progress further.

“We are focusing on winning this tournament and finish as the number one side which we can only achieve by winning more matches than any other side. That is our aim,” he added.

Only the top four sides from a week of matches at three venues around the Namibia capital will go forward to the ICC World Cup Qualifier, set to take place in the UAE in 2009.

The bottom two sides from Windhoek still have a chance of joining them via the ICC WCL Div.3 event early in that same year but that would be a tough and tortuous route to have to take and Kotze is determined to avoid it.

His side has some advantages ahead of this tournament. To start with, Namibia has been playing competitive cricket within the South Africa structure in the SAA Provincial B competition, something that has clearly benefited the players, as evidenced by their defeat of Canada in the ICC Intercontinental Cup last month.

On top of that, there is home advantage this time and the familiarity with conditions that comes from that. And there is also the fact that the game in Namibia is on something of a high at the moment with the junior side preparing for its appearance in the ICC U/19 CWC, set to take place in Malaysia next February and March.

The UAE is the other side in the tournament with ICC CWC experience, back in 1996 when the event was held in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. And like Namibia it will take some confidence into this event, according to its captain Saqib Ali.

“We won a morale-boosting game against Bermuda in the ICC Intercontinental Cup and two warm-up matches, including one against Uganda, in Johannesburg,” he said.

“I think the one-day format (of the ICC WCL) suits our style of cricket more than the four-day cricket because of our domestic structure. We go into this competition with a lot of confidence as our build-up and preparations have been good.

“I think every team in Windhoek believes it can finish on top which makes this competition exciting and tough. Namibia definitely has an advantage because it is playing in its conditions and also has the experience of playing in competitive cricket in South Africa,” added Saqib.

Denmark captain Freddie Klokker regards the ICC WCL Div.2 event as a vital stepping stone for his side to take its cricket forward.

“This tournament is very important for us, both for the team moral and also for the development of Danish cricket,” he said, reflecting on the fact that, in terms of continental Europe, Denmark has been in the shadow of the Netherlands in the recent past.

The tournament is taking place more than two months after the end of the domestic season in Denmark and that is something that concerns Klokker ahead of the start of the action in Windhoek.

“It has been a while since the Danish league finished. We have had a lot of indoor sessions since then and we also had a tour to Kenya in late October which was very successful,” he said.

“However, the lack of competitive cricket is a worry for me because it means we are always a step behind the others when we come to the really big tournaments.

“It also makes it difficult for us to introduce young and inexperienced players in big events as you always prefer top performers who can handle pressure and perform consistently.”

One point of interest is that the physiotherapist for the Danish side is former England fast bowler Neil Foster, who played in the 1987 ICC CWC final against Australia in Calcutta.

Uganda and Argentina are the two sides that have qualified for this event through success in the ICC WCL Div.3 in Darwin earlier this year, but although Uganda has previously played at a higher level, taking part in the ICC Trophy in 2005, the step up in class will be a new experience for the South Americans.

Encouragingly from a development perspective, six of the Uganda squad are drawn from the side that took part in last year’s ICC U/19 CWC in Sri Lanka, including captain Davis Arinaitwe, a 20 year-old off-spinner.

The Uganda squad is coached by Sam Walusimbi who opened the batting for East Africa in the first ICC CWC in England, in 1975.

The one Affiliate side among the six teams in Windhoek is Oman but it is well used to punching above its weight, having already taken part in the ICC Trophy in 2005.

It also tied the final of the recent Asian Cricket Council Twenty20 Cup against Afghanistan in Kuwait, while the UAE had to settle for fourth place in the ten-team event that also featured Hong Kong and Nepal.

The schedule for the tournament is as follows:

Sat 24 Nov
Namibia v Denmark – Wanderers
UAE v Uganda – United
Argentina v Oman – Centre for Cricket Development

Sun 25 NovUganda v Oman – Wanderers
Argentina v Namibia – United
Denmark v UAE – Centre for Cricket Development

Mon 26 Nov – reserve/rest day

Tue 27 Nov
UAE v Argentina – Wanderers
Denmark v Uganda – United
Namibia v Oman – Centre for Cricket Development

Wed 28 Nov
UAE v Namibia – Wanderers
Oman v Denmark – United
Uganda v Argentina – Centre for Cricket Development

Thu 29 Nov – reserve/rest day

Fri 30 Nov
Denmark v Argentina – Wanderers
Oman v UAE – United
Namibia v Uganda – Centre for Cricket Development

Sat 1 Dec
Final – Wanderers
3rd v 4th place play-off – United
5th v 6th place play-off – Centre for Cricket Development

The squads for the tournament:

Argentina: Esteban MacDermott (captain), Alejandro Ferguson, Matias Paterlini, Donald Forrester, Gary Savage, Hernan Williams, Pedro Bruno, Diego Lord, Pablo Ryan, Agustin Casime, Esteban Nino, Pablo Ferguson, Bernardo Irigoyen, Martin Siri.

Denmark: Frederik Klokker (captain), Carsten Pedersen, Michael Pedersen, Lars Hedegaard Andersen, Anders Rasmussen, Max Overgaard, Ajay Bobby Chawla, Thomas Hansen, David Borchersen, Bashir Ahmed Shah, Henrik Hansen, Johan Malcolm-Hansen, Morten Hedegaard Andersen, Mickey Lund.

Namibia: Bjorn Leo Kotzé (captain), Jan-Berrie Burger, Deon Kotze, Nicolaas Scholtz, Gerrie Snyman, Kola Burger, Ian van Zyl, Toby Verwey, Louis Klazinga, Sarel Burger, Michael Durand, Raymond van Schoor, Sean Silver, LP van der Westhuizen.

Oman: Muhammad Asif, Adnan Ilyas, Nileshkumar Narottam Parmar, Vaibhav Shridhar Wategaonkar, Sultan Ahmed, Hemin Pratap Desai, Farhan Khan, Awal Khan, Hemal Mehta Jayanthilal, Amit Sampat, Khaleed Moosa, Syed Tariq Hussain, Zeeshan Ahmed Siddiqui, Syed Amir Ali.

UAE: Saqib Ali (captain), Irfan Ahmed, Arshad Ali, Wasim Bari, Qais Farooq, Owais Hameed, Mohammad Iqbal, Javed Ismail, Khurram Khan, Rohan Mustafa, Abdul Rehman, Zahid Khan, Gayan Silva, Shadeep Silva.

Uganda: Davis Arinaitwe (captain), Joel Olweny, Junior Kwebiha, Emmanuel Isaneez, Richard Okia, Lawrence Sematimba, Kenneth Kamyuka, Frank Nsubuga, Raymond Otim, Nand Kishore Naran Patel, Daniel Ruyange, Arthur Kyoke, Martin Ondeko, Ronald Semanda.