New Delhi: For associate nations, progress is rarely linear. Teams show spark, stun higher-ranked countries but often fall off the radar. Kenya were semi-finalists in the 2003 ODI World Cup but lost ODI status in 2015. They featured in the 2007 edition of the T20 World Cup but failed to qualify in the editions that followed.
Namibia's Ruben Trumpelmann, centre, celebrates the dismissal of Netherlands' Michael Levitt during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Namibia and Netherlands in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) (AP)
The usual route to progress is through more fixtures against stronger teams, better training facilities, a well-oiled cricket machinery, qualified coaches and a core group that learns how to handle pressure.
An African nation doing all this consistently is Namibia. For them, high performance has been built through exposure, infrastructure and a conscious attempt to create competitiveness within a small ecosystem.
As a result, Namibia have qualified for all T20 World Cup editions since 2021. In 2022, they beat former champions Sri Lanka. Unlike most associate members, Namibia have centrally contracted players and that makes a huge difference.
But despite being able to punch above their weight, captain Gerhard Erasmus doesn’t overcomplicate what his team needs most. “More frequent games with higher-ranked teams. And resources. Building cricket, building facilities,” he told reporters in a press conference ahead of their tournament opener on Monday.
Those two pillars sit at the heart of Namibia’s development story. Over the last two years, support from ICC has helped transform their cricket landscape too. With hosting rights for the recently concluded 2026 Under-19 World Cup and the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup, Namibia have been able to invest meaningfully in facilities.
In 2025, they unveiled a state-of-the-art venue in Windhoek. Now their first cricket ground, it also has a high-performance setup that includes gyms, recovery rooms and turf nets. It is a significant shift for a nation that previously had to share space with rugby.
“We can train on the fields because there’s enough turf strips,” said Erasmus. “So we can put out nets and train there. That makes a big difference.”
Facilities matter but so does familiarity with the big stage. Namibia are heading into their fourth T20 World Cup cycle and Erasmus believes that repeated exposure has sharpened skill and temperament.
“I think purely exposure is what physically gets you on this level,” he said. “From crowds to media to big stadiums to lights… that’s something we don’t have in Namibia. But having guys who’ve been through previous World Cups gives the team more smarts.”
Continuity has helped as the core group has stayed together across tournaments even as a promising young batch keeps pushing for places. Erasmus, JJ Smit and Zane Green, Bernard Scholtz and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton are some of Namibia’s longest serving players. “We’re not the biggest player pool,” Erasmus admits. “So we need to create competition in our own circle.”
That internal competition is being supported by the wider ecosystem Namibia Cricket has quietly built. Former players are encouraged to move into coaching and officiating roles, ensuring knowledge stays within the system. A strong school-cricket structure keeps participation numbers healthy, with the sport largely embedded in organised education rather than informal setups.
Head coach Craig Williams also decided to upskill, by attending an ICC Level 3 coaching course in India last year – a global programme focused on high performance.
The influence of South Africa has also played a role. Gary Kirsten, now part of Namibia’s coaching setup as a consultant for the ongoing T20 World Cup, has tracked their journey closely over the years.
“Every country’s high performance programme differs. We had to develop something that was quite unique to Namibia and two characteristics that makes it unique is first, of all, a very small population size and then secondly, distance,” Namibia Cricket CEO Johan Muller told HT.
“In any high performance programme, you need more players to come through the system at different levels so that you can start developing them. So, we’ve started with our youth leagues, school leagues by incorporating quite a number of competitions at primary and high school level. And from there started a talent identification programme that we actually start scouting players throughout these matches.”
Financially, Namibia have taken an unusually hands-on approach. Much of their revenue comes from local sponsors, with the CEO personally tailoring partnerships rather than relying on rigid templates.
“I think the relationships in business is key,” Muller said, “I don’t think you can create sustainable partnerships without a solid relationship and that’s built on trust. And I think that’s one key thing for us is that whatever we promise, we deliver. And part of that was with the ICC as well, where we’ve been involved in a number of programmes.”
The amalgamation of all of this has resulted in cricket reaching places it previously was not able to. “I think it goes hand in hand with exposure that they see on TV but secondly, having access to the game,” said Muller.
“So it’s one thing just to be able to see the team play on TV but if you don’t have access to the equipment or access to the programme, then you won’t really get into the game. But our development programme is taking the game to the communities and to the villages where kids now have access to play. That’s something we’re very proud of.”
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