National cricket coach, Pierre de Bruyn, says the just-ended Castle Light Twenty-20 (T-20) and 50 Over Series that took place at Wanderers Cricket Club the past two weeks were an eye opener.
Speaking after his side lost the final match of the 50 over series, De Bruyn said the series gave him a lot of information to analyse.
“I have a lot of information that came from the cricket played by the players over the past weeks. I need to take that information on board. I had certain focuses like giving young or fringe players opportunities, which I have done,” he said.
De Bruyn added that this has helped build depth in the team.
Focusing on the match in which the Eagles lost by 22 runs to Ireland, he said the top-order batting once again did not take full responsibility.
“We need to learn these lessons and we need to get better. The outcome was not my focus. T-20 series, we won that with a young side and we squared this one up. I wanted to see the guys under pressure and how they implement their skills,” he explained.
The coach lamented the batting woes and below-par performance on the day saying the games have given him an idea of what each player needs to work on.
He said the team always needs to improve because they have a big cricket year ahead, hence the need for the players to stamp their authority and stake a claim for the starting line-up, a situation which enables them to improve on their performances.
The fifth and final 50 over match between Namibia and Ireland saw the visitors win by 22 runs and level the series two-all after one match was washed out.
Ireland won the toss and opted to bat first, before going on to post a competitive score of 252 runs for seven wickets in 50 overs (252/7).
Gareth James Delany scored 104 runs off 91 balls smashing eight sixes and four fours.
Namibia replied with 230 all out from 48.3 overs.
Namibia won the first and fourth matches while Ireland was victorious in the third and fifth games.
Namibia will now focus on Uganda from 08 April to 13 April before the Women’s team play a triangular series with Uganda and Zimbabwe from 20-26 April at the Centre for Cricket Development in the capital.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency