By Michel Haoses.
The Veterans Cricket Association of Namibia in Windhoek officially launched the 2024 Over 50’s Cricket Tournament last week Saturday.
Nedbank Namibia in the statement issued on Monday announced its sponsorship of N$100,000 and noted that the tournament, featuring eight 45-over matches from 17 to 21 November, includes teams from Namibia, and Zimbabwe, as well as two teams from South Africa.
Speaking at the tournament’s official launch, Cricket Namibia Chief Executive Johan Muller, commended the local organising committee for arranging the tournament and welcomed the visiting teams.
Nedbank Namibia’s Head for Marketing and Communications, Gernot de Klerk, echoed Muller’s words by thanking the visiting teams, lauding the organisers for keeping the veteran’s cricket alive, and said the tournament not only demonstrates the enduring talent and passion of veteran cricketers but also highlights the invaluable role they play in inspiring future generations and fostering the spirit of sportsmanship.
Speaking at the launch, Namibia Over 50’s cricket captain, Dawie Hartzenberg, said the pressure was on them as the home team.
“We have clear and realistic targets that we want to achieve in this tournament. We would like to improve our play from the previous tournament. We want to be a serious competition to our opponents during this tournament. It is also important for us to inspire the future Namibia generations to take the sport seriously,” he said.
Zimbabwean captain Darrel Goodwin said they came to win and enjoy and have fun as a unit while making friends on and off the pitch.
South Africa’s Proteas captain Mario Solomons, noted the growth of veteran cricket in Africa and said they were going to defend their title as this tournament is vital for the development of the game. He also called upon other African countries to start cricket teams.
His views were echoed by Russel Bennett, South Africa A captain, who said his teams are here to compete and inspire other veterans to continue playing cricket.
According to Nedbank, all matches will be livestreamed on https://oneuptwo.com and broadcast on NTV, DSTV channel 285.
The tournament kicked off on 17 November where South Africa played against Namibia at Wanderers Sports Club at 10h00 while South Africa A played Zimbabwe at the High-Performance Oval (HP Oval formerly known as Doc Jubber).
On 18 November, Zimbabwe played against South Africa at Wanderers Sports Club while Namibia played against South Africa A at United Sports Club.
The next match will be on 20 November where Zimbabwe will play against Namibia at Wanderers Sports Club while South Africa will play against South Africa A at United Sports Club.
Meanwhile, on 21 November Position 1 will play against Position 2 at Wanderers Sports Club while Position 3 will play against Position 4 at United Sports Club.
(from left to right): South Africa A Team Captain Russel Bennett, Zimbabwe’s Captain Darell Goodwin, Namibian Captain Dawie Hartzenberg, and South Africa Proteas Captain Mario Solomons, at the Over 50’s Africa Cup Cricket Tournament launch in Windhoek.