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Cricket in Namibia

By Dr Khalid Siddiqui
Ohio

The population of Namibia is 90% black, but there was not a single black player in the cricket team that played against Pakistan. It is both good and bad news. Good news because the team, apparently, was selected on merit rather than on quota system. The bad news is that cricket, most probably, is not the game of choice for the Namibians. If in the 36 years since independence it couldn’t produce even a single black player good enough to play in the national team, then that game is not for the black Namibians.

South Africa adopted a quota system right from the very beginning to ensure that a certain percentage of black/colored players are always included in the national team. As a result, many good white players left South Africa because of uncertainty about their inclusion in the national team at the expense of below-par black players. That system still persists. The players that left because of the quota system included: K Pietersen, J Trott, M Labuschagne, Neil Wagner, D Conway, de Grandhomme, BJ Watling etc. Three Namibian players (David Wiese, Gerhard Erasmus and JJ Smit) who were born in S. Africa moved to Namibia because of the quota system. (The list doesn’t include those players who moved to England, Australia, etc. during the apartheid era, i.e., prior to 1993.)

One colored South African cricket player, Justin Lee Ontong, was vehemently opposed to the quota system. After playing in two Tests, in 2004 he was selected again for the national team on merit. But he refused to play if the quota system was not abolished. His argument was that ten years was long enough time to give black/colored players an advantage just because of their color. Although he was selected on merit, he felt that he would still be labeled as a ‘quota’ player. He sacrificed his career but never played for South Africa again.