Christi Viljoen leaves national cricket team

Cricketer Christi Viljoen has terminated his contract with the Namibian national team. Cricket Namibia’s president, Richard Frankle, told a media briefing on Monday that Viljoen ended his contract on Monday last week to pursue his cricket career in New Zealand and England. He expressed disappointment at Viljoen’s departure from the national cricket team, saying it is unfortunate that he decided to leave the team at a time when they are busy preparing for the PEPSI International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League Division Two tournament, which is to be hosted in Namibia from January 17 to 24 next year. “Despite his departure, Cricket Namibia would like to express our utmost appreciation to Viljoen, as he was a pillar in our national team over the past four seasons,” he said. “However, no one is indispensable or irreplaceable, and Viljoen’s departure will afford another player the opportunity to step up and participate in the activities of the cricket national team.” Frankle indicated that one of the reasons that led to Viljoen’s leaving was the fact that the Cricket Board could not meet his financial demands. Viljoen, a South African-born Namibian right-handed batsman and medium pacer, made his first-class debut in a competitive match for the national team on January 21, 2010 against KwaZulu-Natal. Turning his attention to the upcoming PEPSI ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament, Frankle said teams such as Kenya, Uganda, Netherlands, Nepal and Canada will participate in the competition along with Namibia as the host country. The matches will be played at the Wanderers Stadium, the Windhoek Afrikaanse Privaatskool Stadium and at the United Cricket Fields in the capital. Frankle also announced at the occasion that the national women’s team will be participating in the PEPSI ICC Africa women’s trophy tournament, which is scheduled to take place from December 13-16 in Benoni, South Africa. The women’s team will be competing against South Africa’s Invitational IX, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe. The Cricket Namibia president urged Namibians to go out in big numbers to support their national team. Only two teams will qualify to participate in the International Cricket Cup (ICC) and the World Cricket League championships, in preparation for the 2019 World Cup. WINDHOEK-NAMPA