Namibia lose to England but David Wiese bows out of the game a winner

When David Wiese made his professional cricket debut in October 2005, one of his Namibia teammates on Saturday – Jack Brassell – was just five months old. This pretty much sums up the experience and longevity of the retiring Wiese, who found a second home in Namibia quite late in his career.

A tall seam-bowling all-rounder, Wiese was among many such cricketers trying to step into the big shoes of Jacques Kallis. His career with South Africa was not remarkable – six ODIs and 20 T20Is with middling success and a World T20 appearance in 2016.

Ahead of the 2016-17 season, he signed a three-year Kolpak deal with Sussex, turning down a national call-up. Kolpak deals are perceived to be mercenary moves but for Wiese, it wasn’t entirely so.

He felt his chances were drying up, especially in ODIs, with the influx of all-rounders like Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius and Wiese felt they deserved the spot more than him. 

So how did the move to Namibia happen? Well, it was on the cards the whole time. During Wiese’s earlier years, Namibia used to be a regular fixture in South Africa’s domestic competitions. Wiese’s father was born in Namibia and it was possible for him to acquire a Namibian passport on the basis of that.

There were a few talks here and there about the move at that time but Wiese never really thought he would end up playing international cricket for Namibia. 

In 2021, five years after his last appearance for the Proteas, he made his debut for Namibia and it was the start of a beautiful cricketing story.

Wiese struck a superb 66* off 40 and took a wicket in Namibia’s historic first victory in the 2021 T20 World Cup against the Netherlands and followed it up with another all-round display (28* and 2-22) against Ireland to help his side make the second round.

Wiese was named the Player of the Match on both occasions.

He finished the tournament as the sixth-highest run-getter with 227 runs at a strike-rate of 127.7 and six wickets. 

Namibia were playing their first ICC tournament in 18 years and making the Super 12s despite being the lowest-ranked team in the tournament was no mean feat and Wiese was the main man behind that.

A globetrotting T20 player, Wiese used all his experience of playing in franchise leagues all over the world to win Namibia close games.

One of the big examples was Namibia’s thrilling Super Over win over Oman. Wiese showed his all-round range in that game as he opened the batting in the Super Over and also bowled it.

Wiese cracked a six and a four first up to put Oman under pressure and then nailed three yorkers on the trot to seal the deal while defending 21 in the Super Over.

“Aged a couple of years tonight. Don’t think I have many years left in me,” Wiese said after the Oman game. Was that a hint?

The game against England was Wiese’s last in international cricket but he did not make it public until he got out.

Namibia had already been out of the tournament but a lot was depending on the game as far as England and Scotland were concerned. A defeat would have seen England knocked out.

Wiese was given the new ball by Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus and his job was to keep two of the world’s most destructive hitters – Phil Salt and Jos Buttler – quiet. 

Wiese, fondly nicknamed “Murshid” or guru or master by PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars where he is a cult hero, used slightly different tactics and passed the test with flying colours. 

Knowing that Salt struggles against short-pitched bowling, Wiese started short first up which not many seamers do with the new ball. Wiese didn’t have the pace but his canny lengths and the bounce he extracted because of the height saw him beat the big-hitters in a one-run over in a truncated affair. 

In the next over, a wise Wiese bowled a back-of-a-length knuckleball first up which zipped off the surface and a bemused Salt nicked it to keeper Zane Green. It was a triumph of an experienced foot soldier over a heavily armed one.

He conceded just five off the next five balls and his last delivery in international cricket was a beautiful outswinger to Jonny Bairstow which angled in and straightened past his outside edge, almost taking the off-stump on the way.

In a masterful two-over spell, Wiese used all his experience of a two-decade career, bowling short balls, outswingers and slower deliveries. 

Namibia found it difficult against England in a stiff chase of 127 off 10 overs. Many felt Wiese should have opened the innings given his experience but Namibia stuck to the opening pair of Niko Davin and Michael van Lingen.

However, Davin was made to retire out after six overs and Wiese walked in. At that time, it looked like a strategic move as it had never happened in a World Cup game. 

But it turned out Wiese was allowed to have a hit in his final international game. He went out on a high, hitting the no. 1 T20I bowler at the moment Adil Rashid for two sixes and a four in the same over before getting out to Jofra Archer on 27 off 12.

After the dismissal, Archer and the other England players shook hands with him and Wiese saluted the crowd, raising his bat and helmet as he walked off.

“I mean, [the] next T20 World Cup is still two years away, I’m 39 years old now, so , in terms of international cricket, I don’t know if there’s much left in me,” Wiese said. “I just feel like what better place to end a special career for me personally with Namibia. I’ve had a lot of good times with them and to play my last game for them possibly at a World Cup against a world-class team like England, it just seemed like the right time.”

Wiese’s impact in Namibia cricket is unparalleled. He was their best performer in most of their T20 World Cup victories and players got to learn a lot sharing a dressing room with a player with nearly 700 top-flight cricket experiences. 

“Massive impact, in terms of the level of cricket he brought to our circle. He’s a great guy on the field in terms of performance but off the field he is someone we have really learned a lot from and he’s inspired us to new heights and greater heights,” Erasmus said.

Jofra Archer said Wiese was a “legend”. While his numbers may not suggest so, he is a Namibian great. 532 runs and 35 wickets in 34 T20Is in a three-year Namibia career are not tempting numbers, but those who follow the game in the small country know very well that his impact is beyond numbers. Namibia lost the match against England but Wiese walked off with a massive W to his name.