Despite being relentless against Uganda in the just-concluded five-match series that included three T20 games and two 50 over games which the hosts dominated, the captain of the Eagles Gerhard Erasmus has a lot of respect for the Cricket Cranes.
In a conversation with the media manager of the Cricket Cranes Erasmus said
We are very aware of the threat that the Cricket Cranes pause as a side. They have always been an agile side in the field and their bowling is very good. They have given us the challenge we expected from them as a team. We could have come out on top in the games but we didn’t take any of the games lightly.
Gerhard Erasmus
The hosts were able to win all five games wrapping the first three T20 games before showing a lot of muscle in the two 50 over games.
While the skipper was gracious in victory as he noted some key areas that the Cricket Cranes have to work on.
One of the things we focus on in our team culture is being better for longer. I think the Cricket Cranes missed a lot of opportunities to dominate us especially when they were on top. This was evident in bowling and batting. It’s important to ensure that once a team is down to finish them off, so being better for longer is the key thing here.
Gerhard Erasmus
The Eagles of Namibia are preparing for the T20 World Cup due in October in India while the Cricket Cranes have the Challenge League B second round in Jersey and the T20 World Cup qualifiers in South Africa in November.
Coach Laurence Mahatlane will have a lot of reflections about the performance of his side before they go to Jersey.