Geelong: Namibia cricket team head coach Pierre de Bruyn has said two former South African greats — brothers Albie and Morne Morkel — have been part of the team’s success story, with the former associated with the side since 2019.
Namibia on Sunday caused a major upset in the ICC T20 World Cup with the side thrashing reigning Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka by 55 runs in a Group A First Round match of the showpiece tournament, following which captain Gerhard Erasmus credited the win to coach De Bruyn’s efforts over four years.
De Bruyn said he wanted like-minded people to help him with his coaching and found Albie Morkel an ideal ally.
“Yeah, when I started in 2019 there was one priority for me, and that was to get the right person next to me, and I approached Albie (Morkel) then. He had just retired, and we used to be teammates for many years, and that’s a person that I’ve identified that I knew that would complement my style and also live by the standards that I believe in. So Albie has been with me in this journey, on this journey, and he’s played a massive role in assisting me from — he’s not full-time, either.
“Then this year I identified Morne (Morkel), and I believe the fact that Morne lives in Australia and the experience that he’s got as a fast bowler, I wanted him to work with my bowling unit, and that started in May in Zimbabwe, that T20 series, and he’s made a massive impact as a bowling coach. Then also Justin Kemp; he’s not here with us, but he was more full-time in Namibia with me as an assistant coach,” added De Bruyn.
Morne Morkel is the more successful of the two brothers, with the tall right-arm pace bowler being one of South Africa’s all-time greats, playing 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20Is and aggregating over 500 wickets.
“I’ve got a fantastic team around me, and these people are the people that I believe are the right people to assist me and live by the right standards that I expect. Then my support staff — from the physio to the manager to the team doctor to my analyst — everyone is just magnificent in how they contribute in their departments, and I really appreciate what they do and how they assist me,” added De Bruyn.
De Bruyn added he doesn’t compromise on his principles and dislikes complacency.
“Look, my advice, and that’s just the type of coach I am, is we’ve got to stay humble. There’s a lot of cricket to be played still in this tournament. There are no guarantees for any success going forward. This game doesn’t work like that. We will not tolerate as a unit and as a group any complacency at all. Tomorrow is a brand-new day. It’s a new game. This group is now wide open for three teams to end up on possibly four points if you’re going to lose a game.
“We’re fully aware of that. We’re fully aware that yesterday was a historical moment for cricket Namibia as well as global cricket. But that’s in the past now, and we need to move on quickly. We need to reset, and we started that process in our training today at the nets.”
–IANS
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