Erasmus called it a missed opportunity for Namibia, who don’t have the infrastructure at home to play matches – or even train – under lights.
“We haven’t got any lights in Namibia,” Erasmus said on the eve of the match against India. “Infrastructure wise, it’s probably the challenge for us. So yeah, it’s not a casual thing. Barring the guys who have played in the Nepal Premier League, ILT20 and the World Cups we have played, you don’t get accustomed to lights and train under it very often.
“Yeah, we haven’t been given night training before this game. I don’t know why. I think India have two night trainings and I see outside that Canada are going to have a night training now. So make of that what you want, but we’ll just rock up and do our Namibian way, which is to fight.”
The ICC explained that all teams had been provided with their training schedules in good time, and late requests – as was the case with Namibia – couldn’t always be accommodated.
“All teams were provided with the training schedules well in advance of the tournament – on 27 and 28 January – and were invited to share any queries or comments,” an ICC spokesperson said. “Requests for changes in timings were accommodated wherever possible, considering available slots, the need to avoid teams playing the next match training together, and any other cricketing considerations.
“Afghanistan, England, Scotland and Ireland all had their sessions amended at various points, and other teams also engaged with the ICC team to clarify certain details and request minor adjustments to their training timings. However, Namibia’s request was received too late for any changes to be made. The request was submitted only on the previous night, by which time the training slots had already been allocated to other teams. Consequently, the request could not be accommodated.”
After the loss to Netherlands, Namibia’s coach Craig Williams seemed to be under the impression that his team would be training under lights ahead of the India game and was looking forward to making the most of it.
“All we can do is, we’ve got a night session planned,” Williams had said on Tuesday. “I’m just going to be honest with you, for us to play under lights is always going to be difficult because we don’t play that much under lights. I mean we played against India and that was also quite tough for us, so we always prepare as best we can, get the guys in a good mental space …So preparing for India under lights will obviously tick our boxes and try to put the guys in the best position that they can to be able to have a successful game.”