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Merwe Gerhard Erasmus (born 11 April 1995) is a Namibian cricketer, and the current captain of the Namibia cricket team.

Career

Erasmus first played at senior level for Namibia in February 2011, aged 15, against a touring Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) side. He made his international and first-class debut against Ireland in September 2011 in the 2011–2013 ICC Intercontinental Cup, and at the age of 16, became the youngest player in the team's history. He was a member of Namibia's squad for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.

Erasmus was included in the Namibia under-19s squad for the 2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Australia. He captained the team at the 2014 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Erasmus played in Namibia's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament. In August 2018, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2018 Africa T20 Cup.

In March 2019, Erasmus was named as the captain of Namibia's squad for the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament. Namibia finished in the top four places in the tournament, therefore gaining One Day International (ODI) status. Erasmus made his ODI debut for Namibia on 27 April 2019, against Oman, in the tournament's final. In May 2019, he was named as the captain of Namibia's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier tournament in Uganda. He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Namibia against Ghana on 20 May 2019.

In June 2019, Erasmus was one of twenty-five cricketers to be named in Cricket Namibia's Elite Men's Squad ahead of the 2019–20 international season. In September 2019, he was named as the captain of Namibia's squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates. He was the leading run-scorer for Namibia in the tournament, with 268 runs in nine matches. Following the conclusion of the final, he was named as the player of the tournament.

In September 2021, Erasmus was named as the captain of Namibia's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, with the International Cricket Council (ICC) later naming him as the key player in Namibia's team. In a warm-up match against Scotland before the tournament, he broke a finger while fielding. However, he decided to continue playing in the tournament and captain his team in spite of the injury.

In March 2022, in the second match of the 2022 United Arab Emirates Tri-Nation Series, Erasmus scored his first century in ODI cricket, with 121 not out. The following month, in the second match against Uganda, Erasmus also scored his first century in T20I cricket, with an unbeaten 100 against Uganda.

In January 2023, Erasmus won the International Cricket Council's Associate Cricketer of the Year award. Erasmus scored 956 ODI runs at an average of 56.23 and took a dozen wickets in 2022, and scored a century in both ODI and T20I formats.

In May 2024, he was named the captain in Namibia’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.

Personal life

As of 2018, Erasmus was a fourth-year law student at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. His father Francois runs a family law firm in Windhoek and is a former president of Cricket Namibia and associate director of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

References

1. "Gerhard Erasmus". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
2. "Erasmus Ton carries Namibia to victory". Cricket South Africa. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
3. ^ Della Penna, Peter (12 February 2018). "A tournament that could decide Gerhard Erasmus' career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
4. "Belfast, Sep 6 - 9 2011, ICC Intercontinental Cup". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
5. Schütz, Helge (28 May 2020). "Spotlight on Gerhard Erasmus". The Namibian. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
6. "Namibia news: Sarel Burger to lead Namibia in World T20 qualifiers | Other Countries Cricket News". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
7. "All 16 team squads announced for ICC U19 CWC, ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 News –". Official Website. 12 July 2012. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
8. "Gerhard Erasmus to captain Namibia at U-19 World Cup". ESPNcricinfo. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
9. "Six teams vying for the final two spots in ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
10. "Cricket Namibia to compete in T20 Africa Cup". The Namibian. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
11. "The Squad Participating In The ICC World League 2 Tournament". Cricket Namibia. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
12. "Papua New Guinea secure top-four finish on dramatic final day". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
13. "Final, ICC World Cricket League Division Two at Windhoek, Apr 27 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
14. "Six teams looking to keep T20 World Cup dreams alive in Africa final". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
15. "African men in Uganda for T20 showdown". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
16. "5th Match, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Region Final at Kampala, May 20 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
17. "Breaking News – Announcement of the 2019–2020 National Elite Training Squad". Cricket Namibia. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
18. "Elite cricket training squad announced". Erongo. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
19. "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier Send Off". Cricket Namibia. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
20. "Captains enthusiastic ahead of ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
21. "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier, 2019/20 - Namibia: Batting and bowling averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
22. "Roelof van der Merwe and Brandon Glover help Netherlands defend title". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
23. "Namibia name T20 World Cup squad, include David Wiese". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
24. "Namibia's golden generation ready to make waves after 18-year absence from the big stage". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
25. "'If we create a brand that people love, cricket won't just be a white man's sport, it'll be a Namibian sport'". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
26. "Brilliant Erasmus leads Namibia to victory". The Namibian. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
27. "Centuries in Twenty20 International cricket – innings by innings". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
28. "Uganda beat Namibia despite Erasmus century". The Namibian. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
29. "Erasmus on top of Associate world". The Namibian. Archived from the original on 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
30. "Winner of the Men's Associate Cricketer of the Year revealed". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
31. "Namibia is ready with their 15-Player Squad". ScoreWaves. Retrieved 11 June 2024.

External links

• Gerhard Erasmus at ESPNcricinfo

Namibia squads

v t e Namibia squad – 2021 Men's T20 World Cup 1 Scholtz 7 Erasmus (c) 11 Baard 12 Smit 19 Loftie-Eaton 23 Ya France 46 Williams 47 Shikongo 48 Green (wk) 49 Frylinck 55 Birkenstock 63 van Lingen 70 Trumpelmann – du Preez (wk) Coach: Pierre de Bruyn Mauritius Ngupita as reserve for the team. v t e Namibia squad – 2022 Men's T20 World Cup 1 Scholtz 6 Louwrens (wk) 7 Erasmus (c) 9 Lungameni 11 Baard 12 Smit 15 la Cock 19 Loftie-Eaton 23 Ya France 47 Shikongo 48 Green (wk) 49 Frylinck 55 Birkenstock 63 van Lingen 70 Trumpelmann 96 Wiese Coach: Pierre de Bruyn v t e Namibia squad – 2024 Men's T20 World Cup 1 Scholtz 4 Brassell 5 Kruger 7 Erasmus (c) 8 Kotze (wk) 9 Lungameni 12 Smit 22 Leicher 47 Shikongo 48 Green (wk) 49 Frylinck 63 van Lingen 64 Davin 70 Trumpelmann 96 Wiese - Blignaut Coach: Pierre de Bruyn

• 1995 births
• Living people
• Cricketers from Windhoek
• Namibian cricketers
• Namibia One Day International cricketers
• Namibia Twenty20 International cricketers