Cricket Namibia guaranteed heft pay-off
THE senior men’s cricket national team, nicknamed The Richelieu Eagles are guaranteed a whooping US$ 40 000 (About N$600 000) for participating in the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup group stages slated for Australia from October 16 to November 13.
The Eagles’ opening match will be against Sri Lanka on October 16, with another fixture penciled for October 18 against Netherlands and the last group game will be on October 20 against the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is against the last two, Netherland and the UAE, that the Richelieu Eagle will have any hope of causing an upset at the World Cup and stand a chance of winning a massive war-chest.
This was revealed by ICC, following an announcement on prize money for the tournament title winners will taking home a massive $US 1.6 million (about N$17 million).
The ICC announced that the winning side at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Melbourne on November 13 would receive prize money of US$ 1.
6 million, with the runners-up guaranteed half the amount.
At the end of the 16-team tournament that runs for nearly a month, the losing semi-finalists will each get US$ 400 000 from the US$ 5.
6 million total prize pool.
The eight teams who exit at the Super 12 stage will each receive US$ 70 000. As was the case at last’s T20 World Cup, a win in each of the 30 games in the Super 12 phase, will be worth US$ 40,000.
The eight teams that have already made it directly to the Super 12 stage are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.
The other eight teams – Namibia, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, UAE in Group A and West Indies, Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe in Group B – are split into two groups of four and will play the first round. For any win in the first round, prize money of US$ 40,000 will be awarded, with the 12 matches amounting to US$ 480,000.
The four teams knocked out in the first round will get US$ 40,000 each.
Former national team batsman, Danie Keulder believes the current Richeliu Eagles squad has what it takes to compete against the big boys at the World Cup, something that the class of 2003 World Cup in South Africa failed to do.
“The thing about the current squad is that even though majority of the players are in their early years of their careers they have more experienced when compared to our squad that time in 2003. We played in the 50 Over format while they are going to play in the 20 Over competition which is so easier. Our current squad can cause a big surprise to one or two big teams like Sri Lanka or Pakistan.
On the issue of big money, the Eagles are guaranteed to receive, Keulder urged the players to remain focus on the job and not on the money.
“It is dangerous if they focus on the money, however, money is a big motivator but they should not focus too much on that,” Keulder said.
www.icc-cricket.com
Additional information by Michael Uugwanga