On Wednesday, the International Cricket Council honoured Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus as the Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year 2022.
Even though it was going to be difficult for Gerhard Erasmus and the rest of his Namibian colleagues to replicate their success from 2021, the national captain was once again outstanding in 2022, making his impact in both white-ball formats of the game.
The 27-year-old player came close to scoring 1,000 runs in one-day internationals during the course of the calendar year, which is an accomplishment that is even more remarkable considering that only eight of his 20 innings were played in home conditions.
Right-handed batsman Gerhard Erasmus started off his year in one-day international cricket with a match-winning innings of 121* (120) against Oman in Dubai. He went on to strike eight half-centuries during the course of the year.
Before filling his boots with two tri-series on home soil, Gerhard Erasmus honed his skills on the League 2 trails in Scotland and Papua New Guinea.
As Namibia made a late push in the battle for the Cricket World Cup League 2 competition, Gerhard Erasmus led the team to 13 wins out of their 21 One-Day International matches in the year. He also contributed to the circuit with a dozen wickets.
On the Twenty20 International front, Gerhard Erasmus continued to develop his power game throughout the tournament. Before making multiple contributions in his team’s historic Twenty20 International series win over Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, he struck an undefeated century against Uganda in a Twenty20 International series that was played at home.
Batting contributions made by Gerhard Erasmus were beneficial to the team during their second consecutive T20 World Cup campaign. However, the pinnacle of Erasmus’s career will undoubtedly be leading his team to victory over Sri Lanka to start the campaign.
In the process of the side’s comeback from 93/6 to 163/7, Gerhard Erasmus displayed excellent strategy by rotating his bowlers, who contributed to a solid team effort to back everything up.
The captain took the catch of Dushmantha Chameera to clinch the comeback win, which was a result that brought attention to people all over the world.
At the ICC Academy in Dubai, Erasmus produced what was arguably the best individual performance that was witnessed during the Cricket World Cup League 2 cycle. He was able to pull his team out of danger and win the match against Oman.
In the tenth over of the first innings, Erasmus went out with his side sitting at 34/2, but the Namibians soon found themselves in a deeper hole as the left-arm pace bowling of Bilal Khan (4/42) wrecked havoc.
At the score of 53/7, the skipper was required to continue with the tail since Bilal and Kaleemullah had extracted life from the surface, which caused several of Erasmus’ teammates to be eliminated.
The rebuilding process began with an eighth wicket stand of 50 runs scored in conjunction with Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, and he found another partner in No. 10 Bernard Scholtz, who scored a brave 30 runs off of 52 deliveries.
While picking up the pieces, Erasmus reached his half-century in 75 balls. However, he upped the ante in the back end, making his first one-day international century before concluding with 121* (120) in a total score of 226.
On the battlefield, Erasmus was responsible for ensuring that Namibia responded with force. Oman was bowled out for just 116, giving Namibia a victory by 110 runs. Six of Namibia’s seven bowlers were successful in taking wickets.
The most outstanding player award should have gone to Erasmus without question.
In one day internationals during the year 2022, Gerhard scored 956 runs at an average of 56.23, including one century and eight half-centuries.
In addition, he collected 12 wickets in the format, averaging 27.66 runs per wicket and having an economy rate of 4.04.
In 11 Twenty20 Internationals, Erasmus scored a total of 306 runs, averaging 38.25 runs per game, with one century and one fifty. In the format, he was also responsible for six wickets. The strike rate at which these runs were scored was 122.40.
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