ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

October 22, 2021

Pierre De Bruyn

Sharjah Stadium

Namibia

Post Match Media Conference

Namibia 126/2, Ireland 125/8.

Q. Just talk us through how that feels, an amazing moment for Namibian cricket. How happy is the squad and how excited are you going into the next few weeks?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: Yeah, I mean, we're ecstatic. I've got to just remind myself what just happened out there. But it happened to a really good group of people.

We're not an organisation with the luxury of a lot of resources around us. I've got 18 players to pick from in my national squad. And I know what they've put in the last three years, and what happened out there today was -- yeah, I suppose it sounds like a cliche, that the hard work has paid off, but it certainly did, and I'm really ecstatic for the boys.

Q. The next few weeks, how do you kind of come from this high and keep level-headed going into the sort of fixtures you're going to get against the likes of India, Pakistan and New Zealand?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: Yeah, look, it's time for us to reflect and also enjoy this moment, but we certainly didn't come here just to go and lie down now. Facing India, Pakistan, New Zealand, those type of teams is going to be a great experience for these players, but you know, we want to be competitive in whatever we do, with ball, bat, in the field, the way we present ourselves, the way -- we're going to compete, so we're looking forward to that.

We've made history now, advancing to the Super 12. First time ever we're going to play against these guys in a T20 World Cup. We are going to enjoy the next 24 hours or so and then we're going to sit down as a group again and we're going to put some goals on the table.

Q. What was your advice to the players before the start to play this important match, and what will be the impact of this victory in your country?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: Oh, I can just imagine what's going on in Namibia right now. It is a Friday afternoon there, so they'll be ecstatic. It will be a late night for the supporters back home.

But the planning for us going into this game was calm planning. If you look at this surface here and the conditions, it actually suits us. That's what we get back home.

We had a solid game plan. We made sure that we stuck to it. It was quite simple: Don't leave the stumps, play straight and take it deep.

I think where Ireland got it wrong was after that devastating powerplay, the next four overs, 16 for 2, they fell asleep. We just knew that we needed to take it deep, rotate hard. We ran much better between the wickets.

So yeah, the planning for me was something that we discussed and also the opposition analysis.

Q. Can you give us a little bit of a picture there about what is it like in terms of resources in Namibia? You mentioned you guys are not working with a big organisation. Just what have you had to work with over the last -- I guess it's been two years, and how have you put this team together? You guys have made history.

PIERRE DE BRUYN: Yes, we have. In 2019 April, that's when we qualified and got our ODI status. That made a big difference. I had three contract, full-time contracted players. That allowed me to get 16 full-time contracted players, just that ODI status, and that gave us the opportunity to build.

But when it comes to the normal resources if you measure yourself against full members, we're way off in terms of our facilities, full-time coaches, full-time SNCs, doctors, all of that. But we've got a saying that we've got to find a way.

As a coach myself, I've really made sure that the players and us as a group, we just use our opportunities. We don't have everything, but these times like we're sitting here winning a cricket game knowing that we're going to the next World Cup. We know financially it makes a difference and we can upscale and we can invest a little bit more in our resources.

Q. Can you just tell us about some of the guys you've brought in? You've got Albie, you've got Richard Das Neves and then you had David Wiese come through. How did those things work out and what have they added?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: Yeah, Albie and myself, we started together January 2019. It's been a great journey with Albie. It's a guy that I wanted from the start. We've known each other for over 20 years. We played together, and what he brings alongside myself as a head coach, that's exactly what I needed, his expertise, his calmness.

Then for this World Cup I brought in a couple of consultants just for the World Cup, and yeah, my analyst Riaan Minnie, he's been around for two years.

David Wiese, look, he's a fantastic player for us. His parents were born in Namibia, so he's eligible to play for us. What David has done the last two games is fantastic to see.

Q. It's been a busy World Cup, and Namibia's first-ever win only came just over a week ago against Netherlands. How do you reflect back on the journey to going against the likes of some of the top cricketing nations?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: I don't get the first part of your question, but looking forward to this next stage. You know, it's ultimately a dream that's come true for these players. They were seven, six years old, boys dreaming of playing a against India or Pakistan in a World Cup, and it's happened. We're going to have a nice bus journey back to our hotel, and for me that dream has come true for these players. All they had the last few years until now was to watch these guys on TV and dream about it, and they're going to wake up in the morning thinking it's real.

I'm just so pleased for them.

Q. Getting to the tournament, you sort of accepted the tag line as underdogs, but now that you've progressed to the Super 12s, just a little insight what does it actually mean for team?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: Yeah, we're certainly still the underdogs going into the Super 12s now, so that hasn't changed. But coming here, we didn't mind that tag. We've gladly accepted it.

But we had a lot to lose. That we didn't accept, that saying of nothing to lose. We had a lot to lose, resources, financial impact, everything, sponsors, you name it.

We are going into that Group B as definitely the underdogs. Those guys will look at us and say, okay, it should be an easy pushover, but I think what we've showed the cricketing world over the last week is that we're not a pushover. We're going to keep on competing regardless of the result, and we pride ourselves to play cricket like that.

Yeah, we're looking forward to it, but we're not going to be a pushover. We're going to compete to the best of our ability.