Louis Klazinga is one of Namibia’s young stars and one of the lynchpins of their successful Intercontinental Cup campaign. He has that most elusive of weapons for an Associate bowler - the pace to trouble top order batsmen.
Namibia's Louis Klazinga
Still only 22 years of age he has already taken 50 first class wickets at an average of a shade over 20. He has benefited more than most from Namibia’s inclusion in the South African provincial tournament. After taking 15 wickets in his debut season he was well prepared to expose the weaknesses of Associate batting line ups in the Intercontinental Cup. He wreaked utter havoc against the UAE claiming match figures of 8-32. In truth Associate teams are rarely exposed to genuine pace and Klazinga while not in the express category is certainly capable of hurrying batsmen.
He was one of the brightest prospects on show at the World Cricket League division two tournament held in Namibia in late 2007. Surprisingly perhaps, given his impressive first class record, he was not one of the stars of the WCL2 despite proving unerringly economical. His spell of 3-11 against Denmark ripped out the heart of the middle order but he struggled to replicate that impact in the latter stages of the competition. With further experience in both the South African domestic league and the Intercontinental Cup Klazinga will mature and should Namibia qualify for the 2011 World Cup he could pose some problems for Test class batsmen.
He is complemented by the enigmatic all-rounder Gerrie Snyman and the ever reliable Bernie Burger in what is undoubtedly the strongest seam attack outside the Test world.
Postscript: At the time of writing (29th September ’08) Klazinga has enjoyed an excellent 2007-08 Intercontinental Cup campaign taking 22 wickets at an average of 19.36, his best being 4-55 against Canada. Namibia are on the verge of reaching the final after winning its first six matches. (Their final group match is against Ireland and starts on October 3rd).
Copyright: Cover Point
