Namibia allrounder David Wiese announced his retirement from international cricket following the final T20 World Cup 2024 group stage match against England.
David Wiese, who began his international career with South Africa, will transfer allegiances and join the Namibian squad in 2021. He would go on to become a Namibian icon thanks to his T20 World Cup achievements.
David Wiese was Namibia’s hero earlier in the T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, winning a match against Oman by batting and bowling in the Super Over. The Namibia and England players applauded the all-rounder as he exited the field on Sunday following a cameo appearance during the match in Antigua.
Wiese said that the situation was the best for him to end his time with Namibia and felt it was the right time to move on.
“Yeah, yeah, for now. I mean, next year’s T20 World Cup is still two years away, I’m 39 years old now, so, in terms of international cricket, I don’t know if there’s much left in me. Obviously, I still like to play the game for a couple more years, I feel like I’ve still got a lot to contribute and a lot to play. But I just feel like what better place to end a special career for me personally with Namibia. I’ve had a lot of good times with them and to play my last game for them possibly at a World Cup against a world-class team like England, it just seemed like the right time,” said Wiese in press conference.
“It took me by surprise also”- David Wiese of Nikolaas Davin retiring out
The rain-shortened encounter between England and Namibia saw the defending champions score 122 in 10 overs. Namibia enjoyed a fantastic start, but Nikolaas Davin opted to retire, leading David Wiese to step in.
The all-rounder struck 27 off 12 balls before being removed and stated he was stunned by the decision as well. Namibia lost the match by 41 runs.
“Yeah, it took me by surprise also. I wasn’t quite expecting that. I think it was just, , Obviously there was only three or four overs left and traditionally in a T20 game that’s when our time can make an impact. So, I just thought we’d try to simplify it that way and say there’s only a couple of overs left. We knew Ilash still had another over and maybe to the shorter side there so if I could get in there and face a couple of before his over, I could try and take him down for four big over there and to give us a bit of momentum,” said Wiese.
Originally from South Africa, he became eligible to play for Namibia five years after deciding to join Kolpak in 2016. He debuted for Namibia in the first round of the 2021 T20 World Cup.
David Wiese has now played in three consecutive T20 World Cups for Namibia. He has played 34 T20Is for Namibia, scoring 532 runs and taking 35 wickets. He’s also played nine One-Day Internationals for them, scoring 228 runs and collecting six wickets. In total, he has played 54 T20Is and 15 ODIs.