Pierre de Bruyn, a former South African cricketer who played 91 first-class matches, has been appointed head coach of the Namibia senior men's team. He replaces Dee Thakur, who will now take the position of Manager of Development and Age Group Coaching. De Bruyn's stint will officially commence on January 1, 2019.
De Bruyn's immediate focus will be to help Namibia finish in the top four of the six-team final qualifying tournament for the CWC League 2, which is the second rung of international 50-overs cricket in the ICC's redesigned qualification pathway to the 2023 World Cup. Namibia will host the tournament, which also features Canada, Hong Kong, PNG, Oman and USA, in April 2019. Teams finishing in the top four will join Nepal, Scotland and UAE in CWC League 2.
This is not de Bruyn's first association with Namibia cricket. He had worked as a consultant with the Under-19 team in the second half of 2015, before joining Leicestershire to work with the club's second XI, and eventually taking over as head coach, a role he carried out for a year.
"I am very excited to take the role as Head Coach for a national team with such rich history and tradition," de Bruyn said.
"It is a country that has the potential to compete with the top Associate teams in the world and I am confident that we can align our vision and goals to reach success. As a former Leicestershire County Head Coach, I have learnt a lot and looking to implement good and clear strategies within the Cricket Namibia pipeline. It is important for me that every young players in Namibia should dream of playing for their country."