David Weise, a name that rose to fame in the South African domestic setup as well as global club cricket, when this all-rounder from Mpumalanga Province in Protea land fired a brilliant sixty one off twenty eight. The tournament was the erstwhile Champions League.
In the 2012 edition, Weise’s franchise the Titans were up against the Sydney Sixers in the semi-finals. The all-rounder’s fine power-packed batting display included six massive sixes as his team from Pretoria posted 163 for the loss of five wickets. The lanky all-rounder came in at a time when his team were reeling at eighty two for five and through his sheer might with the willow powered them to a respectable total.
The Sydney Sixers in reply lost eight wickets chasing this target down albeit somehow managed to scrape the finish line in the end.
The South African media at the time hailed Weise as the next Kluesner of the Protea limited overs set up like they had done for Albie Morkel a few years back. Unfortunately, this well-built all-rounder on the international stage much like Morkel failed to live up to expectations.
Having made his T20I debut in 2013, Weise’s best all-round display came against the West Indies in January 2015, when he scored a steady twenty one of sixteen deliveries helping his team post a mammoth 195. When it came to the other discipline, David again put his hand up grabbing five wickets for just twenty three runs earning his team a decisive victory by a whopping margin of sixty nine runs. This would also be his maiden and only fifer in T20 internationals. Yet.
The Protea Management included him in the 2016 South African squad for the T20 World Cup in India, albeit the entire team failed to live up to expectations not even qualifying for the knock-out stages. A very familiar story when it comes to South Africa in big tournaments, isn’t it?
Post the World Cup, Weise fell out of favour with the Proteas and decided to go Kolpak in 2017 to play for Sussex. The South African became a mainstay for the county over the next three years. He also continued to ply his trade with other franchise tournaments around the world like the CPL and PSL which has brought him into the international fold again.
Yes, David Weise will play international cricket again after being dumped by the Proteas and going Kolpak.
The power of Weise has broken the South African barrier to play for their neighbours, Namibia.
Weise has qualified to represent the ICC associate nation owing to his father being of a Namibian origin. Cricket Namibia CEO Johan Muller confirmed that Wiese has made himself available to play and has been selected in the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE.
Talk about getting a second life on the international scene after a gap of five years.
Another South African who comes to mind taking a similar route was Roelof van der Merwe who qualified to play for Netherlands after leaving the Proteas.
Coming back to Weise, the all-rounder’s first prerogative would be to help Namibia secure a spot in the Super 12s as his team are pitted against Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands Oman, PNG, Scotland and the 2014 tournament Champions Sri Lanka in Round 1.
Only four teams from Round 1 will make it to the Super 12s which is the business end of he tournament. If Namibia do make the step up, they will be pitted against neighbours South Africa in the main group.
The Eagles have done immensely well to make it to their maiden T20 World Cup pipping regulars Zimbabwe as the second African nation. The onus will now rest on David Weise to make sure this southern African nation progresses further in the T20 show-piece.
Well, if motivation is a question for Weise then helping his team qualify to the Super 12s to be pitted against his former nation should be enough for him to seal the deal.
Weise has broken the South African barrier to play for Namibia. Can he break the Round 1 barrier to help his team compete with the best?
Well, only time will tell as the tournament gets underway on October 17, 2021.
