'Seemed Like The Right Time': Namibia's David Wiese Announces International Retirement
Namibia's camapign ended after their third group stage loss on Sunday to defending champion England. Their only win in the tournament came against Oman.
After Wiese was dismissed by Jofra Archer in the final over of Namibia's chase in a rain-curtailed match, he raised his helmet and bat to the crowd as he walked off before being greeted by his teammates, including captain Gerhard Erasmus, at the dugout.
"I mean, (the next) 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," Wiese said in the post match press conference. Obviously, I would 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," he said.
"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," he added.
Wiese, who usually bats in the middle order, was promoted up the order to no. 3, smashed two sixes and a four in successive Adil Rashid in his 27 off 12 innings.
Originally from South Africa, Weise has played in three consecutive T20 World Cups for Namibia.
Wiese made his T20I debut for South Africa in 2013 and his ODI debut in 2015. He also represented the Proteas in the 2016 T20 World Cup. In 2021, he debuted for Namibia in the T20 World Cup and played a key role in their qualification for the Super 12s.
Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus too confirmed that Sunday's game against England was Wiese's last game for Namibia.
"Unfortunately it was his last game, which is a great moment for him to perform like that in his last game," Eramus said in post match interview.
"Massive impact, in terms of the level of cricket he brought to our circle. He's a great guy on the field in terms of performance but off the field he is someone we have really learned a lot from and he's inspired us to new heights and greater heights," the Namibia skipper said.