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Craig Williams (cricketer)

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Craig Williams
Personal information
Full name
Craig George Williams
Born (1984-02-25) 25 February 1984 (age 40)
Oshakati, South-West Africa
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleTop order batsman
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 25)27 April 2019 v Oman
Last ODI16 July 2022 v Nepal
T20I debut (cap 13)19 August 2019 v Botswana
Last T20I24 May 2022 v Zimbabwe
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA
Matches 18 35 93 167
Runs scored 488 805 6,484 5,011
Batting average 30.50 27.75 40.52 35.28
100s/50s 1/1 0/6 15/34 8/33
Top score 129* 81 184 129*
Balls bowled 288 174 6,561 3,668
Wickets 3 9 117 102
Bowling average 74.66 20.11 32.99 29.74
5 wickets in innings 0 0 4 1
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 1/37 3/9 5/22 6/37
Catches/stumpings 6/– 3/– 76/0 65/0
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 20 July 2022

Craig George Williams (born 25 February 1984) is a Namibian cricketer.[1] He currently runs a cricket shop in Namibia besides working as a quality/quantity surveyor writing reports for insurance companies as well as loss adjusting.[2]

Williams also opened a cricket academy in Windhoek which is regarded as Namibia's first state of the art indoor training facility.[3][4][5]

Biography

[edit]

He was born in South West Africa in 1984 and grew up in Pretoria, South Africa. He moved to his native country Namibia at the age of 23.[6]

Career

[edit]

Williams made his first-class debut for the Namibian cricket team in 2007, in a Three-Day South African Provincial Challenge match against North West. Williams bowled four overs in the first innings of the match, conceding 23 runs. He scored a half-century in his debut first-class innings.[7]

He scored twin centuries in the final of the 2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Shield against the United Arab Emirates to guide Namibia to Intercontinental Shield triumph in Dubai.[8][9] He was also the leading run scorer of the 2009-10 ICC Intercontinental Shield with a tally of 498 runs in 4 matches.[10]

Williams has since played for the Namibia A team, scoring a century against Canada in his first appearance in the side. In January 2018, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament.[11]

In February 2018, he retired from cricket, after playing for Namibia against Free State in the 2017–18 CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge.[12][13] He was the leading run-scorer in the 2017–18 Sunfoil 3-Day Cup for Namibia, with 687 runs in eight matches.[14] He initially retired with the intention of focusing on his family commitments and business. However, he was convinced by the head coach of Namibia, Pierre de Bruyn to come out of retirement given his experience at the highest level. After having discussions with the coach, Craig made comeback return to the national team in 2019.[1]

In March 2019, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament.[15] Namibia finished in the top four places in the tournament, therefore gaining One Day International (ODI) status.[16] Williams made his ODI debut for Namibia on 27 April 2019, against Oman, in the tournament's final.[17]

In June 2019, he was one of twenty-five cricketers to be named in Cricket Namibia's Elite Men's Squad ahead of the 2019–20 international season.[18][19] He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Namibia against Botswana on 19 August 2019 during Botswana's tour of Namibia.[20] In September 2019, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates.[21]

On 8 January 2020, in the 2020 Oman Tri-Nation Series match against Oman, Williams scored his first century in an ODI, with an unbeaten 129.[22] In September 2021, Williams was named in Namibia's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[23]

In October 2021, during the 2021 Summer T20 Bash, he became only the third batsman ever to score four consecutive half-centuries in T20Is after Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle. He also matched the record for most fifties in consecutive T20I appearances. In September 2022, he once again retired from international cricket, marking the occasion by taking a wicket (clean bowled) with his last ball in international competition, against the South African Lions.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Craig Williams savouring decision to return for Namibia". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Namibia's Craig Williams – World Cup by day, loss adjuster by night". France 24. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Craig Williams opens the first indoor cricket facility in Namibia". Emerging Cricket. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  4. ^ The Namibian, The. "Williams opens indoor cricket facility". The Namibian. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  5. ^ "We have five cricket pitches in the country". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Personality of the week – Craig Williams: Our World Cup performance inspired the nation". Truth, for its own sake. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  7. ^ Namibia vs. North West
  8. ^ Staff. "Williams guides Namibia to I-Shield triumph – Sports – Cricket – Emirates24|7". emirates247.com. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Williams' second ton earns Namibia title". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  10. ^ "ICC Intercontinental Shield, 2009/10 / Records / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Six teams vying for the final two spots in ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Media Release -Veteran players retire". Cricket Namibia. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Burger and Williams retire as Namibia draw". The Namibian. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Sunfoil 3-Day Cup, 2017/18 Namibia: Batting and bowling averages". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  15. ^ "The Squad Participating in the ICC World League 2 Tournament". Cricket Namibia. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Papua New Guinea secure top-four finish on dramatic final day". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Final, ICC World Cricket League Division Two at Windhoek, Apr 27 2019". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  18. ^ "Breaking News – Announcement of the 2019–2020 National Elite Training Squad". Cricket Namibia. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  19. ^ "Elite cricket training squad announced". Erongo. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  20. ^ "1st T20I, Botswana tour of Namibia at Windhoek, Aug 19 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  21. ^ "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier Send Off". Cricket Namibia. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  22. ^ "Craig Williams century powers Namibia to victory over Oman in World Cup League Two". The National. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Namibia name T20 World Cup squad, include David Wiese". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  24. ^ "Records | Twenty20 Internationals | Batting records | Fifties in consecutive innings | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
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