Ruben Trumpelmann has shown this need only be the start

NICK FRIEND: For a country with five cricket grounds, though, to compete for so long on this stage is an achievement in itself

The last fortnight has been busy for the Ruben Trumpelmann bandwagon, taking on new members at every turn.

The T20 circuit loves a left-arm seamer: everyone has one, Namibia have three.

And while JJ Smit entered this tournament as the best-known of the lot, Trumpelmann – a 23-year-old Durban boy who grew up in Pretoria – will leave the United Arab Emirates with his reputation enhanced to the point perhaps of anticipating calls from interested franchises in the months to come. Across second-tier tournaments at least, he would represent a cheap, intriguing option with a high ceiling: raw, certainly, but with pace to burn and the physique to speed up.

“I want to become the best associate bowler in the world,” he said ahead of this game in an interview with the host broadcaster. There is plenty of competition in that regard, not least from his fellow left-arm seamers: Oman’s Bilal Khan is a fine operator, the Netherlands’ Fred Klaassen another. Ireland are no longer an associate nation, but Josh Little has long been on an upward curve.

Trumpelmann began against Pakistan with a maiden, beating Mohammad Rizwan on several occasions, and at one stage had bowled two overs for just two runs, before being taken down thereafter, but that is the nature of the beast. There is so much to like about a bowler who not long ago was playing against the country he has since adopted on the international stage on account of his father’s birthplace in Windhoek.

When he was 18, Trumpelmann played in a win for Northerns over Namibia Under-19s. Today wasn’t even his first time bowling at Rizwan and Babar Azam, having featured in 2018 for a South African Invitational XI against the touring Pakistanis.

^{Ruben Trumpelmann went wicketless but was excellent with the new ball}

But his move – like plenty in this impressive Namibian setup – owed much to the roles of head coach Pierre de Bruyn and Albie Morkel, his assistant, who Trumplemann knew already. “I saw Albie at the airport, and he said why don't I consider playing for Namibia, because by then they had gained ODI status,” he explained last summer. That leap into the unknown has paid off.

Two winters ago, Rudie van Vuuren – Cricket Namibia’s president – spoke to The Cricketer about the importance of this opportunity, how the appearance of his national team at a global event for just the second time could change lives back home. He was part of the side that reached the 2003 World Cup, and his only regret is that a second-coming has taken 18 years.

“That guy’s a raw talent – he could be Namibia’s Kagiso Rabada,” he said of Ben Shikongo, who was finally afforded his World Cup debut this afternoon. “I think the World Cup is just going to fast-track their careers. I sincerely hope that these guys start making good money so that people can see what can be done if you play cricket.”

For Shikongo, a highly regarded 21-year-old, it hasn’t quite gone to plan. But what van Vuuren describes is what Trumpelmann has experienced: a breakthrough moment that might just transcend these few weeks.

Clocked regularly in the region of 140kph throughout and a lifelong fan of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Mitchell Johnson, Trumpelmann went viral after taking three wickets in the opening over against Scotland. The third was his favourite: a booming inswinger that thudded into the knee-roll of Richie Berrington – the kind that Shaheen Shah Afridi has made his hallmark.

The significance of a day out like that is in the longevity of its memory, but also – more pertinently as he looks to develop his career from this point – in offering evidence of his worth as a left-armer with the new white ball, such a key phase of any T20 game if the bowler has it in him to execute his skills. In a small sample size, six of his 10 wickets in T20Is have come inside the powerplay.

^{Namibia have impressed throughout this tournament}

Once Pakistan came through his opening burst unscathed – and it was compliment enough that one of the game’s foremost opening partnerships was happy just to survive against him – they made hay. Babar and Rizwan eventually cut loose, while Mohammad Hafeez showed his enduring class with a late cameo.

For a country with five cricket grounds, though, to compete for so long on this stage is an achievement in itself. It would have been easy for Namibia’s campaign to become the David Wiese Show, but several of his teammates – Trumpelmann, Smit, Gerhard Erasmus and Nicol Loftie-Eaton all among them – have ensured that has never been the case.

“With this exposure, it shows that we can operate at this level,” reflected Erasmus, the captain, at the post-match presentation. He is nursing a finger injury but won’t be denied this time.

“This is a real milestone for cricket in Namibia, and I don’t want to miss it,” he smiled.

All being well, this is just the start.

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