Johannes Jonathan Smit (born 10 November 1995) is a Namibian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who made his senior debut for the Namibian national side in February 2012, aged 16.

Early career

A left-arm

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...

from Keetmanshoop, Smit made his debut for the Namibian under-19 side during the 2011–12 season. He played five matches in that season's Khaya Majola Week, held in December 2011, with Namibia facing the under-19 teams of the South African domestic teams.Miscellaneous matches played by Johannes Smit (54)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 February 2015. Towards the end of the season, in February 2012, Smit was selected to make his first-class debut for the Namibian senior team. He took a single wicket on debut against

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

in the South African Three-Day Provincial Competition, that of Mujahid Behardien. Smit played another first-class match the following season, again against Western Province.First-class matches played by Johannes Smit (11)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 February 2015. He again featured for the under-19s in Khaya Majola Week, and took seven wickets, behind only Bredell Wessels for Namibia. His twelve

maiden over Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

s at the tournament was bettered by only two players – KwaZulu-Natal's

Kyle Simmonds Kyle Simmonds (born 6 January 1994) is a South African first-class cricketer. He was included in Boland's squad for the 2016 Africa T20 Cup. In August 2017, he was named in Stellenbosch Monarchs' squad for the first season of the T20 Global Lea ...

(17) and Easterns' Vincent Moore (14). At the 2013 ICC Africa Under-19 Championship, played in Uganda in May 2013, Smit took twelve wickets, behind only

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Paramveer Singh Paramveer Singh (born 22 November 1987) is an Indian former cricketer. He played two first-class matches for Hyderabad between 2010 and 2012. See also * List of Hyderabad cricketers This is a list of all cricketers who have played First-c ...

. He was also named Player of the Final, after taking 4/17 from eight overs, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

, to help Namibia defeat

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by 52 runs, and thus qualify for the 2014 Under-19 World Cup. Smit made his under-19

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) debut at the World Cup, played in the United Arab Emirates in February 2014. He featured in all six of Namibia's matches at the tournament, with his eight wickets behind only Bredell Wessells (14) for Namibia. Generally opening the bowling with either

Marius Delport Marius Delport (born 18 March 1994) is a Namibian first-class cricketer. He played in the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was a one-day cricket competition for sixteen international U-19 cricketing t ...

or Kobus Brand, his best figures, 3/55, came against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

International career

Outside of his under-19 appearances, Smit has become a regular for the Namibian senior side in both South African domestic tournaments and international competitions, featuring at the 2013 Intercontinental Cup and WCL Championship, the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier, and the 2014 World Cup Qualifier.List A matches played by Johannes Smit (18)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 February 2015. Against

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

at the 2014 World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand, he took 3/23 from ten overs opening with Louis Klazinga, limiting Kenya to 186/8 from their 50 overs. Batting ninth in Namibia's innings, he came to the wicket with the score at 144/7, after

Sarel Burger Sarel Francois Burger (born 13 February 1983) is a Namibian former cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He played in two One Day Internationals in the Cricket World Cup in 2003. He also participated in List ...

's dismissal, and subsequently scored 33

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

from 25 balls. Namibia won by two wickets (with seven balls remaining), and Smit was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. In January 2018, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament. In August 2018, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2018 Africa T20 Cup. In March 2019, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament. Namibia finished in the top four places in the tournament, therefore gaining

(ODI) status. Smit made his ODI debut for Namibia on 27 April 2019, against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

, in the tournament's final. Following the conclusion of the competition, Smit was named as the Player of the Tournament. In May 2019, he was named in Namibia's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier tournament in Uganda. He made his

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) debut for Namibia against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

on 20 May 2019. In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Vancouver Knights franchise team in the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament. In doing so, he became the first Namibian cricketer to sign for an international T20 franchise. Later the same month, he was one of twenty-five cricketers to be named in

Cricket Namibia The Namibia Cricket Board, known commercially as Cricket Namibia, is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Namibia. Its current headquarters is in Windhoek, Namibia. Cricket Namibia is Namibia's representative at the Internatio ...

's Elite Men's Squad ahead of the 2019–20 international season. In September 2019, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates. He was the leading wicket-taker for Namibia in the tournament, with sixteen dismissals in nine matches. In September 2021, Smit was named as the vice-captain of Namibia's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. In November 2021, Smit was named as the captain of Namibia's team for the 2021 Namibia Tri-Nation Series after

Gerhard Erasmus Merwe Gerhard Erasmus (born 11 April 1995) is a Namibian cricketer, and the current captain of the Namibia cricket team. Career Erasmus first played at senior level for Namibia in February 2011, aged 15, against a touring Marylebone Cricket Clu ...

was ruled out due to an injury. On 10 April 2022, in the final match against Uganda, Smit became the first bowler for Namibia to take a hat-trick in T20I cricket. He also took his first five-wicket haul in a T20I match, finishing with figures of six wickets for ten runs from his four overs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, JJ 1995 births Living people Namibian cricketers Namibia One Day International cricketers Namibia Twenty20 International cricketers Twenty20 International hat-trick takers People from Keetmanshoop