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

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who made his 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 a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

from

Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It is named after , a German Empire, German industrialist and benefactor of the city. Keetmanshoop had a population of 27,862 people in 2023. History Before the colonial era, ...

, 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 South African domestic under-19 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 Provinc ...

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 In cricket, an over consists of six legal deliveries bowled from one end of a cricket pitch to the player batting at the other end, almost always by a single bowler. A maiden over is an over in which no runs are scored that count against the b ...

s at the tournament were bettered by only two players –

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

's Kyle Simmonds (17) and Easterns' Vincent Moore (14). At the 2013 ICC Africa Under-19 Championship, played in Uganda in May 2013, Smit took 12 wickets, behind only

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

's Paramveer Singh. 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 Wick ...

, to help Namibia defeat

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

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

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

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 The 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played in November 2013 in the United Arab Emirates and is a part of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier series. This edition of the qualifier for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 was an expanded version comprisi ...

, 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

at the 2014 World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand, he took 3/23 from ten overs opening with

Louis Klazinga Louis Klazinga (born 4 December 1985) is a Namibian former cricketer. After playing for Eldoraigne High School in Centurion, Gauteng, he first played for Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast ...

, 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, who has played for Namibia's national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He played in two One Day Internationals in the Cri ...

's dismissal, and subsequently scored 33

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

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 award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) 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 chose ...

. In January 2018, he was named in Namibia's squad for the

2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two was a cricket tournament that took place in February 2018 in Namibia. The United Arab Emirates won the tournament, after beating Nepal by 7 runs in the final. Canada and Namibia finished third and fourth ...

tournament. He was a member of Namibia's squad for the

2018 Africa T20 Cup The 2018 Africa T20 Cup was the fourth and final edition of the Africa T20 Cup, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. It was held in South Africa in September 2018, as a curtain-raiser to the 2018–19 South African domestic season. Provincial side Kw ...

. In March 2019, he was named in Namibia's squad for the

2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two The 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two was an international cricket tournament that took place in April 2019 in Namibia. It was contested by six teams; Canada national cricket team, Canada, Hong Kong national cricket team, Hong Kong, Om ...

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, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, 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 In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier tournament in Uganda. He made his

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) debut for Namibia against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

on 20 May 2019. In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Vancouver Knights franchise team in the

2019 Global T20 Canada The 2019 Global T20 Canada was the second edition of the Global T20 Canada, a professional Twenty20 cricket tournament that was played at the CAA Centre, Brampton in Ontario, Canada. It started on 25 July 2019, and concluded with the final on ...

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, which is the capital and largest city of Namibia. Cricket Namibia is N ...

'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 The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine the teams that would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finis ...

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 The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The tournament was hosted by Unit ...

. In November 2021, Smit was named as the captain of Namibia's team for the

2021 Namibia Tri-Nation Series The 2021 Namibia Tri-Nation Series was the 8th round of the 2019–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 cricket tournament that took place in Namibia in November and December 2021. It was a tri-nation series between Namibia, Oman and the United A ...

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 Club ...

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. In May 2024, he was named in Namibia’s squad for the

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major ICC tournament to include matches played in the United ...

tournament.

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 Sportspeople from ǁKaras Region Cricketers at the 2023 African Games 21st-century Namibian sportsmen