Gerhard Erasmus
Namibian cricketer (born 1995)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Merwe Gerhard Erasmus (born 11 April 1995) is a Namibian international cricketer who is the current captain of the Namibia national cricket team.[1][2]
Windhoek, Namibia
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Merwe Gerhard Erasmus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 11 April 1995 Windhoek, Namibia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm off break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| ODI debut (cap 18) | 27 April 2019 v Oman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 4 September 2025 v Scotland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 4) | 20 May 2019 v Ghana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 18 February 2026 v Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Gulf Giants | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Kathmandu Gorkhas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: ESPNcricinfo, 19 February 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life and family
Merwe Gerhard Erasmus was born on 11 April 1995 in Windhoek, Namibia. His father Francois Erasmus runs a family law firm in Windhoek and is a former president of Cricket Namibia and associate director of the International Cricket Council (ICC).[3] As of 2018, Erasmus was a fourth-year law student at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa.
Career
Erasmus first played at senior level for Namibia in February 2011, aged 15, against a touring Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) side.[3] He made his international and first-class debut against Ireland in September 2011 in the 2011–2013 ICC Intercontinental Cup,[4] and at the age of 16, became the youngest player in the team's history.[5] He was a member of Namibia's squad for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.[6]
Erasmus was included in the Namibia under-19s squad for the 2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Australia.[7] He captained the team at the 2014 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.[8]
Erasmus played in Namibia's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament.[9] In August 2018, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2018 Africa T20 Cup.[10]
In March 2019, Erasmus was named as the captain of Namibia's squad for the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament.[11] Namibia finished in the top four places in the tournament, therefore gaining One Day International (ODI) status.[12] Erasmus made his ODI debut for Namibia on 27 April 2019, against Oman, in the tournament's final.[13] In May 2019, he was named as the captain of Namibia's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier tournament in Uganda.[14][15] He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Namibia against Ghana on 20 May 2019.[16]
In June 2019, Erasmus was one of twenty-five cricketers to be named in Cricket Namibia's Elite Men's Squad ahead of the 2019–20 international season.[17][18] In September 2019, he was named as the captain of Namibia's squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates.[19][20] He was the leading run-scorer for Namibia in the tournament, with 268 runs in nine matches.[21] Following the conclusion of the final, he was named as the player of the tournament.[22]
In September 2021, Erasmus was named as the captain of Namibia's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup,[23] with the International Cricket Council (ICC) later naming him as the key player in Namibia's team.[24] In a warm-up match against Scotland before the tournament, he broke a finger while fielding. However, he decided to continue playing in the tournament and captain his team in spite of the injury.[25]
In March 2022, in the second match of the 2022 United Arab Emirates Tri-Nation Series, Erasmus scored his first century in ODI cricket, with 121 not out.[26] The following month, in the second match against Uganda, Erasmus also scored his first century in T20I cricket,[27] with an unbeaten 100 against Uganda.[28]
In January 2023, Erasmus won the International Cricket Council's Associate Cricketer of the Year award.[29] Erasmus scored 956 ODI runs at an average of 56.23 and took a dozen wickets in 2022, and scored a century in both ODI and T20I formats.[30]
In May 2024, he was named the captain in Namibia’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.[31]
In January 2026, Erasmus was named as the captain of Namibia's squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup.[32]