A former winner of the Namibian Player of the Year Award, Stephan Baard is a Namibian cricketer who has made quite a name for himself in the shortest format of the game.

After consistently performing at the first-class level, Baard was included in the Namibia squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament. And one year later, he finally fulfilled his dream of playing for his nation. The right-handed batter was handed his ODI debut cap against Oman in 2019, where he just scored 13 runs in his debut innings.

More opportunities were presented to him and the Namibian team management decided to try him out in the T20 format. It was Ghana in the very same year that Baard made his T20I debut. He repaid the faith of the selectors with a sublime 34-ball 52 which included 5 fours and three sixes. 

2019 was a special year for him as Baard was one of twenty-five cricketers to be named in Cricket Namibia’s Elite Men’s squad ahead of the 2019-20 season.

In 2021, Baard was drafted in the Namibia squad for the 2021 ICC World T20.

A special player, Baard has been the backbone of the Namibian batting lineup. Still in the prime of his career, he’ll look to make a name for himself in the 2021 World T20. 

(As of September 2021)