Pikky Ya France

An explosive middle-order batsman, Pikky Ya-France is a professional Namibian cricketer who received his first callup to the U-19 squad of Namibia long back in 2007, making an appearance in the first two games of the African U-19 Championship.

Ya-France was soon fast-tracked into the senior squad and made his first-class debut against Gauteng in March 2011. He made his domestic debut across all three formats in the same year and cemented his spot in a growing Namibia team. In September 2013, Ya-France pulled out of the Namibian squad that travelled to UAE for the ICC Intercontinental Cup as he was subjected to racism. He stated that the Namibian selectors were excluding and discouraging “cricketers of colours”.

With Namibia gaining the ODI status in April 2019, the 31-year old made his ODI debut against Oman on April 27th, 2019. Two years later, he was named to Namibia’s squad for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup.  One of the most experienced cricketers in the current Namibia squad, Ya-France would be hoping to take the associate nation to new heights in the premier tournament.

(As of October 2021)