Namibia wicketkeeper-batsman Raymond van Schoor has passed away in Windhoek at the age of 25, five days after suffering a heat stroke during a match.
Van Schoor was batting on 15 during Namibia's five-wicket win over Free State in a CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge competition when he collapsed on field and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.
Van Schoor remained hospitalised since then but his condition did not improve and the player was pronounced dead on Friday night.
Cricket Namibia president Richard Frankle paid homage to van Schoor in a written testimonial announcing the heartbreaking news.
“Raymond was a tremendous asset to Cricket Namibia and the national cricket team,” Frankle said.
“He was taken far too early from us. We however accept that Almighty God needed him to represent the heavenly angels! May his soul rest in peace!”
Van Schoor was a bastion of the Namibia batting line-up since making his national team debut in the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge against North West at age 17 in 2007.
In the same week, the right-handed batsman made his First-class debut against Canada in the Intercontinental Cup, opening the batting for Namibia - scoring 46 and 2 - in an eight-wicket win.
Overall, he played 92 first-class matches, scoring 4303 runs at 27.40 including five centuries and 20 half-centuries with a career-best 157 in 2010 against Bermuda in the ICC Intercontinental Shield.
Across all formats, van Schoor piled up more than 8000 runs for Namibia in 265 career matches, becoming the most-capped Namibian cricketer ever ahead of Craig Williams, who has played a total of 239 matches across first-class, List A and Twenty20 cricket for Namibia.
Van Schoor is currently ranked second all-time in first-class runs for Namibia behind only Williams, who has 5017 runs in 73 first-class matches.
Van Schoor's 2618 List A runs put him third behind only Gerrie Snyman's 3671 and Williams' 3016 while his 1550 Twenty20 runs in 70 matches rank No. 1 all-time for Namibia.
At 22, van Schoor was named the Player of the Tournament at the ICC World T20 Qualifier in the UAE after topping the averages with 324 runs at 54.00, including a career-best 79 not out against USA.
In the event, van Schoor won three Man of the Match awards - against USA, Uganda and Italy - and completed the group stage as the leading scorer with 323 runs in seven matches as Namibia went 7-0 before trailing to Afghanistan and Ireland in the knockout stage.
That year only, van Schoor was recognised for his great form from Cricket Namibia after he was awarded as the 2012 Cricketer of the Year at their annual awards.
Van Schoor served as both vice-captain and captain for Namibia in the past, leading Namibia a total of 40 times, including in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 Cricket South Africa Provincial One-Day Challenge and Three-Day Cup competitions.
ICC condoles
The International Cricket Council (ICC) also has expressed its shock and sadness at the death of Van Schoor.
“I am shocked and saddened by this news,” ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said, adding: “Raymond was a regular member of the Namibia cricket team, a promising young player with the potential to go a long way.
“On behalf of the ICC, I express my sincere sorrow and condolences to Raymond’s family and friends, as well as all those involved in Namibia cricket,” said Richardson.