Jean-Pierre Kotze (born 23 April 1994) is a Namibian cricketer.[1] He is a left-handed wicket-keeper and batsman. Kotze was part of Namibia's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament[2] and for the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament.[3] Namibia finished in the top four places in the tournament, therefore gaining One Day International (ODI) status.[4] Kotze made his ODI debut on 27 April 2019, against Oman, in the tournament's final.[5]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 23 April 1994 Namibia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper batter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 21) | 27 April 2019 v Oman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 21 February 2024 v Nepal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 15) | 22 August 2019 v Botswana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 5 April 2024 v Oman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 10 April 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In June 2019, he was one of twenty-five cricketers to be named in Cricket Namibia's Elite Men's Squad ahead of the 2019–20 international season.[6][7] He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Namibia against Botswana on 20 August 2019 during Botswana's tour of Namibia.[8] On debut, he finished on 101 not out, from 43 balls.[8] He became the first batsman for Namibia to score a century in a T20I match.[9]
In August, Kotze was named in Namibia's ODI squad for the 2019 United States Tri-Nation Series.[10] On 20 September 2019, in the match against the United States, he scored 136 runs to become the first batsman for Namibia to score a century in ODI cricket.[11][12] Later the same month, he was named in Namibia's squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates.[13] Ahead of the tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named him as the key player in Namibia's squad.[14]
In 2021, Kotze retired from cricket at the end of the home season in Namibia to spend more time with his family.[15] However, in April 2022, he announced he was coming out of retirement.[16] A few days later, he was named in Namibia's T20I squad for their series against Uganda.[17]