Namibia all-rounder Gerhard Erasmus won the ICC Men's Associate Cricketer of the Year award on Sunday, January 26. Erasmus had a phenomenal year with the bat in both white-ball formats as his brilliant form helped Namibia register crucial victories throughout the year.

Erasmus was also handy with his off-spin in the entire year as he started with a five-wicket haul against Nepal in the opening game of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2.

Erasmus registered figures of 5/28 in 8.1 overs and was adjudged Player of the Match in his team's four-wicket win. He also slammed his first half century of the year against Nepal in the third game of the tournament. The Namibia skipper top-scored for his side in the run chase of 169 with his innings of 52 (56) and guided them to a two-wicket win.

From there on, Erasmus' continued to shine with both bat and ball for his team throughout the year, which helped him stand out from the rest of his competitors and hence, he was bestowed with the coveted honour. Erasmus' best performance of the year came in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 as he starred with both bat and ball in his team's crucial Group B fixture against Scotland.

Erasmus' brilliant all-round show vs Scotland in T20 World Cup

He first scored a breathtaking 52 off just 31 balls to help his team reach the total of 155/9. The off-spinner also picked up 2/29 from his four overs, but it all ended in vain as Scotland won the match by five wickets. Furthermore, in his team's only win of the tournament against Nepal, he first scalped 2/20 in four overs and scored 10 runs in the following super over.

The right-handed batter finished the year scoring 364 runs from 12 innings in ODIs at an average of 33.09 and a strike rate of 83.87 with four fifties to his name. He further slammed 363 runs from 13 innings in T20Is at an average of 33 and a strike rate of 128.72 with four half-centuries.

With the ball, he scalped 18 wickets from 12 matches in ODIs at an average of 22.38 with one five-wicket haul and grabbed 18 more in T20Is at an average of 13.61 and a miserly economy of 6.28.