WINDHOEK, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's senior men's cricket team will be led by their new captain Gerhard 'Merwe' Erasmus when they commence their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 quest in the World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL2) tournament, which is slated for Windhoek in April.

The teams that will participate in the tournament include hosts Namibia, Canada, Hong Kong (China), Oman, the United States and Papua New Guinea.

The tournament will begin on April 20, when Canada take on China's Hong Kong, Oman face off against the US, and hosts Namibia clash with Papua New Guinea.

The 14-man squad was announced by Cricket Namibia on Sunday and Erasmus, for the first time, will lead the team with immediate effect.

"During his time as a Namibian player, he was under the captaincy of Sarel Burger who retired last year. He has therefore had the perfect opportunity to learn from an outstanding captain. Cricket Namibia have every confidence in Erasmus and we wish him the best with this important milestone in his career," Cricket Namibia said.

Meanwhile the WCL2 competition will have important ramifications for qualification for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.

The top four teams from WCL2 will join Scotland, Nepal, and the United Arab Emirates in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 (2019-21), and play 36 one-day internationals each over a two and a half year period in 21 tri-series.