An inspired knock of 85 by Jan-Berry Burger gave the Namibians realistic hopes of causing the biggest shock of the tournament before England held on to win an entertaining encounter by 55 runs. "We have had a big following since qualifying for the World Cup," said Kotze.
"School kids that would not normally have played cricket are taking up the game and a performance like this will go a long way to reinforcing that and keeping interest up in the sport.
"We only have five clubs in Namibia from which probably about 20 players are good enough to play at this level."
Namibia, coached by former England all rounder Dougie Brown, had endured a difficult start to their tournament debut with hammerings by Zimbabwe and Pakistan, but their impressive display against England has restored lost pride.
The final result did not do justice to a brave Namibian performance, which saw them bowl England out before batting with confidence against a strong attack. "This is a great experience for the guys out here and we have made a statement here that we can play at this level - given the chance," added Kotze.
Namibia qualified for the World Cup by reaching the final of the 2001 ICC Trophy and have honed their game playing in South Africa's domestic one-day competition. "We were beaten in every game but we were never really outplayed," Kotze said.
"We are hoping the league will let us play there again next year so that we can continue our progress."
Man-of-the-match Burger, Namibia's hero with his 10 fours and a six, has been given time off from his degree in human resources at Stellenbosch University to play in the World Cup.
However the 21-year-old will return to his studies once Namibia exit the tournament.
