Burger gave England a real scare (Getty Images).

Just for a second there, it looked like England's World Cup campaign was over before it had really begun.

Namibia, a country with a population of just 1.5million and no real cricketing tradition, were supposed to be pushovers at windy Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, just like Holland were in East London on Sunday.

But they certainly didn't act like minnows as they continually pegged back England's batsmen and constantly sought to keep the runs flowing as the clouds closed in on Wednesday afternoon.

While Sri Lanka were rolling over Canada (36 all out) in record-breaking fashion and India coasted past Zimbabwe, England were forced to go the distance with Namibian superman Rudi van Vuuren hitting a six off the final ball.

In the end of course, Namibia fell a distant 55 runs short at 217-9. But, like footballing victories over San Marino or Luxembourg, it won't go down as one of the great England triumphs.

Remember, Namibia is a former German colony, once called South West Afrika. Unusually in these parts, the German-speaking white minority generally prefer football to rugby...and cricket is way down the list of past-times behind finding diamonds and growing Namaqualand daisies. Dominated by the Kalahari and Namib deserts, Namibia will never be a sporting power.

Though sprinter Frankie Fredericks started life there before being honed to Olympian levels in the US, it is generally accepted that they will be forever South Africa's cheerful but impotent neighbours in all sports.

But they made England, population 55 million with no deserts at all, sweat a bit.

Having already given up four points for refusing to play against Zimbabwe, defeat against Namibia would have derailed England's World Cup bid.

With Pakistan to play at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday, followed by India in Durban on Wednesday and Australia back at St George's Park on Sunday week, England's tournament hasn't really started.

With Nasser Hussain out nursing a neck injury, the last thing England needed was our two world-class batsmen, Nick Knight and Michael Vaughan, falling cheaply to mirror-image pull shots, both caught by one of the three Burgers in this Namibian side.

Alec Stewart (60) and Marcus Trescothick (58) both hit fifties, with Paul Collingwood (35) and Craig White adding useful contributions.

In the end, with Ronnie Irani, Hussain's late replacement, giving a little flurry (very welcome after his appalling batting during the VB series last month), England reached 272 before losing Andy Caddick off the last ball of their 50 overs.

Most commentators were insisting this was sub-standard, but these Namibians fielded like madmen and van Vuuren, the fiery bowler who will also play at fly-half for his coun try in the upcomiong Rugby World Cup, ended with a Namibian record of five wickets on a slowish strip.

It was England's bowling which was the most worrying aspect. At one point, with the clouds gathering and our only real spinner Ian Blackwell off with a back injury, Namibia went past 150 with just three wickets down as Michael Vaughan struggled to fill the off-spinner's role.

Rain at that point would have given Namibia victory on the Duckworth Lewis system as Jamie Burger produced a Man of the Match 85.

Fortunately, Craig White then stepped in with two quick wickets to slow things down, then stand-in captain Stewart finally gave Irani a bowl and England fans could ease up on their oft-shattered finger nails.

The worrying thing is, Namibia aren't exactly renowned for their batting skills. The watching former South Africa captain Kepler Wessels said: "They played in our Standard Bank trophy but their batting wasn't really up to it."

And before Wednesday's effort, they had only managed 104-5 before the rain in Zimbabwe and 84 all out against Pakistan.

Worse still, they're managed by a Scotsman, Derbyshire's Doug 'Doogie' Brown. He said: "I've been them since last year's tour of Zimbabwe, there's a magnificent spirit here. England have been on the road since October, our guys are fresh. They're loving every minute of this competition.

"It helped playing in the Standard Bank Cup, even though we lost five out of five against South African provinces."

Stewart said: "A win's a win but credit to Namibia. They were as keen as mustard from ball one. But 270 on this wicket, we'd have taken that.

"Nasser is hoping to be fit for Pakistan on Saturday, it's not a serious neck injury."

If England are to beat sides like Pakistan and India...or even Australia, they'll need to bowl a lot better than this. Or give the ball to Rocket Ronnie (8-0-30-3) on pitches which offer a bit of assistance.