Dutch Cricket Legends: The top cricket players from the Netherlands

The following are considered as the top cricket players from the Netherlands. The Dutch national cricket team, including these Dutch Cricket Legends is a men’s national cricket team representing the Netherlands domain, and is managed by the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. From January 1, 2006 to February 1, 2014, the Netherlands held the ODI rank. They were also granted Twenty20 International status in June 2014, after playing their maiden game in this format in 2008. The Dutch squad regained its ODI status following the March 2018 Cricket World Cup qualifier. They gained this spot prior to the event by winning the ICC World Cricket League Championship 2015-17 and so qualifying for the ICC ODI League 2021-22, and they will keep it until 2022 Cricket World Cup qualification.

Now let’s take a look at the Top 5 cricket players from the Netherlands:

5. Peter William Borren

On July 4, 2006, he made his debut for the Netherlands national cricket team against Sri Lanka in a One Day International. He has previously played for the Netherlands A and Under-23 teams.

Victories over England in the 2009 and 2014 T20 World Cups were among his career highlights. He has won the Dutch national competition five times with VRA Amsterdam in the last 12 years.

Borren holds the joint record for most catches in a single T20I as a fielder (4), along with Darren Sammy, Ajinkya Rahane, Babar Hayat, Corey Anderson, and Dinesh Chandimal. He’s also the Dutchman with the most catches in a single Twenty20 International.

Borren has been nominated for the ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade award, which will be presented in November 2020.

Also read: Legendary Cricketers from South Africa: The best South African cricketers

4. Stephanus Myburgh

Stephanus Johannes Myburgh is a Dutch cricketer of South African origin who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm off-break. In the SAA Provincial Challenge in 2006, he made his first-class and List A debuts for the South African team Northerns.

Myburgh made his ODI debut for the Netherlands against Kenya in 2011. In his second game against the same opposition, he batted maturely for 56 runs and scored his first ODI fifty.

In March 2012, Myburgh made his T20I debut against Canada in Dubai. He has been an important member of the Netherlands team for many years. On March 21, 2014, Myburgh equaled the record for the second quickest fifty in T20Is with Paul Stirling of Ireland. In that game, which the Netherlands won by six wickets, he was named Man of the Match. He led the tournament with 51 points in a game against South Africa in the same competition, which the minnows narrowly lost. Overall, he had an outstanding 2014 World T20 season and was one of the best batsmen in the Netherlands.

3. Wesley Barresi

Long-serving Netherlands batsman and sometimes keeper Welsey Barresi’s international career happened by coincidence, with the Johannesburg-born Barresi unaware of the existence of the Dutch national team until he arrived in the country in 2005.

Barresi played seven times for South Africa’s senior team before signing a summer contract with Hilversum CC in the Netherlands. When national selectors came knocking in 2009, Barresi made his senior Dutch debut against Canada in the now-defunct Intercontinental Cup in 2009, and his ODI debut in World Cricket League Division 1 the following year, before recording a match-winning 64* against Bangladesh at Titwood. 

After a few games as a specialist bat, Barresi promptly took up the gloves and would keep for the Dutch for the majority of his career, being the first Dutchman to reach 150 dismissals in recognized cricket.

Barresi was a key figure in the Netherlands’ comeback from ODI relegation and WCL Division 2 relegation, culminating in his second List A century in Orange four years later, striking 120 from the top of the order against Namibia to help seal the WCL Championship title and qualify for the ODI Super League.

Also read: Sri Lankan Cricket Legends: Honouring The Greatest Cricketers from Sri Lanka

2. Maxwell Patrick

Max O’Dowd, a New Zealand native with an aptitude for upskilling, spent the most of his schooling in Auckland. Max obtained a Dutch passport as a result of his mother’s Dutch ancestry, and he finally qualified to represent the country in international cricket. Max’s hitting style suits the game’s shortest format perfectly.

The ability to hit the ball with the appropriate timing is incredible; it’s no surprise he played more T20 cricket than any other format.

Max, on the other hand, has had a wonderful start to his One-Day International (ODI) career, which began in 2019. The opener got off to a solid start with two 50s in the same innings, but he still had a long way to go to secure his status in 50-over cricket. He has also had the best performance of his two centuries in his brief career. The Netherlands has not yet been admitted as an official member of the International Cricket Council. Max’s chances to shine are limited.

Nonetheless, he’s an intriguing prospect. It will be interesting to see if he decides to stay with the Netherlands.

1. Benjamin Nicolas Cooper

Cooper made his first-class debut for the Netherlands against Scotland in the 2015-17 ICC Intercontinental Cup on September 9, 2015. In the Intercontinental Cup, he scored his first first-class century against Hong Kong in February 2017. When he and Pieter Seelaar made 288 runs in that match, they broke the Dutch record for the most partnership for any wicket in a first-class match as well as the highest sixth-wicket partnership in the Intercontinental Cup.

Cooper scored his first List A century in December 2017 and broke the World Cricket League record for any wicket partnership with 236 runs while batting with Wesley Barresi in the 2015-17 ICC World Cricket League Championship.

Cooper was named to the Dutch squad for the September 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates. He was the best run-scorer for the Netherlands in the tournament, with 246 runs in nine matches. In April 2020, he was one of seventeen Dutch-based cricketers named to the team’s senior squad. Cooper was named to the Dutch squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be held in September 2021.

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