Roelof van der Merwe

Dutch-South African cricketer

Roelof van der Merwe
Van der Merwe bowling for Somerset in 2016
Personal information
Full name
Roelof Erasmus van der Merwe
Born (1984-12-31) 31 December 1984 (age 39)
Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa
NicknameThe Bulldog, Terminator
BattingRight-handed
BowlingSlow left-arm orthodox
RoleAll-rounder
International information
National sides
ODI debut (cap 96/67)5 April 2009 
South Africa v Australia
Last ODI25 February 2024 
Netherlands v Nepal
ODI shirt no.52
T20I debut (cap 41/35)29 March 2009 
South Africa v Australia
Last T20I5 March 2024 
Netherlands v Nepal
T20I shirt no.52
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2006/07–2013/14Northerns
2007/08–2014/15Titans
2009–2010Royal Challengers Bangalore
2011–2013Delhi Daredevils
2011Somerset
2011/12Brisbane Heat
2014St Lucia Zouks
2016–presentSomerset
2019Tshwane Spartans
2021London Spirit
2022Northern Superchargers
2022/23Sunrisers Eastern Cape
2023Welsh Fire
2023Barbados Royals
2024Dubai Capitals
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA
Matches 27 57 80 199
Runs scored 167 490 3,588 2,972
Batting average 11.92 22.27 32.03 25.40
100s/50s 0/1 0/2 6/22 1/11
Top score 57 75* 205* 165*
Balls bowled 1,335 1,081 10,252 8,737
Wickets 29 60 150 260
Bowling average 37.51 19.73 33.79 27.24
5 wickets in innings 0 0 1 4
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 3/27 4/35 5/174 5/26
Catches/stumpings 9/– 23/– 61/– 84/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 5 March 2024

Roelof Erasmus van der Merwe (born 31 December 1984) is a Dutch-South African professional cricketer who has played internationally for both South Africa and the Netherlands, one of the few players to represent more than one international team.[1]

Born in Johannesburg, Van der Merwe made his first-class and List A debuts for Northerns during the 2006–07 season, before moving into franchise cricket with Titans the following season. An all-rounder, he bowls left-arm orthodox spin and is a right-handed middle-order batsman. He played One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket for South Africa between 2009 and 2011, playing 13 times in each format. Van der Merwe gained a Dutch passport in June 2015, and was selected in the Netherlands squad for the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.

Personal life

Van der Merwe was born on 31 December 1984 in Johannesburg, South Africa.[2] He holds Dutch citizenship by descent through his mother.[1]

Domestic career

Van der Merwe began his career as a wicketkeeper-batsman, representing the South Africa national under-19 cricket team in that capacity at the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh.[1]

Van der Merwe made his List A debut in October 2006 for Northerns against North West. He was dismissed for a duck and bowled his full allocation of nine overs conceding 29 runs.[3] In December 2006, he made his first-class debut for Northerns against Limpopo. where he bowled 12 wicketless overs but scored 36 runs and took three catches.[4]

Van der Merwe had a successful 2007–08 season, moving into franchise cricket with the Titans.[5] He made his debut for Titans in the SuperSport Series in November 2007 against the Eagles. His first one-day appearance for them came in February 2008 against Zimbabwe he claimed four wickets conceding 24 runs (4/24).[6] He finished the MTN Domestic Championship as Titans leading wicket-taker with 27 wickets at an average of 14.25.[7] He also scored 269 runs at 29.88.[8] In the Standard Bank Pro20 Series which followed van der Merwe was the third leading wicket-taker with 13 victims at 13.92,[9] he also contributed 192 runs at 27.42.[10] Titans won both 50 over and 20 over competitions and for Van der Merwe's part in it he was awarded Player of the Year, MTN Domestic Championship Player of the Year, Standard Bank Pro20 Series Player of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year at the team's end of season award.[11] On a national level he was selected Domestic Newcomer of the Year at the SA Cricket Awards.[12]

Titans retained the MTN Domestic Championship in 2008/09 with Van der Merwe again being instrumental to the success, he took 30 wickets at 13.96, 14 more than any other bowler.[13]

Having switched his allegiance to the Netherlands, Van der Merwe signed for Somerset on a two-year contract to play county cricket ahead of the 2016 season.[14] In April 2017, he scored his maiden List A century, making 165 not out against Surrey in the 2017 Royal London One-Day Cup.[15]

In July 2022, he took his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, against Lancashire in the County Championship.[16]

Club cricket

In 2007 Van der Merwe played for Monton & Weaste in the Central Lancashire League before he was released mid season after the club realised he wasn't eligible for amateur status having played first-class cricket the previous winter.[17] He has also represented Stretford, in 2006 he scored a league record 1200 runs at 80 as well as taking 53 wickets at 11.26.[18]

T20 cricket

In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Amsterdam Knights in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.[19][20] However, the following month the tournament was cancelled.[21] In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the Tshwane Spartans team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.[22]

In April 2022, he was bought by the Northern Superchargers for the 2022 season of The Hundred in England.[23]

International career

Van der Merwe was selected in the South Africa team for the 2004 U-19 Cricket World Cup. He played five matches, scoring 129 runs and taking 3 wickets.[24][25] Following the tournament, it was over two years before he made his first-class debut and Van der Merwe has admitted he "didn't take things too seriously" and was "partying all the time".[26]

In August 2008 Van der Merwe was selected for the South Africa Academy to play against their Bangladesh equivalents, in the second of a five-match series he scored 79 from 70 balls and took 6/52.[27]

Van der Merwe played in the 2008 Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes, he was South Africa's leading run scorer and wicket-taker.[28]

South Africa

Van der Merwe was selected in the South Africa Twenty20 squad for their two Twenty20 Internationals against Australia in March 2009. In the second of these, he made his full debut, top scoring with 48 from 30 balls, an innings that included four sixes. He also took a maiden international wicket of David Hussey in that contest and was awarded man of the match.[29] After this performance he was added to the squad for the One Day International series as cover for Jacques Kallis.[30] Van der Merwe made his ODI debut in the second match of the series at SuperSport Park, he bowled five wicketless overs and was not required to bat.[31] He had a more prominent role in his second ODI, he scored his maiden ODI runs with a six and took 3/37 from his allotted ten overs.[32] In the final two matches he claimed five more wickets to finish his maiden ODI series with eight at 18.62.[33]

Netherlands

In 2015, Van der Merwe secured a Dutch passport and was selected to play against Nepal in a four-match series.[34] He was also selected for the 2015 World T20 Qualifier after Vivian Kingma pulled out.[35] He made his T20I debut for the Netherlands against Nepal on 3 July 2015 and became the 5th cricketer to represent two international teams in T20Is.[36] He was also part of the Netherlands squad for the 2016 ICC World Twenty20.

In June 2019, he was named in the Netherlands' One Day International (ODI) squad for their series against Zimbabwe.[37] He made his ODI debut for the Netherlands against Zimbabwe on 19 June 2019.[38] He became the 12th cricketer to represent two international teams in ODIs.[39]

In September 2019, he was named in the Dutch squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates.[40] In September 2021, he was part of the Dutch squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[41] in 2023, he was selected to play in the 50-over Cricket World Cup in India.[42] In the Netherlands win over South Africa at the 2023 Cricket World Cup, he played a vital cameo of 29 runs off 19 balls while taking two wickets for 34 runs in his nine-over spell.[43]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Roelof van der Merwe: Dutch Cricket, IPL and retirement plans". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Roelof van der Merwe". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  3. ^ Northerns v North West, South African Airways Provincial One-Day Challenge 2006/07 (Pool A), CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  4. ^ Limpopo v Northerns, South African Airways Provincial Three-Day Challenge 2006/07 (Pool A), CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  5. ^ Player Oracle: RE van der Merwe, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  6. ^ Titans v Zimbabwe, MTN Domestic Championship 2007/08, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  7. ^ MTN Domestic Championship 2007/08, Bowling for Titans, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  8. ^ MTN Domestic Championship 2007/08, Batting and Fielding for Titans, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  9. ^ Leading wicket-takers in Standard Bank Pro20 Series 2007/08, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  10. ^ Standard Bank Pro20 Series 2007/08, Batting and Fielding for Titans, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  11. ^ Northerns Cricket Union Awards Night Archived 5 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine Titans website, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  12. ^ 2008 Mutual & Federal SA Cricket Awards – Winners Archived 4 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Mutual & Federal website, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  13. ^ Leading wicket-takers in MTN Domestic Championship 2008/09, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  14. ^ "Somerset bring back van der Merwe". ESPNcricinfo. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  15. ^ "Van der Merwe 165* leads stunning Somerset revival". ESPNcricinfo. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  16. ^ "Records tumble as Keaton Jennings racks up 318 on glorious day at Southport". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  17. ^ Local cricket round-up, 27 July 2007, Manchester Evening News, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  18. ^ Roelof van der Merwe, Cricx.com, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  19. ^ "Eoin Morgan to represent Dublin franchise in inaugural Euro T20 Slam". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  20. ^ "Euro T20 Slam Player Draft completed". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  21. ^ "Inaugural Euro T20 Slam cancelled at two weeks' notice". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  22. ^ "MSL 2.0 announces its T20 squads". Cricket South Africa. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  23. ^ "The Hundred 2022: latest squads as Draft picks revealed". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  24. ^ Under-19 World Cup 2003/04, Bowling for South Africa, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  25. ^ Under-19 World Cup 2003/04, Batting and Fielding for South Africa, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  26. ^ Party dawg turns bulldog, ESPNcricinfo, Retrieved on 18 April 2009
  27. ^ South Africa Academy v Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy, Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy in South Africa 2008/09, CricketArchive, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  28. ^ Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes, 2008/09 – South Africa, ESPNcricinfo, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  29. ^ South Africa v Australia, Australia in South Africa T20I Series – 2nd T20I, ESPNcricinfo, Retrieved on 29 March 2009
  30. ^ van der Merwe added to one-day squad, ESPNcricinfo, Retrieved on 11 April 2009
  31. ^ South Africa v Australia, Australia in South Africa ODI Series – 2nd ODI, ESPNcricinfo, Retrieved on 11 April 2009
  32. ^ South Africa v Australia, Australia in South Africa ODI Series – 3rd ODI, ESPNcricinfo, Retrieved on 11 April 2009
  33. ^ Statsguru – One-Day Internationals – All-round analysis, ESPNcricinfo, Retrieved on 18 April 2009
  34. ^ "Van der Merwe switches to Netherlands". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  35. ^ "Canada pick Hiral Patel after Dutta opts for CPL". ESPNcricinfo. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  36. ^ "Nepal tour of Netherlands, 4th T20I: Netherlands v Nepal at Rotterdam, Jul 3, 2015". ESPNcricinfo. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  37. ^ "Netherlands vs Zimbabwe: ODI & T20 Series". Cricket World. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  38. ^ "1st ODI, Zimbabwe tour of Netherlands and Ireland at Deventer, Jun 19 2019". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  39. ^ "Records: Combined Test, ODI and T20I records. Individual records (captains, players, umpires), Representing two countries". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  40. ^ "Ryan Campbell announces squad for T20 World Cup Qualifier". Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  41. ^ "Dutch ICC Men's T20 World Cup squad announced". Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  42. ^ "Ackermann, van Meekeren, van der Merwe return to Netherlands squad for World Cup". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  43. ^ Baynes, Valkerie (17 October 2023). "Edwards, van der Merwe help Netherlands script famous win against South Africa". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 October 2023.

External links

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