Nolan Ewatt Clarke (born 22 June 1948) is a

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

-born former Dutch

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. A big-hitting right-handed batsman, Clarke played five

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World Cu ...

. At the age of 47, he was the oldest cricketer to play in the World Cup. He once topped the six hitting tally in the

Hong Kong Sixes The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is a Six-a-side international cricket tournament held at the Kowloon Cricket Club comprising between eight and twelve teams. Organised by Cricket Hong Kong, it is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council. The t ...

, a tournament that included

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing reco ...

School times

Clarke was educated at

St Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

's parish, which was the same school that West Indian cricketers

Vanburn Holder Vanburn Alonzo Holder (born 10 October 1945) is a Barbadian former first-class cricketer who played in 40 Test matches and 12 One Day Internationals for the West Indies cricket team between 1969 and 1979. A fast-medium bowler, he bowled along ...

and David Murray went to.

Domestic career

He represented Barbados in first-class cricket from 1970 until 1978 and played 26 games for them in total. His highest first-class score of 159 was made against

Mike Denness Michael Henry Denness (1 December 1940 – 19 April 2013) was a Scottish cricketer who played for England, Scotland, Kent and Essex. Scotland did not have a representative international team at the time of Denness' career, so he could only play ...

's touring England side in 1973–74. He then began coaching in the Netherlands and played for Quick Haag before moving to Sparta 1888 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. His score of 265 not out for Quick against Bloemendaal in 1990 remains the highest score ever made in Dutch domestic cricket. In 1995 he made 86 for the Netherlands in a

NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class cricket, first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scott ...

game against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

International career

When the Netherlands qualified for the 1996 World Cup, Clarke was heavily influential in getting them there, having made 121 not out against

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

in a crucial

1994 ICC Trophy The 1994 ICC Trophy (formally the ABN AMRO ICC Trophy) was a cricket tournament that took place in Kenya between 12 February and 6 March 1994. It was the fifth ICC Trophy tournament to be staged, and acted as the Cricket World Cup qualification to ...

play-off match. Clarke played in all five of the Netherlands' World Cup matches as an opening batsman, though he scored only 50 runs at an average of 10. He did, however, achieve two records: in the first match he became, at the age of 47 years and 240 days, both the oldest One Day International debutant and player in history. He beat the previous record for oldest debutant, held by England's

Norman Gifford Norman Gifford (born 30 March 1940) is a retired English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner. Gifford played county cricket for Worcestershire, and Warwickshire County Cricket Clubs, and represented England in fifteen Test ...

, by almost three years, and the previous record for oldest player, held by

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

John Traicos Athanasios John Traicos (born 17 May 1947) is a former cricketer who represented South Africa and Zimbabwe at international level. He was primarily an off spin bowler, and is one of a small number of cricketers to have played at the highest lev ...

, by almost two years. In 2005 Clarke returned to cricket at the age of 56 to play for VVV Amsterdam in the Hoofdklasse and after a gap of six years, he hit 782 runs. He also aired trenchant opinions on the state of

cricket in the Netherlands Cricket has been played in the Netherlands since at least the 19th century, and in the 1860s was considered a major sport in the country. The sport is governed by the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Other sports (notably football) have long sin ...

. Clarke has retired from playing, but remains active as a coach in the Dutch youth programme.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Nolan 1948 births Living people Dutch cricketers Netherlands One Day International cricketers Barbados cricketers Free State cricketers Dutch people of Barbadian descent European sportspeople of Barbadian descent People from Saint Michael, Barbados Barbadian cricketers Dutch cricket coaches