Roelof Erasmus van der Merwe (born 31 December 1984) is a Dutch-South African professional

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 who has played internationally for both

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

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 ...

, one of the few players to represent more than one international team. Born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, Van der Merwe made his first-class and

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debuts for Northerns during the 2006–07 season, before moving into franchise cricket with

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Ga ...

the following season. An

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

he bowls

left-arm orthodox spin Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of Finger spin, left-arm finger spin bowling (cricket), bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bow ...

and is a right-handed middle-order batsman. He played ODI and

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

cricket for South Africa between 2009 and 2011, playing 13 times in each format. Van der Merwe gained a

Dutch passport Dutch passports are issued to citizens of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the purpose of international travel. As the Netherlands only distinguish one category of citizen (Nederlandse (Dutch), NLD), for all countries in the Kingdom, passport ...

in June 2015, and was selected in the Netherlands squad for the

2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, for the 2016 World Twenty20, was held from 6 to 26 July 2015. The tournament was hosted by both Ireland and Scotland. 51 matches were played among 14 nations, down from 72 matches among 16 nations previous ...

Personal life

Van der Merwe was born on 31 December 1984 in

, South Africa. He holds Dutch citizenship by descent through his mother.

Domestic career

Van der Merwe began his career as a

wicketkeeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

-batsman, representing the

South Africa national under-19 cricket team The South African Under-19 cricket team have been playing official Under-19 test matches since 1995. International players to have represented the team include Wayne Parnell, Neil McKenzie, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini, Kagiso Rab ...

in that capacity at the

2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2004 ICC Under-19 World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament played in Bangladesh from 15 February to 5 March 2004. It was the fifth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup and the first to be held in Bangladesh. The ...

in Bangladesh. Van der Merwe made his

debut in October 2006 for Northerns against

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. He was dismissed for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

and bowled his full allocation of nine overs conceding 29 runs. In December 2006 he made his first-class debut for Northerns against

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

he bowled 12 wicketless overs but scored 36 runs and took three catches. Van der Merwe had a successful 2007–08 season, moving into franchise cricket with the Titans. He made his debut for Titans in the

SuperSport Series The CSA 4-Day Domestic Series is the domestic first class cricket competition of South Africa. The tournament is contested by teams from all nine provinces of South Africa. First contested as the Currie Cup from 1889–90, the tournament has u ...

in November 2007 against the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

. His first one-day appearance for them came in February 2008 against

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 ...

he claimed four wickets conceding 24 runs (4/24). He finished the

MTN Domestic Championship The CSA One-Day Cup (formerly known as the Standard Bank Cup, the MTN Domestic Championship, and the Momentum One-Day Cup) is the premier domestic one-day cricket competition of South Africa, its matches having List A status. Matches are usually ...

as Titans leading wicket-taker with 27 wickets at an average of 14.25. He also scored 269 runs at 29.88. In the

Standard Bank Pro20 Series The Betway T20 Challenge is a domestic Twenty20 Cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in the 2003–04 season. It was previously known as the Standard Bank Pro20 Series until the 2010–11 season, the MiWay T20 Challenge for the ...

which followed van der Merwe was the third leading wicket-taker with 13 victims at 13.92, he also contributed 192 runs at 27.42. 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. On a national level he was selected Domestic Newcomer of the Year at the SA Cricket Awards. 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. Having switched his allegiance to the Netherlands, Van der Merwe signed for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

on a two-year contract to play

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

ahead of the 2016 season. In April 2017, he scored his maiden

century, making 165

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

against

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in the

2017 Royal London One-Day Cup The 2017 Royal London One-Day Cup tournament was a limited overs cricket competition that forms part of the 2017 domestic cricket season in England and Wales. Matches were contested over 50 overs per side and had List A cricket status. All eig ...

. In July 2022, he took his maiden

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

in first-class cricket, against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

Club cricket

In 2007 Van der Merwe played for Monton & Weaste in the

Central Lancashire League The Central Lancashire Cricket League (CLCL) was a fifteen team cricket league, traditionally based in Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was then based in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. The league ran competitions at First T ...

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. 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.

T20 cricket

In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Amsterdam Knights in the inaugural edition of the

Euro T20 Slam The Euro T20 Slam is a planned professional Twenty20 cricket league. The first edition of the tournament was initially scheduled to start in August 2019, with matches to be held in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. It's launch has been post ...

cricket tournament. However, the following month the tournament was cancelled. In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the

Tshwane Spartans Tshwane Spartans were a city-based franchise team of the South African Mzansi Super League (MSL) Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team was based at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Tshwane Spartans played in the first two editions of the MLS in 2018 ...

team for the

2019 Mzansi Super League The 2019 Mzansi Super League, also known as the MSL 2.0, was the second edition of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) Twenty20 (T20) franchise cricket tournament in South Africa. It started on 8 November and ended on 16 December 2019. Jozi Stars wer ...

tournament. In April 2022, he was bought by the

Northern Superchargers Northern Superchargers are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Leeds. The team represents the traditional areas of North East and Yorkshire in The Hundred competition, which first took place during the 2021 English and Wel ...

for the 2022 season of The Hundred in England.

International career

Van der Merwe was selected in the South Africa team for the

2004 U-19 Cricket World Cup The 2004 ICC Under-19 World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament played in Bangladesh from 15 February to 5 March 2004. It was the fifth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup and the first to be held in Bangladesh. The ...

, he played five matches, scoring 129 runs and taking 3 wickets. 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". 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. Van der Merwe played in the 2008

Hong Kong International Cricket 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 ...

, he was South Africa's leading runscorer and wicket-taker.

South Africa

Van der Merwe was selected in the South Africa Twenty20 squad for their two

s against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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, and taking a maiden international wicket of

David Hussey David John Hussey (born 15 July 1977) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. Hussey is a right-handed batter and can also bowl right-arm off breaks. He is the younger brother of former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey. He was ...

he was awarded

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. After this performance he was added to the squad for the

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 ...

series as cover for

Jacques Kallis Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as South Africa's greatest batsman ever, he is a right-handed batsman and righ ...

. Van der Merwe made his ODI debut in the second match of the series at

SuperSport Park Centurion Park is a cricket ground in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa. It is also known as SuperSport Park since television company Supersport bought shares in the stadium. The capacity of the ground is 22,000. The Titans cricket team have pl ...

, he bowled five wicketless overs and was not required to bat. 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. In the final two matches he claimed five more wickets to finish his maiden ODI series with eight at 18.62.Statsguru – One-Day Internationals – All-round analysis
Cricinfo, Retrieved on 18 April 2009

Netherlands

In 2015, Van der Merwe secured a Dutch passport and was selected to play against

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

in a four match series. He was also selected for the 2015 World T20 Qualifier after

Vivian Kingma Vivian Jilling Kingma (born 23 October 1994) is a Dutch cricketer. He played for the Netherlands in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 tournament. He was initially selected in the Netherlands' squad for the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament i ...

pulled out. 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. He was also included in the Netherlands squad for the

2016 ICC World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the world championship of Twenty20 International cricket. It was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edition to be hosted by India. Seven ...

. In June 2019, he was named in the Netherlands'

(ODI) squad for their series against Zimbabwe. He made his ODI debut for the Netherlands against

on 19 June 2019. He became the 12th cricketer to represent two international teams in ODIs. In September 2019, he was named in the Dutch squad for the

2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine which teams would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finishing ...

tournament in the United Arab Emirates. In September 2021, he was named in the Dutch squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventua ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merwe, Roelof van der 1984 births Living people Cricketers from Johannesburg Dutch cricketers Netherlands One Day International cricketers Netherlands Twenty20 International cricketers South African cricketers South Africa One Day International cricketers South Africa Twenty20 International cricketers Titans cricketers Northerns cricketers Somerset cricketers Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers Delhi Capitals cricketers Saint Lucia Kings cricketers Brisbane Heat cricketers Dual international cricketers Dutch people of South African descent London Spirit cricketers Tshwane Spartans cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Northern Superchargers cricketers