Wesley Barresi (born 3 May 1984) is a South African-born Dutch

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays for the

Netherlands cricket team The Netherlands men's national cricket team (), usually referred as "The Flying Dutchmen" is a team that represents the Netherlands in men's international cricket and is administered by the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Cricket has been pl ...

. He has represented the

Netherlands national cricket team The Netherlands men's national cricket team (), usually referred as "The Flying Dutchmen" is a team that represents the Netherlands in men's international cricket and is administered by the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Cricket has been pl ...

since 2009, playing as a right-handed top-order

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and occasional

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

. He was part of the Netherlands team that played in the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2023 Cricket World Cup The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...

Personal life

Barresi was born on 3 May 1984 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa.

Domestic and franchise career

Barresi played for Easterns in the South African provincial system, and was also named in a

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...

academy squad during the 2002–03 season. He made his first-class debut for Easterns against Northerns in 2004. Initially intending to pursue a career in England, Barresi spent the 2005 Dutch season with Hilversumsche Cricket Club. He later switched to VRA Amsterdam and settled in the Netherlands, qualifying for national selection after meeting ICC residency requirements in 2009. In July 2019, Barresi was selected to play for the Amsterdam Knights in the inaugural edition of the

Euro T20 Slam The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 100 ...

cricket tournament. However, the following month, the tournament was cancelled.

International career

Barresi made his international debut for the Netherlands in July 2009 against

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in the 2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Cup. His

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) debut came against

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in July 2010, and in the same month he scored a match-winning 65 not out against

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

to lead the Netherlands to its first ODI victory over an ICC full member. At the

2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, while the latter hosted World Cup matches for the first time. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the 2 ...

, Barresi was used as the Netherlands' main wicket-keeper. He scored his maiden ODI century against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

at the

2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2014 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that formed the final part of the Cricket World Cup qualification process for the 2015 World Cup. The top two teams qualified for the World Cup, joining Ireland and for the fir ...

, an innings of 137 not out which set a new record for the highest ODI score for the Netherlands. In July 2018, Barresi was named in the Netherlands'

(ODI) squad, for their series against Nepal. Ahead of the ODI matches, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) named him as the key player for the Netherlands. In February 2021, Barresi announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, but returned to the national team in August 2022. In May 2024, he was named in the Netherlands squad for the

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major ICC tournament to include matches played in the United ...

tournament.

References

External links

* 1984 births Living people Netherlands One Day International cricketers Netherlands Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup South African emigrants to the Netherlands Cricketers from Johannesburg White South African people Wicket-keepers Dutch cricketers Dutch people of South African descent {{netherlands-cricket-bio-stub