T20 World Cup 2021: 5 players born in Test-playing nations who are playing for associate teams
The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is currently underway in the Middle East. Four teams, namely Ireland, Netherlands, Oman and Papua New Guinea have already returned home, while the other 12 teams are battling it out in the Super 12 round.
Four teams from the Super 12 stage will qualify for the semifinals. 19 matches still remain in the Super 12 round, and the race to the T20 World Cup semi final should be an exciting one.
Scotland and Namibia are the only associate members of the ICC in the Super 12s and both are in T20 World Cup group 2. Three associate members, namely the Netherlands, Oman and Papua New Guinea, were part of the T20 World Cup 2021 during Round 1.
Not many fans would know that some players born in Test-playing nations represented one of the five associate members playing in the T20 World Cup 2021. Here's a list of five such cricketers.
#1 David Wiese
David Wiese became one of the few players to represent two different countries at the ICC T20 World Cup. The all-rounder played for his home country South Africa in 2016, but this year he is part of the Namibian side.
His father was born in Namibia, thus making the 36-year-old eligible to play for the Namibian team. Wiese has performed exceptionally well for Namibia so far. He is the team's leading run-getter, with 116 runs in four innings. The all-rounder has also taken four wickets at an economy rate of 6.21.
#2 Ben Cooper
The Dutch win a thriller at Malahide!
Ben Cooper's 91*, the third-highest score by a Dutch cricketer in T20Is, takes them home with five balls to spare.
A great game of cricket. https://t.co/ADEvof2OuB
Dutch middle-order batter Ben Cooper did not have an eventful T20 World Cup 2021 campaign. He played two games for the Netherlands during Round 1, scoring nine runs.
Cooper was born in New South Wales, Australia. The 29-year-old batter has an elder brother named Tom who played for Australia at the U-19 level.
Get the full ICC T20 World Cup 2021 squad here.
#3 Stephan Myburgh
Another Dutch player to feature on this list is Stephan Myburgh. The left-handed batter was born in South Africa. Both Myburgh and David Wiese hail from Transvaal.
While Myburgh wowed fans with his performances at the 2014 T20 World Cup, he could not set the stage on fire this year. The southpaw scored only 22 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 104.76.
#4 Roelof van der Merwe
🇳🇱 Happy birthday to Netherlands all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe! 🎂
#DidYouKnow that he has also represented South Africa, making him one of just nine players to have played for two countries in T20Is, and one of 14 in ODIs 🏏 https://t.co/58UKhcRgh7
Like David Wiese, Roelof van der Merwe has played for two different countries in ICC T20 World Cup matches. He played for the Proteas in the 2009 and 2010 editions of the mega event.
The all-rounder switched to the Netherlands team and made his T20I debut for the Dutch in 2015. A year later, Van der Merwe donned the Netherlands jersey at the 2016 T20 World Cup. He was part of the Dutch squad this year as well, but returned wicketless in the three matches he played.
#5 Richie Berrington
Richie Berrington, vice-captain of Scotland's T20 World Cup 2021 squad, was born in Pretoria, South Africa. He has been very successful for Scotland as an international cricketer.
Berrington has amassed over 3,500 runs for Scotland at international level. The right-handed batter is the leading run-scorer in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 for the Scottish team, with 103 runs in five innings.