Melbourne boy Edwards is Netherlands captain

It is a sort of homecoming for Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards at the T20 World Cup

Like all associate cricket teams, Netherlands too have had players of mixed heritage and ancestry. Their captain, wicketkeeper-batter Scott Edwards, is one. Born in Tonga, the 26-year-old was raised in Melbourne, barely half an hour away from the MCG. The Dutch ancestry of Edwards, who currently lives in Rotterdam, is traced to his grandmother Tineke van der Wolk, though his parents are Australian.

Netherlands' Scott Edwards, left, runs out UAE's Zawar Farid during their T20 World Cup Cricket match in Geelong. (AP)

“I suppose growing up playing in World Cups is always something you look forward to, so to be here representing Netherlands is awesome,” Edwards said at the captains’ press conference before the T20 World Cup. Edwards made his Dutch debut in 2018 but made a mark the next year when he scored a 39-ball 137—the fastest hundred in T10 cricket—for VOC Rotterdam against SG Findorff in the final of the European Cricket League (ECL). He graduated to full-time Dutch captaincy in June after Pieter Seelar was forced to retire due to a back injury.

An electrical apprentice before he began playing professionally, Edwards has moved quite a few countries.

"My grandma was born and raised here (in Netherlands) through the War, and moved across with my grandpa to Oz," Edwards told ESPNCricinfo during the series with England in June when he was suddenly promoted to lead. "I was, weirdly, born in Tonga, which is where my old man was working, and grew up in Oz, but I've always had that family affiliation with Netherlands. I went back to Australia and started an electrical apprenticeship but I got halfway through and binned it off when the chance came.”

When he isn’t playing for VOC in Netherlands, Edwards plays for Richmond Cricket Club that has Abdul Qadir, Carl Hooper and Paul Collingwood among its notable former players. Quite a few Dutch players have Australian connection. Left-arm pacer Dirk Nannes played international cricket for Australia and Netherlands.

“We’ve got a few guys in the group that have grown up in Australia or been to Australia, so it's pretty cool. We've got that little bit of experience over here as well, with guys like Tom Cooper, who's been in the Big Bash; so exciting for that.” A chance to play at the MCG was dashed after Netherlands’ practice game was washed out. Having grown up in Melbourne, he has to attend to another important duty though—patiently deal with ticket requests.