Paul van Meekeren never stopped smiling

SAM DALLING: This time last year, van Meekeren was working for Uber Eats to guarantee an income, with his career as a professional cricketer up in the air amid the complications of the pandemic. Twelve months on, he has a World Cup to prepare for

“It’s been a bit of a turnaround, hasn’t it?!” Paul van Meekeren is smiling. He’s well known for his grin. But right now, the Dutchman has plenty to smile about.

It’s coming up to 12 months since he last caught up with The Cricketer. Back then van Meekeren was in limbo, his cricket career on hold. Having been released by Somerset after the 2019 summer, he was without a club and wondering where his next game might come from. Then the pandemic struck, his hopes of second-team cricket dashed.

So, instead of being on World Cup duty with the Netherlands in Australia, he was making ends meet delivering takeaways. A Santa outfit had been bought ready for the Christmas rush.

How quickly life changes. On Monday – all being well – his World Cup campaign starts. The tournament caps a season that saw him enjoy successful stints first at Durham and then in the Caribbean Premier League with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. At the latter, he was a champion.

Something must have changed? “Not really, It’s all just a bit of luck,” he says with typical modesty. “There’s no new tricks or different mindset; everything is pretty much the same. But there’s probably a bit more appreciation for what I do, what I’ve achieved. And I hope there are a few more things to come.”

Van Meekeren’s stellar summer started back in April:  532 days after sealing their World Cup berth with victory over Papua New Guinea at the qualifying tournament in Dubai, the Netherlands returned to action in a tri-series with Nepal and Malaysia in Kirtipur.

His cricket in the interim consisted of a handful of club games for Derbyshire side Cutthorpe CC in 2020. He then spent the winter training in solitude: “It was just about keeping the fitness up,” he explains. “I had no place to train, no place to work with a bowling coach. It was just running for me. Then, when we found out we were going to Nepal, I started bowling into a bedsheet on a concrete football pitch. It was just about trying to get my load up.”

Without their county pros, the Netherlands enjoyed mixed results, losing the final by a whopping 142 runs. “It was still awesome just to get out there and play cricket,” he says. The smile reappears. “There was a lot of rustiness, but it was good for us to see where we stood. I don’t really like the gym but realised having a whole winter away from it makes a big difference! You can’t get away with it.”

^{Paul van Meekeren's future was in doubt this time last year, as it was for many on the associate circuit}

Back in England, van Meekeren was still county-less. But Chris Liddle – the Netherlands’ bowling consultant and Northamptonshire bowling coach – invited him to train at Wantage Road.

“He was honest and said: ‘We aren’t really looking for a bowler, but if you need somewhere to train and play a few second-team games, I’m sure we can help you out.’ That was nice.”

Then Durham called. Initially, van Meekeren joined for the final three T20 Blast games, before his contract was extended to cover the Royal London Cup.  It was a return to where his English adventure had started with a stint for Benwell Hill back in 2016. Again, it was international links that got him the gig: “Ryan Campbell – the Dutch coach – was supposed to be one of Durham assistant coaches for the 50-over stuff. He wasn’t able to come over in the end, but he was in constant contact with them and when they asked him to recommend a seamer, he mentioned me.

“The first half of my stint was pretty rusty. I was bowling half-volleys and didn’t really know where the ball was going to land. But the more game time I had, the more I started to find my rhythm, my line, my length.”

Durham had no such early issues and they ended up topping their group to secure a home semi-final. But by the time Essex arrived, van Meekeren was half a world away preparing for his first taste of big-time franchise cricket. The plan had been to remain in Chester-le-Street for the duration of the tournament, but the opportunity was too good to turn down.

“I had mixed feelings about leaving; the timing was a bit unfortunate,” he admits, explaining it all happened about a week after his arrival in the north-east. “Durham is one of the best changing rooms I’ve been part of, that’s for sure. It was nice to get a few messages afterwards.

“It wasn’t like I was just there for a month, played my games and then left again. They seemed to really enjoy having me around which was nice. That really helped with getting into form. If you feel comfortable around a good bunch of guys and support staff, it’s a lot easier to express yourself and do what you do best.”

Was his early departure acrimonious? “Durham were fully supportive. Marcus North was quite clear that it was an opportunity that you don’t get every day. He said I’d made a fantastic contribution but made it easy and said: ‘You go to the CPL and hopefully we can take it home.’”

In the end though Durham fell short in the final against Glamorgan at Trent Bridge. “I’m not great at watching if my team are playing; I was too nervous to watch the guys,” he says. “I put it on a few times but ended up just checking the score on the ECB app. Unfortunately, they didn’t get across the line but it happens; it was still one hell of a run. I think it shows that Durham is in a good state at the moment.”

Van Meekeren’s CPL stint though was to end in glory. Once more, his Netherlands background got the ball rolling, having first been contacted by national team physio Evan Speechly.

Speechly held the same role with Royal Challengers Bangalore, where Patriots assistant coach Malolan Rangarajan was head of scouting. With Dwayne Bravo’s seal of approval, Rangarajan made the call: “I played a few games with Dwayne for Winnipeg in the Canadian T20 a few years ago. The Patriots were looking for a fast bowler and Dwayne said: ‘Get Meeks in if we can’. I hadn’t realised I’d made an impression on him. I played with an injury and wasn’t bowling that quickly, but apparently I did enough to be remembered.”

Initially, van Meekeren was just happy to be there: “I never thought I’d play in the CPL or any of the big franchise tournaments so to even get the opportunity to spend time in a set up like that was one amazing thing. I thought if I could play one game and do well, that would be even better.”

But ended up in the starting XI for the tournament, playing eight games in total, picking up eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.93. While he was not in the side for the final, it was a sliding doors experience: “I played a couple of T20s at Somerset, but never felt I belonged at that level. I think I took just enough confidence from the 50-over stuff at Durham that I felt like I belonged. And then after the first game in the CPL, I felt that I play, contribute and be competitive at that level.

“The whole experience is hard to put it into words. The guys who have been before were saying ‘this is not the real CPL’. It’s meant to be the biggest party in sport but being in a ‘bubble’ meant it wasn’t quite like normal. But I thought it was amazing: I loved every minute of it.”

^{The Netherlands are blessed with a strong, varied seam attack}

And that included sharing a dressing room with Chris Gayle: “Chris is someone who is really looked up to in West Indian cricket. Even with Bravo as captain, Chris was just as much of a leader in the changing room. Dwayne would give his pre-game talk and then ask Chris if he wanted to add anything. That was interesting to see. There might not be many more opportunities to play alongside Chris – he is getting a little older. Hopefully I get to share another changing room with him, but if that’s it well I had a great experience with him this time around.”

Van Meekeren’s attention now turns to the Netherlands’ T20 World Cup campaign. In a crucial five days, the Dutch face familiar foes Ireland, before taking on Namibia and then Sri Lanka. His team have won seven of their 12 T20 clashes with Ireland but have faced the other two sides just once each in the format: “If we could swap with Scotland it would have been a little easier!” he jokes.

“Ireland, we know well – it seems like we play them three or four times every year – so there will no surprises there. They are always dangerous with the likes of Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien and (Andrew) Balbirnie. We’ve won more than we’ve lost against them in T20 cricket so hopefully we can continue that form.

“Namibia are no pushovers; they are a very strong and have David Wiese joining for the campaign. That’s a bonus for them. And Sri Lanka are a new team to us. They’ve had a tough 12 months or so without winning a lot (just three wins in their last 20 T20Is). Hopefully there is some doubt in terms of what their strongest XI is and also their self-confidence; we need to take advantage of that.”

Two victories will be enough for the Netherlands to reach the second phase, like they did in 2014. Dutch cricket, on paper at least is as strong as it’s ever been. Van Meekeren will compete with fellow seamers Timm van der Gugten, Brandon Glover, Logan van Beek and Fred Klaasen to lead the attack.

“I think we’ve definitely got the strongest pace attack in associate cricket. It’s a hell of a bowling attack with none of the seamers guaranteed a spot in the playing XI. We’ve spent the past few weeks working to get the best out of each other but also fighting to make sure we get that spot in the team once the first game starts on October 18.”

Allrounder Roelof van der Merwe adds considerable nous, as does Colin Ackermann. And then there is the evergreen Ryan ten Doeschate: “I don’t think people realise how big a player Tendo has been for Dutch cricket. The guys look up to him, he’s easy to talk to and it helps settle us a little bit knowing he is there at four or five anchoring the innings. The guys in front of him can bat with a bit more freedom knowing that when he comes in, he is very good at rotating the strike. Then when he needs to, he can go through the gears.”

^{Van Meekeren has played county cricket for Somerset and Durham; he is getting closer to qualifying as an British citizenship}

What comes next for van Meekeren is unknown. All being well, he will be at the World Cup until November, with a white-ball tour of South Africa scheduled for later that month. He might even get to squeeze in some time with friends and family in Amsterdam, although that is complicated.

Last July, van Meekeren obtained his ‘settled status’ having spent five years in the UK. The next stage is British Citizenship, for which he can apply in July 2022.  If successful, he will become English-qualified, increasing his chances of obtaining a county contract – there are financial incentives for clubs who meet a quota of English-qualified players.

However, to be assured of citizenship, van Meekeren can have spent no more than 90 days outside of the UK during the 12 months between Julys. There are work-based exemptions, but the area is not free of doubt. “It’s a bit of a tricky one. Obviously, I’ve been in the Caribbean, I’m away now and we’ve potentially got tours to South Africa and New Zealand. Hopefully I can turn a few heads and get picked up for some more franchise cricket. If all those things come in, I’ll go well past my 90 days.

“You can get dispensation for work related things. But then can the work-related things be with companies not registered in the UK? I’m away now for a month with the KNCB who are obviously registered in Holland. And the franchise sides are likely to be registered elsewhere. The question is do they count? No one really knows the answer to it.”

It’s an unsatisfactory position, with a resolution one way or the other unlikely until after the event. As ever, van Meekeren is taking it in his stride: “Hopefully I can get dispensation for my citizenship but otherwise I will just have to wait a little bit longer.” By the way, he still has the Santa suit. To date though, it remains unused.