‘South Africa clash would be a dream ending’: Roelof van der Merwe

Netherlands all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe hopes to end his international career at SuperSport Park in Centurion during next year's ODI World Cup. A match against South Africa at his former home ground would, he says, provide a dream farewell

New Delhi: At the ripe old age of 41, Roelof van der Merwe is seeking to end his eventful journey in international cricket at SuperSport Park in Centurion, his home ground in South Africa before he shifted his allegiance to the Netherlands in 2015.

Defeating the men from his country of birth in next year’s ODI World Cup would only add to the drama of his fairy-tale ending in international cricket, Roelof said in a virtual interaction with PTI.

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“We still have a few hurdles (for qualification) to jump over and hoops to jump through to get into the World Cup. We’ve got a good team and we’ve got a good set-up to actually achieve that.

“It would be an unbelievable tournament for me. If that is to be my last World Cup, to finish it maybe at SuperSport Park. Maybe even against South Africa, that would be a dream ending,” said Roelof, one of the few cricketers to have represented two teams in international cricket.

Provided they qualify, the Netherlands would back themselves to get the better of South Africa for the third time in an ICC event.

Roelof is currently in the middle of a significant campaign in the inaugural European T20 Premier League (ETPL), Europe’s first multi-country franchise T20 league. He is playing for Rotterdam Dockers and doing what he does best, keeping things tight with his left-arm spin.

Having plied his trade in franchise leagues around the world, including the IPL (his last season there was in 2013), it is interesting that Roelof prioritises national duty at the fag end of his career.

He is determined to push his body in an honest attempt to play the ODI World Cup and, if he is able to maintain his fitness, why not another T20 World Cup appearance in 2028?

“Look, I won’t say franchise cricket at the moment is my focus point. Obviously, I want to play another World Cup. Obviously, I’ve got to look after my body, I’ve got to look at the volume I play and all that.

“I would love to play another World Cup. Obviously, the next World Cup is the 50-over World Cup in South Africa. I think that will be my next goal, to finish in South Africa where it all started. It would be great, but you never know.

“If the body is good, it could be another T20 World Cup the year after,” he said when asked about his short-term and long-term goals.

Roelof can bat but of late has been used more as a bowler, and he remains electric on the field as ever, aptly demonstrated by his sensational backward-running catch of David Miller in an upset win over the Proteas at the 2022 T20 World Cup.

“I love doing fielding. I do believe it’s a massive part of winning games. That’s probably the one way I can measure myself, whether I should stop playing or keep playing.

“At the moment, still doing my effort with fielding and trying to impact the game that way,” said the Johannesburg-born cricketer.

His economy rate in 71 T20 internationals is an impressive 6.63 and goes a shade above seven if one considers his staggering 377 games in T20 cricket overall.

He last played in the unforgiving world of the IPL back in 2013 and modestly attributes his current economy rate to not playing in the world’s biggest league in more than a decade.

“Look, if I’m only playing in the IPL, I’m probably going to be way above 7 or maybe even 8-9. It just depends where in the world you play. All the wickets everywhere are as good.

“I’m probably seen as a defensive bowler, so I think that also helps a bit. But it all depends on conditions. There’s probably better bowlers than me going at nine. Probably bowling in tougher areas of the game. Maybe I’m just lucky,” he said with a wry smile.

Talking about ETPL, Roelof is confident that the league will unearth a host of local talent that goes on to represent the region in international cricket.

“Getting local talent at times can be challenging, but we’ve grown our local player pool, which is great. Just looking at something like the ETPL for kids in the future.

“They’ve seen now there’s a big event in cricket and that might draw them towards the sport. Obviously, competing with hockey and football in Holland is quite a challenge. This is all looking up with the ETPL promoting the game. That can definitely draw some more local talent,” concluded Roelof.