It was not much significant that Netherlands bowed out of the World T20 2021 with 3 straight defeats but what was significant that this tournament was the last international as well as professional tournament for the Dutch Legend Ryan Ten Doeschate. It was not just that he won the ICC Associate Cricketer of the Year 3 times and has the highest ever career average in ODIs, but also that that he has made a huge name for himself in the English domestic circuit and was one of the most sought players in the T20 leagues, thereby becoming the first associate player to play in the Indian Premier League.
INTERNATIONAL CRICKET
ODIs
Batting & Fielding Statistics
Matches 33
Innings 32
Runs 1541
HS 119
Avg 67
SR 87.70
100s 5
50s 9
Catches 13
Run Outs 1
Bowling Statistics
Matches 33
Innings 33
Wickets 55
Ave 24.12
Econ 5.03
SR 28.7
Best 4/31
4W: Haul 3
Ryan Ten Doeschate made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2006 and went on to play 33 ODIs for Netherlands, with the last being against Ireland in 2011 WC. A player is considered a top notch allrounder if he has a higher batting average than bowling average and Tendo’s batting average was more than 2.5 times his bowling average. He scored runs at an average of 67 and used to pick up 1.67 wickets per match at an average of 24.12. He did what was done by almost 3 players on an average.
2011 World Cup
By 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup , Ryan ten Doeschate had already announced himself but his best performances in ODIs had mostly come against associate nations. The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup gave him the opportunity to show his skills on the biggest stage and he grabbed it with both his hands.
Ryan ten Doeschate showed his might in the very first match by scoring a career best 119(110) against England. He followed it up a 10-0-47-2 with the ball where he dismissed Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell. In the following game against West Indies, he failed to make an impact. He picked up 3 wickets in Netherlands' next game against South Africa but gave away 72 runs in his 10 overs. He also failed with the bat in that game as he scored 11(21). He failed with both the bat and the ball in Netherlands' next encounter against India but he came back strongly for the Netherlands in their last two games scoring 53(71)* against Bangladesh followed by 106(108) against Ireland which was his second century of the tournament. There was not much assistance from the other players and Netherlands lost all their 6 games but Ryan finished with 307 runs at an average of 61.40 and a strike rate of 89.24. He also picked up 7 wickets in the tournament.
T20I
Batting & Fielding Statistics
Matches 24
Innings 23
Runs 533
HS 59
Ave 41
SR 132.91
50 3
Catches 4
Run Outs 1
Bowling Statistics
Matches 24
Innings 10
Wickets 13
Best 3/23
Ave 18.84
Econ 7
SR 16.1
Ryan ten Doeschate made his T20I debut against Canada in 2008 and played his last game against Namibia in the 2021 edition of T20 World Cup.
Memorable Performances:
T20 World Cup, 2009 vs England
After winning the toss, England batted first and scored 102/0 in 11.1 overs. At that stage it seemed England would post something around 200 but ten Doeschate removed both the set openers- Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright and restricted England to 162. While chasing, ten Doeschate played a calm and composed finshing knock of 22(17)* to hand Netherlands a historic win.
Interesting Facts about Ryan ten Doeschate:
1) He holds the record for highest ever ODI batting average (67).
2) He is one of the few bastman to have a hundred in his last ODI.
3) He is the 9th fastest to 1000 ODI runs.
4) He holds the record for the 8th longest interval between 2 T20Is- 8 years 166 days.
5) He has the 6th highest career average in T20Is (41).
6) He won the 'ICC Associate Player of the Year Award a record 3 times, in 2008, 2010 and 2011. No other player has won it even twice.
7) In successive innings in international matches for the Netherlands in the ICC Intercontinental Cup competition in 2005 and 2006 he scored 84, 158, 138, 100 and finally 259 not out in their victory over Canada in December 2006. This innings of 259* set up a new record for the competition, breaching the 247 mark set up by Bermuda's David Hemp earlier in the same tournament.
8) He was selected in the Netherlands squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. In a warm-up match prior to the World Cup, he grabbed five wickets against a strong Indian team. His haul comprised the wickets of Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh. He followed it up by scoring 57 runs off 74 balls.
DOMESTIC CAREER
In a career spanning 18 years, Ryan ten Doeschate played 203 first class matches, 235 List A matches and 382 T20 matches. He scored 11298 runs in first class cricket at an average of 44.3 with 29 hundreds and 53 fifties. His highest score in first class cricket was 259*. He also picked up 214 wickets at an average of 33.84 with 7 five wicket hauls and a career best bowling figures of 6/20. He scored 6166 runs in List A cricket at an average of 43.42 and picked up 189 wickets at an average of 29.37. He scored 11 hundreds and 31 fifties with a career best score of 180. In T20s, he scored 7597 runs at an average of 29.33 and a strike of 133.56. He had 2 hundreds and 34 fifties to his name, the highest being 121*. He also picked up 114 T20 wickets at 25.63 a piece.
Ryan ten Doeschate represented Essex from 2003 till 2021. In 2016, he was appointed the captain of Essex in First-Class cricket. In his first season in this capacity, he led Essex to the promotion of first division of the County Championship. Remarkably, under his leadership, Essex won the Championship in their first year back in the upper division.
In between, he played for many clubs and franchises across the world. He was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011. He played his first IPL game against Deccan Chargers in IPL 2011 and became the first player from an associate nation to play a game in the IPL. He enjoyed decent amount of success with the bat in IPL scoring 326 runs at an average of 23.29 at an excellent strike rate of 138.72.
