Paul-Jan Bakker

Paul-Jan Bakker (born 19 August 1957) is a Dutch former international cricketer, who also played domestic cricket at first-class and List A level in England for Hampshire from 1986 to 1992, taking 269 wickets across both formats. He later played in the Netherlands inaugural One Day International match in the 1996 World Cup, before retiring shortly after the tournament. In 2007, he briefly succeeded Peter Cantrell as Netherlands coach.

The son of Hubertus Antonius Bakker and his wife, Wilhelmina Hendrika, Bakker was born at Vlaardingen in August 1957. He was educated at the Hugo De Groot Scholengemeenschap in The Hague.^[2] Bakker played his club cricket in the Netherlands for Quick Hagg Cricket Club in the Hoofdklasse; he had previously completed his National Service and played four seasons of club cricket in South Africa for the Green Point Cricket Club in Cape Town, whilst spending the winters working at ski resorts in the Swiss Alps,^[1] where he organised ski holidays.^[2] He came to England in the summer of 1985 to play for Southampton-based Old Tauntonians Cricket Club in the Southern League,^[3] doing enough to secure a trial with Hampshire.^[1]

The following year, he made history by becoming the first Dutchman to play in the County Championship,^[3] when he played against Gloucestershire at Bournemouth; prior to that, he had made his debut in first-class cricket (the third Dutchman to play first-class cricket after Carst Posthuma and Bill Glerum) for Hampshire a week prior to this match, when he played against the touring Indians at Southampton.^[4] He also made his debut in List A one-day cricket against the Combined Universities at Oxford in the 1986 Benson & Hedges Cup.^[5] The month following his County Championship debut, Bakker played for the Netherlands in the ICC Trophy,^[3] playing in all eight of the Netherlands matches in the tournament,^[6] where the Netherlands missed out on qualification for the 1987 World Cup, having lost to Zimbabwe in the tournaments final. Bakker made an immediate impact in the tournament, taking 5 for 18 in his first match against Papua New Guinea;^[3] he finished the tournament with 21 wickets, with only teammate Ronnie Elferink and the Dane Ole Mortensen taking more.^[7]

Bakker played three first-class and List A matches for Hampshire in 1987,^[4][5] claiming his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket in this season, with figures of 7 for 31 against Kent. By the end of the following season, he had established himself in the Hampshire side.^[3] His standout season for Hampshire came in 1989,^[1] when he was Hampshire's leading first-class wicket taker that season with 77 wickets from 21 matches at an average of 22.49;^[8] he was the seventh-highest wicket taker in first-class cricket in England during that season.^[1] He also had a successful season in one-day cricket in 1989, taking 24 wickets at an average of 23.19.^[9] His performances for Hampshire in 1989 earned him the Hampshire Press Cricketer of the Year award.^[2] His one-day form continued across to the Netherlands in 1989, with him playing in a 50-over match against a strong touring Australian side at The Hague. His wickets included Mark Taylor and Dean Jones, who had both just dominated the English bowlers in the Ashes Test match series.^[10]

The following season, he made sixteen first-class appearances for Hampshire, taking 37 wickets; however, in stark contrast to the previous season, these wickets came at an average of 38.89 and saw him take just one five-wicket haul.^[8] His one-day bowling during this season remained consistent, with 17 wickets at an average of 32.23.^[9] During the 1990 season, he made his second appearance in the ICC Trophy in 1990, making two appearances during the tournament against Kenya and Zimbabwe.^[6] For Hampshire, Bakker found his opportunities limited in 1991 and 1992 in both first-class and one-day cricket, leading to his release at the end of the 1992 season. Often opening the bowling with Malcolm Marshall,^[1] and described as having a "probing line and length",^[3] Bakker took 193 wickets for Hampshire in 69 first-class matches at an average of 28.01; he took seven five wicket hauls and had best figures of 7 for 31.^[11] In one-day cricket, he took 76 wickets in 62 one-day matches at an average of 26.19; he took two five wicket hauls, with best figures of 5 for 17.^[12]

Following the end of his county cricket career, he returned to the Netherlands and continued to play for Quick Haag, though it was noted his bowling had lost some pace by this point.^[3] Bakker was selected in the Netherlands squad for the 1996 World Cup in the Indian subcontinent, playing in the Netherlands first ever One Day International during the tournament against New Zealand at Vadodara at the advanced age of 38. He took two wickets in the match, those of Chris Harris and Dipak Patel. He played in all of the Netherlands five matches during the tournament,^[13] but took just one further wicket in these matches. His solitary ODI run came as a result of an umpiring error against the United Arab Emirates, when Bakker and Robert van Oosterom scampered a bye off the final ball of the Dutch innings, but the bye was not signalled by the umpire and so was credited as a run to Bakker. He made one final appearance for the Netherlands following the World Cup, in the 1st Round of the 1996 NatWest Trophy against Surrey,^[5] after which he retired. For the Netherlands, he played 51 matches over a thirteen-year period (having debuted in a minor match against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1983), taking 161 wickets at an average of exactly 13.^[3]

After his retirement, Bakker spent most of his time living in Switzerland. Following the 2007 World Cup, he was appointed Netherlands coach on a temporary basis, replacing outgoing coach Peter Cantrell.^[14] He coached the Netherlands for their first three matches of the 2007–08 ICC Intercontinental Cup, prior to the appointment of Peter Drinnen in January 2008.^[15] Bakker remains a keen cricket spectator and is involved with the touring CTC de Flamingo’s, who played the MCC at Lord's in 2017.^[1] He is the holder of a private pilots licence.^[2]

• Paul-Jan Bakker at ESPNcricinfo