Daan van Bunge Cricketer
Daan Lodewijk Samuel van Bunge (born 19 October 1982) is a Dutch cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm leg break bowler. Van Bunge has represented the Netherlands at many age levels, including at the Under-15 World Cup in 1996, and on their Under-17 tour of England in 1997. He made his One Day International debut for the Netherlands in the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy against Sri Lanka. Van Bunge was named in the Netherlands squad for the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, and it was his performances in this tournament that brought him to the attention of a wider audience. In his first World Cup match, he scored 62 out of a team total of 136 against India, and in his second, he captured 3 of the 4 England wickets to fall, his victims being Nick Knight, Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff. He again finished as his team's innings top-scorer in the matches against Pakistan and Zimbabwe, as well as collecting 2-27 against Pakistan. These returns highlighted Van Bunge's erratic bowling style. He tends to be expensive as he bowls a high number of full tosses and long hops, but is also capable of beating world-class batsmen with considerable turn from a good length. In 2003, Van Bunge was selected to join the MCC Young Cricketers programme. He hit the record books in 2004 when he scored a 38-ball century - the fastest in the history of MCC Young Cricketers. In his three-year spell, he scored a record 3,400 runs, but was not able to earn a contract in county cricket. At the end of the 2005 season, he returned to the Netherlands to play for Excelsior'20, a club based in Schiedam. Van Bunge continued to regularly represent the Netherlands in international competition. The 2005 ICC Trophy saw the Netherlands in a four-way battle for the fifth and final 2007 World Cup qualifying spot, with the first sudden-death match against Denmark. Batting at number 3, Van Bunge bludgeoned 137 from only 118 balls, sharing a 242 run second-wicket stand with Bas Zuiderent to bat Denmark out of the match. He then helped himself to 2-24 in the Danish reply. Van Bunge duly represented the Dutch in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. In their opening group stage game against South Africa on 16 March 2007, Van Bunge was the unfortunate victim as Herschelle Gibbs set a new ODI record by scoring 36 runs (six sixes from six balls) from Van Bunge's fourth over. Overall it was a disappointing campaign for Van Bunge, missing several chances at slip as well as struggling for effectiveness with the ball, though a run-a-ball 33 against eventual champions Australia was a highlight. Van Bunge retired from international cricket after the 2007 World Cup, citing a lack of motivation and a conflicting study schedule, however made himself available for the national squad again in 2008 following completion of his studies.