35-year-old Netherlands cricketer Sybrand Engelbrecht has officially announced his retirement from international cricket. Born in South Africa, he made his debut for the Netherlands in 2023 and played a total of 12 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 12 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).
Engelbrecht’s final international game was during the T20 World Cup in 2024, where the Netherlands faced Sri Lanka and were knocked out of the tournament. However, his loss did not stop him from making headlines with a remarkable boundary save that went viral on social media. The video received over a million views on Instagram reels.
Known for his exceptional fielding skills, Engelbrecht gained recognition back in 2008 when he took a stunning catch playing for South Africa in the Under-19 World Cup against Papua New Guinea. After retiring from all forms of cricket in 2016 to focus on his career in financial and project management, he resumed playing recreationally in the Netherlands in 2021. By 2023, he had earned a spot in the Netherlands national team and represented the country in the ODI World Cup held in India that year.
Having played half of his international matches in World Cups, Engelbrecht finishes his career with impressive stats. In ODIs, he scored 385 runs at an average of 35.00, with two half-centuries to his name. In T20Is, he accumulated 280 runs at an average of 31.11 and a strike rate of 132.70. He was the leading run-scorer for the Netherlands in the recent T20 World Cup, contributing 98 runs at an average of 24.50, which included crucial innings against strong teams like South Africa and Bangladesh.
Engelbrecht thanked everyone who supported him throughout his career and said that it was an honor to represent the Netherlands on an international level.
In conclusion, Sybrand Engelbrecht’s retirement marks the end of an era for Dutch cricket as they continue their journey towards becoming one of the world’s top cricket teams without him as part of their squad anymore but we are sure that he will always be remembered fondly by fans around the world due to his remarkable performance both on and off-field
