Netherlands star batter Ben Cooper announces international retirement

The Netherlands Cricket has suddenly suffered a huge setback as one of their star batters Ben Cooper has decided to call it a day from international cricket with immediate effect after having served the Dutch team for nearly a decade. The southpaw had not made himself available to be a part of the Netherlands team during their Super League fixtures against South Africa followed by a recent bilateral series against Afghanistan but now, the promising cricketer has announced a shocking retirement from the game at the highest level.

It now remains to be seen whether Ben Cooper, who would be turning 30 in a few days’ time, be keen on playing franchise cricket across the globe but, it would be a huge challenge for the Netherlands to fill those big shoes after their impactful left-handed batter has decided not to represent them anymore. Cooper, who was a part of the Orange team during the 2014 edition of the T20 World Cup is arguably the best limited-overs batter to have played for them with an impressive record in first-class cricket as well.

Here’s a look at Ben Cooper’s impressive cricketing records

The Australian-born cricketer is the Netherlands’ top-run getter in the shortest format of the game having amassed  1,239 runs averaging 28 in 58 matches. Ben Cooper also made 13 appearances for the Dutch in the 50-overs format and went on to score 187 runs.

He had first burst into the scene at the highest level in August 2013 when he had made his ODI debut against Canada and then went on to make his maiden T20I appearance against Afghanistan after three months i.e. in November. While Cooper had played his last One International against Sri Lanka in June last year, he had played his last T20I game against Sri Lanka in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in October.

Apart from starring for the Netherlands in white-ball cricket, the 29-year-old has also made the country proud in first-class cricket. While Cooper has scored an impressive 451 runs in four first-class games, he has amassed 994 runs in 55 List A games i.e. just six short of 1,000 runs at an average of 22.08.