Life of a Associate Cricketer- Interview with Netherlands International Cricketer Paul Van Meekeren !
Last year when Lockdown happened in various countries due to Covid it severally impacted the economy of various countries as the entire world was locked up with stringent lockdown ranging from 2 to 4 months depending upon the severity in various countries. As a result, Cricket fraternity was also affected due to this but the most affected were the one's where cricket does not have a very good root's i.e associate countries like Canada, Netherlands, Scotland etc. where there is always lack of availability of funds in this countries due to which many cricketers either gives up the dream of playing cricket for their nation or rather sign up for county cricket in the dearth of funds.
But the situation last year got even tougher due to Covid in associate cricket playing nations which severally impacted many international cricketers also, one main name that comes up in mind is that of Netherlands International cricketer Paul van Meekeren whose tweet got viral on social media as he informed he is working for uber eats during September month as T20 cricket world cup got cancelled due to Covid 19, which raised so much doubt as well as pitty for cricketers playing cricket for the associate country. If this is a situation of an international cricketer in the Netherlands, what will be the situation of domestic and grassroots levels cricketers thinking of playing this sports professionally!
So today, I got an opportunity to take the interview of Paul van Meekeren and discuss how covid has effected his cricket financially and in general the cricketer playing cricket in the Netherlands and associate countries.
So the first question that I asked Paul was, tell me your feeling working for uber eats in September 2020 rather than playing T20 cricket world cup in Australia. To which Paul replied, "This is the first winter since my international debut that there has been no cricket. As Cricket is still my main priority I wanted a job where I wasn’t restricted to rosters. I wanted to start and finish working whenever suited me best and Uber was the ideal option".
After asking about the much-awaited question about ubereats that made him viral on social media, the next main question in my mind was the condition of cricket in Netherlands and associate cricket nations in general to which Paul replied, "We don’t know any other way. Dutch cricketers always needed work to make a living. Often the job is the main income and cricket is just some extra income on the side. This has changed over the last 8-10 years but there is still a lot to be done."
After reading his response I was perplexed how can cricket be just an extra income for an international cricketer and job to be a main source of income. This response of Paul sums up the financial condition of cricket in associate countries where cricket is just a side income as it does not make them financially stable and they are always looking for a better job for stable income in the long run since there are insecurities regarding the financial aspect of cricket in associate nations. Though, Paul did recognize that things have improved a lot in last 8 to 10 year's as he was also contracted by Somerset for past 4 years but still a lot more to be done to make a player feel more financially secure to take this game as professionally. Paul opened up on social media and the positive impact that it is having on his life, he said "I've been lucky enough to witness the positive power of social media. It opened up an opportunity to work part time for Quickscore.co.uk. Getting this opportunity means a lot to me as it helps me develop skill sets for a career after or along side my international career. I'm still working as an Uber eats deliver to make sure I can cover all my bills."
Before ending my interview question, I asked Paul what in his opinion the two major changes that need to be done to make the life of associate cricketer better, to which Paul responded with a couple of suggestions, firstly by including cricket in Olympic sports it will give a huge boost to associate countries since Olympics is a global sports events followed around the globe so by including cricket in Olympics, it will give a platform to introduce cricket to countries where there is lack of awareness regarding the game and myth about the financial aspect also. According to Paul including cricket in the Olympics would be a game-changer for associate countries. Secondly, Paul wants the full-members cricket nations to support associate countries by creating slots for associate players in their franchise leagues as it will open doors for them to learn to play more competitive cricket in front of huge crowds as well open few options from revenue aspect also and encourage a lot of youngsters back in his country to take the sports more seriously.
After concluding the interview with Paul, I did realize that ICC, the mother body of cricket need's to be more caring towards the associate countries as cricket could only become a global sport only when associate countries start playing more competitive cricket so the quality of cricket can be further improved. By reducing the number of teams to 10 in 50 overs cricket world cup in 2019 and the upcoming 2023 world cup, ICC has gone further back in promoting cricket in associate countries as cricket fan may never watch scenes like Ireland beating Pakistan, England & west indies in 2007,2011& 2015 world cup respectively or Kenya went on to play the semi-final in 2003 world cup. ICC need to ensure that associate countries get both, competitive matches to play with full members nations as well as good financial security to the player playing cricket professionally in associate countries.
Comments
Post a Comment