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 one-day 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.

Early life The son of Hubertus Antonius Bakker and his wife, Wilhelmina Hendrika, Bakker was born in Vlaardingen on 19 August 1957. He was educated at the Hugo De Groot Scholengemeenschap in The Hague. to play for Southampton-based Old Tauntonians in the Southern League, impressing enough to secure a trial with Hampshire and earning him a one-year contract for the 1986 season.

Cricket career County cricket The following year, Bakker made his debut in first-class cricket (the third Dutchman to play first-class cricket after Carst Posthuma in 1903 ) against the touring Indians at Southampton, with his first wicket being Sunil Gavaskar, caught by Rajesh Maru from Bakker's third delivery in first-class cricket. After playing a second match against Cambridge University,

The month after his County Championship debut, Bakker played for the Netherlands in the ICC Trophy, playing all eight of their matches in the tournament, where the Netherlands missed out on qualification for the 1987 World Cup after losing to Zimbabwe in the final. Bakker made an immediate impact in the tournament, taking 5 wickets for 18 runs in his first match against Papua New Guinea; he finished the tournament with 21 wickets, with only teammate Ronnie Elferink and the Dane Ole Mortensen taking more. He was retained by Hampshire after the season.

Bakker found himself out of the first team at the start of the 1987 season, but was recalled at the end of July following injuries to Steve Andrew and Kevan James. He played three first-class and one-day matches apiece in 1987, By the end of the following season, he had established himself in the Hampshire side; in the 1988 season he made ten first-class appearances, Alongside these he made seven one-day appearances, and took his first five wicket haul in the format with 5 for 26 against Derbyshire in the Refuge Assurance League.

His best season for Hampshire came in the 1989 season, His one-day form continued with 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.

The following season, Bakker made 16 first-class appearances, taking 37 wickets; however, in contrast to the previous season his average was high, increasing to 38.89, and he took only one five-wicket haul. Bakker was released by Hampshire prior to the start of the 1993 season, alongside Bobby Parks. 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. 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. He often opened the bowling with Malcolm Marshall, 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.

Bakker made one final appearance for the Netherlands following the World Cup, in the 1st Round of the 1996 NatWest Trophy against Surrey, 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. 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. He is the holder of a private pilot's licence.