The Netherlands pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, beating the unbeaten South Africans to record their first win of the campaign. With a total of 245 runs, the Dutch defended the Proteas for just 207 runs in a match of 43 over per side. From skipper Scott Edwards to pacer Logan van Beek and spinner Roelof van der Merwe, there were many match winners for the Netherlands in the match. One of them was seamstress Paul van Meekeren, a man who delivered food via Uber Eats in 2020 to make ends meet.
Van Meekeren picked up two important wickets of Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen to deliver crucial blows to South Africa in the Netherlands’ bid to defend their 245-run total. While the result sent shockwaves through the cricketing universe, it is the story of players like Van Meekeren that makes the Netherlands’ victory even more respectful.
In his own words from a 2020 tweet, Van Meekeren revealed that he delivered food for Uber Eats after the 2020 Men’s T20 World Cup was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was supposed to be playing cricket today, now I’m delivering Uber food to get me through the winter months!! Funny how things change hahaha keep smiling people,” he had posted on social media.
In an interview, Van Meekeren admitted that he had to take a job with Uber Eats to make ends meet as cricket had been on an indefinite hiatus due to the pandemic.
“I had enough savings, but they are savings that I don’t want to touch,” he told The Cricketer during a conversation three years ago. “But I have now delved so deep into my reserves that I had to think about what I was going to do this winter because there will be no cricket. I need some income,” said van Meekeren.
“At first I was looking for a job to pay for the simple things like gas, food, rent, phone bills and things like that,” he said. “But I also wanted to be as flexible as possible when a cricket opportunity arose – whether it was the Dutch team, franchise cricket or the chance to train with a province. That’s what happened and I’m very open about it to my friends: I was never ashamed of the fact that I was going to do it,” he added.
A tenacious character both on and off the field, Van Meekeren is the perfect example of the resilience that Dutch cricketers have shown to get this far. Van Meekeren’s emergence from a chapter in his career from which he would not want to return could be a lesson of fortitude and dedication for many others like him.
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