- By Vishal Pushkar
- Wed, 18 Oct 2023 07:25 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Paul van Meekeren's tweet from 2020 has gained attention on social media due to his remarkable performance in a cricket match against South Africa in Dharamshala. In that tweet, he talked about the need to "keep smiling" despite the challenges he faced during that time, which included losing his contract at Somerset, a misdiagnosed back injury, and a need to deliver food to make ends meet.
Check out the tweet here:
Should’ve been playing cricket today 😏😢 now I’m delivering Uber eats to get through the winter months!! Funny how things change hahaha keep smiling people 😁 https://t.co/kwVEIo6We9
— Paul van Meekeren (@paulvanmeekeren) November 15, 2020
In the match against South Africa, van Meekeren played a crucial role by taking two important wickets: Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen. His performance helped the Dutch cricket team secure a 38-run victory, marking their first win over a Test-playing nation in ODIs. It was also South Africa's first defeat to a non-Test-playing nation in the format.
This victory is a testament to the determination and hard work of players like Paul van Meekeren, who, due to limited financial support, often need to take on part-time jobs alongside their cricket careers. This situation is not unique to the Netherlands but is also common among other non-Test-playing nations like the USA and Oman. Despite these challenges, van Meekeren's resilience and success on the field have made his story an inspiring one in the world of cricket.
In an interview with with The Cricketer, Meekeren said, “I had enough savings but they’re savings that I don’t want to touch. But I’ve dipped so deep into my reserves now that I had to think about what I was going to do this winter, because there isn’t going to be any cricket. I need some income.”
“At the start, I was looking for a job to just cover the simple things like petrol, food, rent, phone bills and those kinds of things,” he said. “But then, I also wanted to be as flexible as possible if any cricket opportunity did come up – whether with the Dutch team, franchise cricket or a chance to train with a county. That’s what happened and I’ve been very open about it to my friends: I was never ashamed of the fact that I was going to do it," he added.