renaissance dutchman

I'm reading, on and off, David Kynaston's W.G's Birthday Party, which is so far one of the most fun sports books I have read. I loved, as we all do, the pen-portraits of golden age players.

Viz. 1: 'Teddy' Wynyard, who won his DSO in Burma, won the FA Cup with the Old Carthusians in 1881, was prominent in rugger, hockey and figure skating, won the European tobogganing championships in 1894 and a Humane Society medal for rescuing a Swiss peasant from under the ice on the lake at Davos. He was 'by nature an autocrat' and 'A good friend but an awesome enemy.'

Viz. 2: 'Sammy' Woods, son of a Sydney merchant, huge and bold, etc. 'The Father of Mordern Wing Forward Play' as a rugby star, he was a ferocious fast bowler and fearsome hitter. He had a crack at banking and land surveying, but he wasn't up to it, really. Then he went to Cambridge where he had 'four of the jolliest years I have had in my life', though this discounts the agony of his exams. As Kynaston writes: 'It was said that all he could write on his papers was "SMJ Woods. Jesus", with even that having a spelling mistake.' The year he was Cambridge Captain, he breakfasted on seven hot lobsters and some fine ale before going out and taking ten wickets in an innings. He later said, 'There is one thing I have steadily tried to do: to drink more beer for the years I have lived than any other man who has ever come down from Cambridge.'

These characters have gone the way of all flesh with the advent of professionalism, you probably think. Well, think again, because how much fun is Dirk Nannes, an Australian Dutchman? I'll tell you.

He's 33, I'm pretty sure. He's an ex-international skier, speaks Japanese and studied the saxophone at University. He runs a ski-travel company. He never really concentrated on cricket until his late twenties, at which point he became a serious weapon, especially in the shorter version of the game, and he's made a fortune in the IPL playing for Delhi. Virender Sehwag, who's played against everyone, says he's the fastest bowler he's ever faced. There was surprise when he wasn't picked for Australia in the Twenty20. After the omission, he has thrown in his lot with the Dutch.