Dirk Nannes

Who is Dirk Nannes?

Dirk Peter Nannes is a professional cricketer who has played internationally for both Australia and the Netherlands, one of the few players to represent multiple international teams. From Melbourne, Nannes was a freestyle skier before beginning his cricket career, and competed in mogul events at two FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cups. Beginning in Victorian Premier Cricket, he made his first-class debut for Victoria during the 2005–06 season, aged 29. A left-arm fast bowler, Nannes had moderate success in the domestic first-class and one-day tournaments, leading to a stint with English county side Middlesex during the 2008 season. His greatest success, however, came in Twenty20 matches. Holding Dutch citizenship through his parents, he played two Twenty20 Internationals for the Netherlands at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 tournament, and later that year made his One Day International and T20I debuts for Australia.

Altogether, Nannes took 28 wickets from 17 matches in T20I matches, with his last match coming in October 2010, for Australia against Sri Lanka. Although his last matches for Victoria came during the 2010–11 season, he has remained extremely active at Twenty20 level. Altogether, Nannes has played for fourteen different franchises across seven different countries, including the Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder in Big Bash League matches, and the Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Chennai Super Kings in Indian Premier League matches. As of February 2014, he had taken 222 wickets from 189 Twenty20 matches, ranking only behind Lasith Malinga, Alfonso Thomas, and Azhar Mahmood in terms of wickets taken.