Ben Cooper pulls down curtains on his illustrious International Career at 29

Netherlands batsman Ben Cooper aged 29 has announced his retirement from International Cricket after featuring for the Netherlands for eight long years.

Cooper retires at 29

Though Cooper had earlier made himself unavailable for the Netherlands’ most recent Super League fixtures against South Africa and Afghanistan, the news of his retirement at the age of 29 came as a big blow for the Netherlands squad.

 

“Today, I announce my retirement from international cricket,” Cooper posted on Twitter. “It has been an absolute honour and privilege to don the oranges and represent the Netherlands for the last eight years.

 

“It’s been a time filled with amazing highs, special moments, and tough lows. There’s nothing I would change about it and will look back at my time with very fond memories.

 

“@kncbcricket thank you for the opportunity to live out a childhood dream. To my Netherlands teammates and coaches (past and present) I thank you all for the amazing memories and couldn’t ask for better people to share the field and change rooms with. I have no doubt the current squad and talent coming through will continue to achieve great things for Dutch cricket.”

Ben has won some 127 caps for the Netherlands

Ben Cooper is the Netherlands ‘ leading run-scorer in T20Is after amassing 1,239 runs at an average of 28 across 58 matches. Since making his ODI debut for the dutch against Canada in 2013, Cooper has won some 127 caps for the Netherlands – finishing just six runs less than 1,000 runs across ODIs and List A internationals as well as boasting an impressive record in the handful of First Class matches the Netherlands played as part of the now-defunct Intercontinental Cup, scoring 451 runs at an average of 75, including a memorable unbeaten 173* against Hong Kong in a record unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 288 in the company of Pieter Seelaar.

 

In all he played 71 white-ball matches for the Netherlands, scoring 1426 runs. His last game was at the T20 World Cup in the UAE, where the Netherlands failed to qualify for the Super 12s last year. Cooper’s retirement follows that of Ryan Tendoeschate who ended his playing career after the T20 World Cup and switched to coaching. Cooper has also announced his retirement from domestic cricket in the Netherlands, closing an impressive career for VRA Amsterdam. Cooper holds a number of records at the venerable club, including recording the first and so far only double hundred in the Dutch domestic top flight, in his debut season.