Sybrand Engelbrecht, the Flying Dutchman, signs off with an all-timer

In a group game between Sri Lanka and the West Indies in the 2009 World T20, Angelo Mathews made a sensational save at the long-on boundary off Ajantha Mendis to deny Ramnaresh Sarwan three certain runs. 

Sarwan thought it was going for a maximum. Mathews took an overhead catch and noticed the momentum was taking him across the boundary line. He tossed the ball up, crossed the boundary line, made a spectacular jump and slapped the ball back. 

The MCC, at that time, clarified that Mathews did alright but as per the current rule, it would have been a six. 

15 years later, Mathews was at the receiving end of a similar kind of a save. The right-hander hit a Tim Pringle full toss and it was going towards the deep midwicket boundary. 

But when Sybrand Engelbrecht is patrolling the boundary, the marginal calls won’t go your way. He jumped and made a one-handed save – well within the current rule – to deny Mathews five runs. The social media reel of that save went viral but hours later, the 35-year-old announced his retirement from international cricket. 

It wasn’t something that was expected but the decision wasn’t surprising either. He will be 37 in the next T20 World Cup year and 38 in the next ODI World Cup year. His 24-match career in international cricket doesn’t have remarkable numbers but it’s an astonishing story how he returned to the big stage in 2023 after walking away from the game in 2016.

Engelbrecht caught everyone’s eye during the 2008 Under-19 World Cup with his third cricketing skill. Born in Johannesburg, Engelbrecht represented South Africa in that tournament and took two blinders at backward point to dismiss India’s captain Virat Kohli and the tournament’s leading run-getter Tanmay Shrivastava in the final.

But his catch against Papua New Guinea as a substitute fielder was undoubtedly the catch of the tournament. It was termed as “the greatest catch in cricket history” by some YouTube channels and social media commentators. 

Engelbrecht averaged more than 40 in first-class and List A cricket when he gave up cricket eight years ago after being left out of the Cobras’ central contracts. 

Despite having decent numbers, Engelbrecht was a relatively unknown commodity as he could not quite make a name for himself in the franchise circuit.

Probably his best moment as a South African player came in a 2014 Champions League T20 game for Cape Cobras against Barbados Tridents. Engelbrecht scored an unbeaten 19 to help Cobras tie the game and then defended 11 in the Super Over with his off-breaks in the Super Over to hand them a thrilling win.

As opportunities dried up, he used his degrees to pursue a career in financial and project management. Two years into his corporate career, he completed an MBA from Stellenbosch Business School.

But the universe conspired to reunite Engelbrecht with his first love, which is cricket. Seven years after his last professional game in South Africa and seven days before his 35th birthday, he earned an unlikely World Cup call-up for the Netherlands. 

Engelbrecht moved to the Netherlands in 2021 for professional reasons and started playing recreational cricket in order to socialise and then fell in love with cricket again. 

He played for Voorburg Cricket Club, a renowned domestic side, and slowly started playing competitive cricket. 

Engelbrecht is no stranger to the Netherlands head coach Ryan Cook, having been working together in South African domestic cricket. 

As he piled on the runs in club cricket, Cook and the Netherlands cricket board (KNCB) explored the possibilities of having him in the team before the World Cup last year.

Engelbrecht, on Monday, put an end to an international career that lasted about eight months and half of his 24 appearances for the Dutch came across two World Cups. Notably, he is the first cricketer to play both the ODI and T20 World Cup after making international debut after turning 35.

The right-hander was the Netherlands’ highest run-getter in both the World Cups. He scored 300 runs in eight 50-over World Cup games last year with the help of two half-centuries. Both of his fifties came when his team was in trouble and he also made a crucial 35 against Bangladesh which eventually proved match-winning.

In the ongoing T20 World Cup, Engelbrecht scored a fine 40 against a South African bowling attack in a dodgy New York wicket which almost won the Dutch the match.

His quick-fire 33 off 22 almost took the game from Bangladesh too. He pulled Taskin Ahmed out of the ground for a 92-meter six in that game. Earlier, he took an absolute stunner to dismiss Litton Das off Aryan Dutt.

The save to deny Mathews a six in his final international match will remain the highlight of his career. It pretty much summed up Engelbrecht’s fielding brilliance. 

He was often used as a substitute fielder because of his supreme fielding skills. He even fielded for South Africa in 2009 in the Newlands Test against Australia and affected a run out. Wayne Parnell was listed as the 12th man but Engelbrecht was used as a substitute fielder ahead of him.

Fielding is something that he enjoys a lot and takes pride in. Even at 35, he fielded at hotspots like point, backward point and in the deep.

“It’s something that I suppose I pride myself on and as a unit, I think we are up there with the best teams in the world when it comes to fielding,” he said. 

“We spend a lot of time and effort with the fielding and we do believe that it’s a competitive advantage. To be a part of that is special. It’s something that I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed and will look back on fondly.”

His orientation to cricket took place in the same school as AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis. Sybrand Abraham Engelbrecht could not become as famous as them with the bat, but just like them, he made diving catches, phenomenal stops and acrobatic saves look incredibly cool.