Photo Credit: Cricket Netherlands
Michael Rippon, who until recently played for the Netherlands, has been selected for the New Zealand national team. “Of course this is a big loss for the Orange squad”, says KNCB High Performance Manager Roland Lefebvre, “but for Michael this is a fantastic opportunity, with which we congratulate him warmly.”
“Michael Rippon has worked very hard for years to qualify for this. Now he has succeeded and we can only have deep respect for that. We wish him every success in his further international cricket career,” said Lefebvre.
Rippon was named tonight (20/6) as one of the members of the New Zealand squad that will tour Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands for a series of matches. On Thursday 4 and Saturday 6 August, New Zealand will play two T20Is against the Netherlands on the field of Voorburg CC.
Rippon (30) is a left-handed wrist spinner and right-handed batsman. He was born in Cape Town in 1990 and joined Sussex in England in 2012. He then left for New Zealand, where he was signed to Otago Volts in 2016.
In 2013, Rippon made his ODI debut for the Dutch national team in Amstelveen against Ireland. He was eligible for this because he also had a Dutch passport. He has now played 31 games for the Orange squad. In March and April of this year, he played three more ODI’s with the Orange against New Zealand.
Under the rules of the ICC, a player may play for a so-called Associate (such as the Netherlands) or Affiliate, whereby he may still be eligible to play for a Full Member (such as New Zealand).
However, there are restrictions the other way around: as soon as his name appears on an international match team sheet for a Full Member, he is not allowed to play for an Affiliate or Associate for three years.
