Maurits van Nierop

Maurits van Nierop was spotted as a promising talent at an early age, and that was underlined when he became the first player from the Netherlands to be taken onto the MCC groundstaff as one of their Young Cricketers in 2001.

A top-order batsman, he played for various national age groups, captaining the Under-23s, and made his first-class debut for Netherlands in 2004, scoring 38 and 41 against Ireland in the Intercontinental Cup, going on to play in a further three games between then and 2006. He also made two ODI appearances in 2006-07.

His selection was restricted because he had moved back to South Africa in 2006 where he had continued to play club cricket. He had only just been named in Netherlands' winter training squad for 2008-09 when he was found dead in a Cape Town street.
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