Born on 14th February 2000, she’s one of the first few thousand millennium babies but probably one of only a handful who went on to play professional cricket for their country. We’re talking about Silver Naara Louise Siegers who made her international debut at the tender young age of 18 years and today, she’s a vital part of the Dutch women’s cricket team, with 9 wickets in 16 T20Is as of August 2020!
Born in the city of Haarlem in Netherlands, Silver made her debut in the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier where the team was captained by her older sister, Heather. Currently, Silver balances her cricket and education and is doing a brilliant job of it. “It can get quite stressful. I’m doing half a course a year and there’s a small delay in my studies but getting so much done in cricket, I’m happy,” she told Read Scoops.
Of late, she’s had to face a weird and unprecedented routine (like millions of others around the globe) due to the coronavirus pandemic. Teammates across all sports haven’t been able to be close to each other but in Silver’s case, that has changed now as training has resumed in full swing in the Netherlands, with strength and conditioning sessions and more all back to normal now.
Silver Siegers social profiles 🌐:
The Dutch women’s team number #31🏏🇳🇱 is a clever leg-spinner who has bowled some vital spells for the national side in the last two years that she’s donned the Oranje jersey. She has a very bright future ahead of her and Read Scoops recently caught up with her for an exclusive chat about her international debut, career so far and plans in the game of cricket. Keep reading for the complete conversation…
Silver, tell us what it felt like to make an international debut while still in your teens?
“To be honest, it was quite frightening. I’d been training hard for a few years prior, so it was exciting as well. My sister being there was obviously a great support. I think the best feeling was that I would be playing a team like Bangladesh that would completely test my skills as a cricketer. I worked really hard for the last couple of years before that game and was totally ready and well prepared. So, I’d say it was exciting and good to see that hard work does pay off.”
How did you take up cricket? At what point did you think you could make a future out of it?
“My family was only introduced to the game of cricket when my sister started playing while at school. That’s how I got introduced to the game as well. I just really loved it from the start and since I’m a driven person, I wanted to be at the same level as my sister and the two of us worked on this together.”
“I think I was around 13 and was training every single day. One day, one of the coaches said to me that if I hard work and if I’m driven and motivated, I’ve got enough talent to make it into the Dutch women’s squad. That was the turning point for me and I said to myself that I’m going to train, hard work and turn up at every session to make this dream work.”
What would you say is the favourite moment of your international career so far?
“This is a tough one. I think I’ve got two favourite moments. The first was my debut where I got my first wicket in my first over itself. They always told me I wouldn’t bowl in the powerplay so I was very nervous when the captain threw me the ball in the powerplay. My third or fourth delivery was a wicket. All my family and friends were watching; they were all excited and shouting in happiness, so that was certainly memorable.”
“Last year in September, we played the World Cup qualifiers in Scotland. We played a match against USA and I was sitting on the boundary with my sister. America was actually doing pretty well and Heather and me were discussing about how something needs to change soon. We needed a wicket and when I got the ball from the captain, I looked at her and said, ‘Let’s do this’. Yeah, I bowled 2/10 in 4 overs in that match and it turned out to be a game-changing spell that turned the match in our favour, so it was very memorable.”
What does the game of cricket mean to you?
“With all that’s going on, everything goes to cricket right now. If I’m happy, I turn to cricket. If I’m frustrated, I turn to cricket. So yeah, it’s like the base of my life right now. Every day involves cricket. Whether I’m with friends or family, I talk about cricket, so it’s definitely an essential part of my life.”
What is your main cricketing goal?
“I would love to play franchise cricket, maybe in Australia or England or for that matter, even the Caribbean or in India.”
How do you think cricket boards can work together to further popularize women’s cricket?
“What they’re doing now is making a women’s version of every men’s tournament but I guess it would be great to have a women’s only tournament too. There was BBL followed by WBBL. Similarly, IPL was followed by Women’s IPL. I’d like to see an exclusive women’s tournament which may help up the standard of equality in the game.”
How did your unique bowling action come into being?
“When I was younger I used to be a pace bowler but when I was around 12 years old, one of the coaches discovered that I actually had a natural leg-spinners action, so they wanted to make me one, which would make me a more valuable part of the team. From that moment on, I’ve always been a leg-spinner. Currently, I’m working on different paces because I’m more consistent in terms of speeds right now. Lots of exciting things coming…”
The funniest cricketing story you can remember?
“I play in a city called Haarlem in Netherlands and there was this club game I was playing one day. I was bowling and had a square leg on the boundary and a mid-wicket on the circle. The batter hit the ball to cow corner and the girl at square leg started running to fine leg instead of cow corner, so we were all like ‘What are you doing’ and everyone was laughing. It was easily the funniest moment ever and I couldn’t even be bothered about the boundary that went by 😂😂”
How has your life and routine changed since the Covid-19 lockdown?
“I think like every cricketer, I’ve tried to do as much as I can at home but it wasn’t enough to keep up with what we do at training. What I definitely learnt is that the efficiency of training can go up and if you have like 30-40 minutes of spare time daily, you can actually do a lot at home, saving on travelling time. With the girls, we did FaceTime and worked out together and did a lot of group sessions as well.”
Netherland Cricketer Silver Siegers isn't letting the lockdown dampen her cricketing spirits. 😃 🏏 @KNCBcricket pic.twitter.com/Yd6gVc41Un
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) May 14, 2020
Do you have any other message for our readers?
“Yes. When I was younger, I was definitely not the best cricketer. I was always batting at 10 or 11 and was lucky if I got a bowl. But I worked hard and was really driven and motivated over the years; now I’m in the Dutch squad, batting at 8 or 9 and I’m solid value as a bowler too. What I’m saying is that if you work hard and stay motivated, you can achieve every goal you set out for yourself. I’m doing extra batting sessions now and can see that I’m improving every week. Maybe in 2-3 years, I could call myself a bowling all-rounder as well!”
Rapid fire with Silver 🔥🔥
- Favourite Dutch cricketers? Pauline te Beest, Tim de Leede.
- Favourite international cricketers? Harmanpreet Kaur, MS Dhoni.
- Favourite cricketing venue? Perth, Australia.
- 3 words to describe yourself? Driven, focussed and umm, social!
- Favourite hobbies? I love dancing. I did it when I was younger and try to make some time for this now too.
- Skills you’ve learnt since the Covid-19 lockdown? Mobility and agility!
- If not cricket, an alternate career? I study International Business, so something there maybe.
- You or your sister – the better cricketer? My sister.
When we spoke, I could feel the determination in her voice which means we can expect special things from this young girl over the next few years. From the entire team at Read Scoops, I wish Silver Siegers the best of luck for her cricketing career with Netherlands and hope to see her soon complete her goal of playing in major franchise leagues around the world!
– Dwayne Fernandes, Read Scoops
(Twitter – @dwayneeeboy, Instagram – @dwayneeeboy)
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