Born in Tonga and raised in Melbourne, Scott Edwards, a Richmond AFL tragic who played second XI games for Victoria, has etched his name in the history books after leading the Netherlands to a stunning World Cup upset of South Africa, adamant it’s just the start for his team.
Edwards, 27, who lives in the Netherlands having grown up in Blackburn in suburban Melbourne and playing club cricket for Richmond, played an epic captain’s knock, blasting 78 off 69 balls, batting at No.7, before the Dutch team rolled the Proteas for their first World Cup win over a Test-playing nation.
His links to the Netherlands come via his grandmother, Tineke van der Wolk, who is from The Hague. Edwards has played 72 matches, ODIs and T20s in orange since his debut in 2018 but none better than the 38-run take-down of the previously unbeaten South Africans.
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Despite the cricket world being in disbelief, Edwards, also the team’s keeper, said his team had high hopes having made the World Cup via qualifying.
“I think after qualifying we were pretty quick to set our minds to what we wanted to do at this tournament,” Edwards, who grew up idolising Australian great Adam Gilchrist, said after the win.
“We weren’t coming here just to have fun and enjoy it. We’re here to win games of cricket and give ourselves the best chance to make that next stage.
“South Africa is obviously a very strong side and they’ll be close to that semi-final spot, so if we want to be amongst it, we’ve got to beat sides like this.”
Edwards has been crucial in just getting the Netherlands to the World Cup, averaging 62.80 during the qualifiers, making 314 runs.
Since taking over as captain in 2022 after Pieter Seelaar‘s retirement, he’s averaged over 42 with the bat and is “one of those guys you just want to follow” according to Dutch fast bowler Logan Van Beek.
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Named player of the match for his own performance, Edwards said his team had shown enough through their opening games to be confident of competing with any side, and the victory
“I suppose we go into every game with our plans and our ways that we’re going to try and win the game,” he said.
“For us, it’s just about playing our best brand of cricket and we feel like if we play well enough on the day, we can beat any side.
“We came into the tournament where we wanted to have a chance in the semi-finals and if you want to do that, you’ve got to beat teams and South Africa are one of the favourites the way they are playing, so it is a good win for us.”
The Netherlands now have as many wins as Australia at this World Cup.
