Paul-Jan Bakker
Cricket career
Cricket career
--------------

The following year, he made history by becoming the first Dutchman to play in the [County Championship](/wiki/County_Championship "County Championship"), when he played against [Gloucestershire](/wiki/Gloucestershire_County_Cricket_Club "Gloucestershire County Cricket Club") at [Bournemouth](/wiki/Dean_Park_Cricket_Ground "Dean Park Cricket Ground"); prior to that, he had made his debut in [first\-class cricket](/wiki/First-class_cricket "First-class cricket") (the third Dutchman to play first\-class cricket after [Carst Posthuma](/wiki/Carst_Posthuma "Carst Posthuma") and [Bill Glerum](/wiki/Bill_Glerum "Bill Glerum")) for Hampshire a week prior to this match, when he played against the touring [Indians](/wiki/India_national_cricket_team "India national cricket team") at [Southampton](/wiki/County_Ground%2C_Southampton "County Ground, Southampton"). He also made his debut in [List A one\-day cricket](/wiki/List_A_cricket "List A cricket") against the [Combined Universities](/wiki/British_Universities_cricket_team "British Universities cricket team") at [Oxford](/wiki/University_Parks%23Cricket_ground "University Parks#Cricket ground") in the [1986 Benson \& Hedges Cup](/wiki/1986_Benson_%26_Hedges_Cup "1986 Benson & Hedges Cup"). The month following his County Championship debut, Bakker played for the [Netherlands](/wiki/Netherlands_national_cricket_team "Netherlands national cricket team") in the [ICC Trophy](/wiki/1986_ICC_Trophy "1986 ICC Trophy"), playing in all eight of the Netherlands matches in the tournament, where the Netherlands missed out on qualification for the [1987 World Cup](/wiki/1987_Cricket_World_Cup "1987 Cricket World Cup"), having lost to [Zimbabwe](/wiki/Zimbabwe_national_cricket_team "Zimbabwe national cricket team") in the tournaments final. Bakker made an immediate impact in the tournament, taking [5 for 18](/wiki/Five_wicket_haul "Five wicket haul") in his first match against [Papua New Guinea](/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea_national_cricket_team "Papua New Guinea national cricket team"); he finished the tournament with 21 wickets, with only teammate Ronnie Elferink and the Dane [Ole Mortensen](/wiki/Ole_Mortensen "Ole Mortensen") taking more.

Bakker played three first\-class and List A matches for Hampshire in 1987, claiming his maiden five\-wicket haul in first\-class cricket in this season, with figures of 7 for 31 against [Kent](/wiki/Kent_County_Cricket_Club "Kent County Cricket Club"). By the end of the following season, he had established himself in the Hampshire side. His standout season for Hampshire came in 1989, when he was Hampshire's leading first\-class wicket taker that season with 77 wickets from 21 matches at an [average](/wiki/Bowling_average "Bowling average") of 22\.49; he was the seventh\-highest wicket taker in first\-class cricket in England during that season. He also had a successful season in one\-day cricket in 1989, taking 24 wickets at an average of 23\.19\. His performances for Hampshire in 1989 earned him the Hampshire Press Cricketer of the Year award. His one\-day form continued across to the Netherlands in 1989, with him playing in a 50\-over match against a strong touring [Australian](/wiki/Australia_national_cricket_team "Australia national cricket team") side at [The Hague](/wiki/The_Hague "The Hague"). His wickets included [Mark Taylor](/wiki/Mark_Taylor_%28cricketer%29 "Mark Taylor (cricketer)") and [Dean Jones](/wiki/Dean_Jones_%28cricketer%29 "Dean Jones (cricketer)"), who had both just dominated the [English](/wiki/England_cricket_team "England cricket team") bowlers in the [Ashes Test match series](/wiki/Australian_cricket_team_in_England_in_1989 "Australian cricket team in England in 1989").

The following season, he made sixteen first\-class appearances for Hampshire, taking 37 wickets; however, in stark contrast to the previous season, these wickets came at an average of 38\.89 and saw him take just one five\-wicket haul. His one\-day bowling during this season remained consistent, with 17 wickets at an average of 32\.23\. During the 1990 season, he made his second appearance in the ICC Trophy in [1990](/wiki/1990_ICC_Trophy "1990 ICC Trophy"), making two appearances during the tournament against [Kenya](/wiki/Kenya_national_cricket_team "Kenya national cricket team") and [Zimbabwe](/wiki/Zimbabwe_national_cricket_team "Zimbabwe national cricket team"). For Hampshire, Bakker found his opportunities limited in 1991 and 1992 in both first\-class and one\-day cricket, leading to his release at the end of the 1992 season. Often opening the bowling with [Malcolm Marshall](/wiki/Malcolm_Marshall "Malcolm Marshall"), and described as having a "probing [line and length](/wiki/Line_and_length "Line and length")", Bakker took 193 wickets for Hampshire in 69 first\-class matches at an average of 28\.01; he took seven five wicket hauls and had best figures of 7 for 31\. In one\-day cricket, he took 76 wickets in 62 one\-day matches at an average of 26\.19; he took two five wicket hauls, with best figures of 5 for 17\.

Following the end of his [county cricket](/wiki/County_cricket "County cricket") career, he returned to the Netherlands and continued to play for Quick Haag, though it was noted his bowling had lost some pace by this point. Bakker was selected in the Netherlands squad for the [1996 World Cup](/wiki/1996_Cricket_World_Cup "1996 Cricket World Cup") in the Indian subcontinent, playing in the Netherlands first ever [One Day International](/wiki/One_Day_International "One Day International") during the tournament against [New Zealand](/wiki/New_Zealand_national_cricket_team "New Zealand national cricket team") at [Vadodara](/wiki/Moti_Bagh_Stadium "Moti Bagh Stadium") at the advanced age of 38\. He took two wickets in the match, those of [Chris Harris](/wiki/Chris_Harris_%28cricketer%29 "Chris Harris (cricketer)") and [Dipak Patel](/wiki/Dipak_Patel_%28New_Zealand_cricketer%29 "Dipak Patel (New Zealand cricketer)"). He played in all of the Netherlands five matches during the tournament, but took just one further wicket in these matches. His solitary ODI run came as a result of an umpiring error against the [United Arab Emirates](/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates_national_cricket_team "United Arab Emirates national cricket team"), when Bakker and [Robert van Oosterom](/wiki/Robert_van_Oosterom "Robert van Oosterom") scampered a [bye](/wiki/Bye_%28cricket%29 "Bye (cricket)") off the final ball of the Dutch innings, but the bye was not signalled by the [umpire](/wiki/Umpire_%28cricket%29 "Umpire (cricket)") and so was credited as a run to Bakker. He made one final appearance for the Netherlands following the World Cup, in the 1st Round of the [1996 NatWest Trophy](/wiki/1996_NatWest_Trophy "1996 NatWest Trophy") against [Surrey](/wiki/Surrey_County_Cricket_Club "Surrey County Cricket Club"), after which he retired. For the Netherlands, he played 51 matches over a thirteen\-year period (having debuted in a minor match against the [Marylebone Cricket Club](/wiki/Marylebone_Cricket_Club "Marylebone Cricket Club") (MCC) in 1983\), taking 161 wickets at an average of exactly 13\.


At what age did Bakker make his One Day International debut?