Born and raised in South Africa, ten Doeschate signed with Essex County Cricket Club in England for the 2003 English season, qualifying through his Dutch citizenship as a domestic player. A right-handed all-rounder, he first represented the Dutch national team in the 2005 ICC Trophy, and played a number of tournaments for the side, including the 2009 World Twenty20 and 2011 World Cup. At the latter tournament, ten Doeschate scored 119 runs against England, the first ODI century by a Dutch player against a full member of the ICC.
At domestic level, ten Doeschate first established himself as a regular for Essex during the 2006 season, and was named the team's limited-overs captain for the 2014 season. He has played for a number of professional Twenty20 sides in other countries, including franchises in Australia's Big Bash, the Bangladesh Premier League, the Indian Premier League and in New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
In September 2021, ten Doeschate announced that he would retire from professional cricket at the end of 2021.[3] He played his final international against Namibia on 20 October 2021 during the group match in 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. In December 2021 he was appointed as Kent County Cricket Club's batting coach. In November 2022, he was appointed as the fielding coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.[4] In July 2024, he was appointed as one of the assistant coaches of the Indian men’s cricket team.
Early life and education
Ten Doeschate was born on 30 June 1980 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.[1] He is the son of Ingrid and Boudewyn ten Doeschate; his father was originally from the Dutch city of Zwolle. He attended high school at Fairbairn College and went on to attend the University of Cape Town, where he captained the cricket team.[5]
Domestic and franchise career
ten Doeschate batting for Essex in 2018.
In 2003, Graham Gooch was on tour with Essex in South Africa and saw ten Doeschate play in a match against a Western Province second XI. Against Essex, he first excelled with the ball in a four-day game before impressing with the bat in a one-day match. Gooch's friend Peter Kirsten, one of the Western Province coaches, mentioned ten Doeschate's EU citizenship that would make him eligible to play in England.
In 2008, ten Doeschate became one of the cornerstones of a strong Essex team and enjoyed success with them, winning the Friends Provident Trophy and Pro40 Division 2. During a Clydesdale Bank 40 match against the Derbyshire Falcons, ten Doeschate scored 109 not out in 2010. He led the batting averages for Essex in the Friends Provident t20, scoring 296 runs in six matches at an average of 59.20.
In 2016 he was appointed captain of Essex in the County Championship. In his first season as captain, he led the side to promotion to the first division. The following season Essex won the Championship. In January 2020, he stepped down as the captain of Essex after leading the club for four straight seasons.[7]
In successive innings in international matches for the Netherlands in the ICC Intercontinental Cup competition in 2005 and 2006, he scored 84, 158, 138, 100 and finally 259 not out, the last innings setting a new record for the competition.[9]
Ten Doeschate was selected in the Netherlands squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. In a warm-up match he took five wickets against a strong India team.[10] He followed this up by scoring 57 runs off 74 balls. In the opening match of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, he contributed to the shock defeat of the host nation England, taking two wickets and scoring 22 not out.[11]
