Sybrand Engelbrecht is 35, and is living a dream he once gave up on.

Fifteen years after breaking through for South Africa at the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, he’s now a capped international cricketer. For Netherlands.

On Tuesday, when he plays against South Africa in a World Cup game in Dharamsala, it’s likely he will be flooded with memories of his early initiation into the game in Pretoria, at the same school Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers went to.

“Personally, it is a dream come true,” Engelbrecht, primarily a top-order batter, says with a distinct glint in his eye after Netherlands’ match against New Zealand, his debut. “Any young kid that comes through wants to play international cricket, and to do that at a World Cup is really special. So it’s a moment that I’ll look back on fondly.”

This, after having retired from the game. Engelbrecht played for Cape Cobras till retiring from all cricket in December 2016. While he was still an active player, he completed a degree in finance and a post-graduation in project management. At the time, the possibility of playing top-tier cricket seemed remote.

“I started working for a business called Fairtree in January 2017,” he says. “Two years into my corporate career, I did an MBA from Stellenbosch Business School [in the Western Cape]. So, it was a couple of years that I didn’t really have much to do with cricket.”

In January 2021, Fairtree were keen on expanding their footprint in Europe, and Engelbrecht was chosen to spearhead their Netherlands project to expand their equity business in the real estate sector. While work kept him occupied during the week, he began playing recreational cricket on the weekends.

“It was really when the family and I moved to Netherlands that I picked up the bat again, because it was kind of the easiest way to integrate into the community and to make new friends,” Engelbrecht says. “When I picked the bat again, it was kind of like, I missed it. And I fell in love with it all over again. It was good.

“But I’m still working full time. I’m still very fortunate to work for a fantastic business, so that’s still my primary focus. Whilst I’m here, I’m going to give it my all for Dutch cricket.”

Engelbrecht played for Voorburg Cricket Club, which rose to become one of the major teams in the top-tier of the club structure in the Netherlands. He featured in three successive finals for them. Even as he slowly veered from recreational to competitive cricket, while still working his day job, head coach Ryan Cook had been keenly following his progress.

A decade earlier, Cook had worked with Engelbrecht at Cobras and knew what he could potentially offer. He was keen on broadening the player pool for Netherlands, and Engelbrecht’s compelling performances with the bat threw open the eventual question: was he eligible to play for Netherlands?

“We’ve integrated and built a strong foundation within the club,” Engelbrecht says of his stint at Voorburg. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are in the Dutch setup, so it’s been fantastic to test my skills against those guys, try and help and guide, learn and help them where I can.

“I suppose it was always at the back of my mind, but never the primary focus. It was never ‘Oh, I want to play for the Netherlands’. It only became more apparent once we started the journey of finding out if I am eligible or not.”

Cook and KNCB (Netherlands Cricket Board) then began seriously exploring the prospect of integrating Engelbrecht into the setup after the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe in June, following their sensational run where they knocked off some strong contenders like West Indies and Ireland.

“I did a bit of research and spoke, and thought I was close,” he says. “We checked with the ICC, and they came back and said, ‘you are eligible’. And it all happened so quickly. The week after that, I made my debut for Netherlands A and was integrated into the team.

“I also got the blessing from the business to give this a proper crack and try my best to get to the World Cup. The entire team at work has been amazing, they’ve taken all the workload off so that I can try and hit a cricket ball.”

Engelbrecht hasn’t had the time to think about what happens next. For now, he’s firmly driven by the desire to give back to the team and help grow the game in his adopted country.

“I think the important thing for me and for us as team is to make sure we learn and grow, and try to be better to win some games,” he says. “So it’s special [to be at the World Cup], but at the same time, we really want to come out here to compete and ensure Dutch cricket is going in the right direction.”

He is realistic of the challenges they face in terms of funding and opportunities. But he hopes things will change by the time they get to the end of the World Cup. They have already received a full-time sponsor for the next three years, and the prospect of playing another world event next year [T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA] should also help drive the change.

“It [the setup in the Netherlands] is different, it’s not as professional as the structures and systems are in South Africa,” he says. “There’s a lot less capital involved, but the environment that has been created by the management team, led primarily by Ryan Cook, has been nothing short of phenomenal. The culture and the values that they have instilled in the team is fantastic.

“Yes, we’re not fully playing to potential, but I believe Dutch cricket is on the right track. With a little bit of capital and time, I believe we’ll be a force to reckon with in the years to come. It’s not near where it is for some of the bigger nations, but we are working extremely hard with what we’ve got to try and make an impact.”