The email that launched Cooper's dream Dutch revival

Tom Cooper was scrolling through his emails in late April when the first of many stars aligned.

Six years had passed since his last international appearance for his adopted country the Netherlands and still without a Big Bash deal for the coming summer, the former South Australian batter may have been wondering with whom and where his next game of cricket would be.

At 35 years old but still feeling that he had good cricket left in him, Cooper stumbled upon an email from former Dutch captain now high performance manager Roland Lefebvre in his junk folder asking if he would consider a comeback.

"I found that email and I guess I got excited at first," Cooper revealed to cricket.com.au from the Netherlands ahead of his departure to Australia.

"But then I didn't really think it was going to happen, with a young family now.

"It's quite a lot to ask my wife to take that on board, being an Associate team, the budgets aren't quite as big as the big international teams.

"So it wasn't quite as easy just bringing the family over and them having a holiday."

But without flinching, his wife Ebonie agreed, and Cooper jetted off to Europe to join the biggest summer of Dutch cricket with the carrot – should all go to plan – of a home World Cup in Australia at the end of it.

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From 2010 to 2016, Cooper was a mainstay of the Dutch side, playing 41 of 67 one-day and T20 internationals.

And he dominated too, averaging 48.80 in ODIs and 28.85 in T20s with a century and 10 half centuries.

But after the T20 World Cup in 2016, where he was part of the Netherlands' last victory in a World Cup match, his career in Australia reached new heights, and understandably that became the priority.

He won the Big Bash title with the Melbourne Renegades in 2018-19 and across five seasons with South Australia he smashed 1338 runs at 44.60 in 50-over cricket, leading Aussie white-ball captain Aaron Finch to suggest it "wouldn't be a stretch at all" for Cooper to play international cricket for two countries.

While it never did eventuate that he would play at senior level for both nations (Cooper was Australia's top run-scorer at the 2006 U19 World Cup and played five List A matches for Australia A in 2014), he perhaps owes his latest stint in international cricket to his younger brother, Ben.

After Ben called time on his eight-year, 71-game Netherlands career in February to move back home to Adelaide, the Dutch were in need of an experienced middle-order batter with T20 World Cup qualifiers and the "best summer of Dutch cricket" on the horizon, with series against full-member nations West Indies, England, New Zealand and Pakistan.

"It's almost like the stars aligned again," Cooper says of his Dutch renaissance.

Image Id: C71A2FCB31834ACEA124D8DCD4681A76 Image Caption: Cooper bats for the Netherlands during the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh // Getty

"South Australia … my priorities were there over the last five to six years since I'd played before.

"But without that, it left the door open to get back over here and help the boys qualify (for the T20 World Cup) and then enjoy these other games (against England, New Zealand and Pakistan).

"It's been nice just to play those games and build up that experience and belief (in) a young and very talented side."

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Being in the right place at the right time is how Cooper's international career started as well.

Like many young Aussie cricketers, the then 21-year-old originally from southern NSW, spent a winter playing abroad at Forfarshire Cricket Club in the Scottish coastal city of Dundee.

With his mum having been born in Dutch New Guinea (now the five easternmost provinces of Indonesia), it allowed Cooper and his brother to obtain a Netherlands passport and thus qualify to play for the national side.

It also meant pre-Brexit he could play in Scotland as a local player without a visa, and it just so happened that former Queensland wicketkeeper and then Netherlands head coach, Peter Drinnen, had previously played for the same club.

Image Id: 2F3425CD4E2547B787A5138AA6E029E4 Image Caption: Cooper played for South Australia for 13 seasons // Getty

"Fortunately, I had a really good season and a bit like now, all the stars aligned," Cooper recalls.

"I think I averaged 98 or something for the season and they've mentioned (to Drinnen) how there was this young Aussie guy over on a Dutch passport that did quite well.

"At this stage I didn't even know cricket existed in Holland, it was just so I can go and have a gap year and travel Europe without having to worry about all the red tape.

"And then I got a phone call out of the blue from Peter Drinnen saying, 'have you ever thought of coming and playing in Holland?'

"I was like 'well, no, because I didn't realise cricket existed there'. Obviously, hockey and football are the two main sports.

"I was probably the first outsider as such. I had to commit to playing the season there to prove my allegiance."

That was 2010 – two years after his stint in Scotland – and the Netherlands, very much a cricketing minnow at the time, played in England's domestic 40-over competition alongside Scotland, a representative team called the Unicorns and the 18 county clubs.

"Personally, it was a huge development in my game," says Cooper. "I'd go through the off-season and play another 12 to 15 List A games.

"To get that experience playing at a proper level, it fast-tracked my game a lot."

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Fast-forward 12 years and playing in a home World Cup certainly wasn't on the father-of-two's radar.

"I thought the horse had bolted, it certainly wasn't something I was actively thinking about," Cooper explains.

"With cricket back home and having a young family it just fell off the radar a little bit.

"It popped up out of the blue so I'm quite fortunate – there's a lot of moving pieces that everything had to fit to make it happen."

While he's unsure if he'll play on for the Netherlands after the T20 World Cup, he's certainly not letting the opportunity slip by, justifying his recall with a crucial 81 not out in the T20 World Cup qualifiers in July and three consecutive ODI half-centuries against Pakistan in August.

"I'm extremely grateful to my wife – my kids are a bit young to realise – but without their support, it never would have happened," says Cooper.

"I think since then, she's probably regretted that decision a little bit, which is understandable and getting towards the end of it with the kids sick, I've got a bit of catch up to play when I get home … especially because she's been working as well."

The Dutch, who are captained by Richmond Cricket Club wicketkeeper-batter Scott Edwards, kick off their T20 World Cup first-round campaign against the UAE in Geelong on Sunday night.