Dirk Nannes, Australian-Dutch cricketer
Dirk Peter Nannes (born 16 May 1976) is an Australian-Dutch cricket commentator and former cricketer who has played internationally for both Australia and the Netherlands, one of the few players to represent multiple international teams.
From Melbourne, Nannes was a freestyle skier before beginning his cricket career, and competed in mogul events at two FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cups. Beginning in Victorian Premier Cricket, he made his first-class debut for Victoria during the 2005–06 season, aged 29. A left-arm fast bowler, Nannes had moderate success in the domestic first-class and one-day tournaments, leading to a stint with English county side Middlesex during the 2008 season. His greatest success, however, came in Twenty20 matches. Holding Dutch citizenship through his parents, he played two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for the Netherlands at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 tournament, and later that year made his One Day International (ODI) and T20I debuts for Australia.
Altogether, Nannes took 28 wickets from 17 matches in T20I matches, with his last match coming in October 2010, for Australia against Sri Lanka. Although his last matches for Victoria came during the 2010–11 season, he has remained a regular player at Twenty20 level, in both Australian and overseas tournaments. As one of the first freelance cricketers, Nannes has played for fifteen different teams or franchises across nine different countries, including the Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder in Big Bash League matches, and the Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Chennai Super Kings in Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. As of August 2014, he had taken almost 250 wickets from 200 Twenty20 matches, ranking only behind Lasith Malinga and Alfonso Thomas in terms of wickets taken in that format.