| Player: | NA de Groot |
A stylish, elegant bat and occasional medium pace bowler, Nick de Groot was born in North York, Ontario, but learned his cricket in Guyana. His talent was soon recognised, and he made his debut against the touring Australians in 1994/95 at the age of 19. Selected at the youth level for the West Indies he soon became Guyana's regular opening bat. He perhaps failed to realise his potential, with no first-class hundreds in over 30 matches, and he seemed to have little chance of international honours until he decided to throw in his lot with Canada in the ICC Trophy in 2001. This in retrospect was a good decision, as he made an important contribution to Canada's third place finish, and qualification for the 2003 World Cup.
Like many shorter men he excels at the cross bat shots, hooking and cutting with confidence and power. He has the gift of rarely seeming hurried, able to play his shots very late. He bowls an accurate medium pace, and is a fine fielder, quick to the ball and with a sharp throw.
(Article: Copyright © 2002 Dave Liverman)
