JANIS KINNEAR
Staff Reporter
THE PARENTS of Cape Town- schooled Dutch national cricket team player Ryan ten Doeschate admitted their loyalties were divided today when the Netherlands took on the Proteas at the World Cup.
During the World Cup opener, South-African born Ten Doeschate or “Tendo” to his team-mates, smashed a century for the “Oranjes” against England in a losing cause.
The Cape Argus visited the parents’ home in Edgemead yesterday. His mother Ingrid ten Doeschate said she had spoken to him on the phone and said he told her that he was “dreading the game”. She said her son was worried that “the wicket was going to be bouncy and fast” at the Mohali Stadium in Chandigarh.
At the time of going to press, her son had seemingly got over his apprehension as he took the wicket of Proteas batting lynchpin Jacques Kallis for a paltry two runs. Admittedly, it was not one of his best deliveries as Kallis chased a ball going down the leg side and managed to edge it to wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi.
“Being the mother of a sportsman can be heartbreaking, you hope for even one run rather than a duck,” she said.
The Dutch all-rounder was born in Port Elizabeth and then later moved to Cape Town where he completed high school at Fairbairn College in Goodwood.
It was at the college where he first started playing cricket competitively and later while studying at UCT he captained the university’s first team which, ironically, included Proteas captain Graeme Smith.
His father, Boudewyn ten Doeschate, is from Zwolle in the Netherlands, but has been living in South Africa for more than 40 years. “I came here to learn to speak English better and I’ve been here ever since.”
When asked who they would be rooting for, his parents said it was “quite difficult” to choose.
But Ten Doeschate’s mother was certain of one thing: “Ryan’s heart will always be South African.”