Max O'Dowd

Maxwell Patrick O'Dowd (born 4 March 1994) is a New Zealand-born Dutch international cricketer who made his debut for the Netherlands national cricket team in June 2015. He is a right-handed opening batsman and has played for the Netherlands in three editions of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Max O'Dowd

Personal information
Full name	Maxwell Patrick O'Dowd
Born	(1994-03-04) 4 March 1994 (age 30) Auckland, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off spin
Role	Batsman
Relations	Alex O'Dowd (father)
International information
National side	Netherlands (2015–present)
ODI debut (cap 66)	19 June 2019 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI	5 November 2024 v Oman
ODI shirt no.	4
T20I debut (cap 31)	1 July 2015 v Nepal
Last T20I	28 August 2024 v Canada
T20I shirt no.	4
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2022/23	Auckland
2023	Chattogram Challengers
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA Matches 52 74 5 66 Runs scored 1,648 1,931 326 1,888 Batting average 33.63 28.82 40.75 31.46 100s/50s 0/12 1/13 2/0 0/13 Top score 90 133* 126 90 Balls bowled 105 94 444 267 Wickets 1 4 6 4 Bowling average 100.00 32.00 53.50 62.25 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 1/16 1/7 2/26 1/16 Catches/stumpings 9/– 25/– 1/– 19/–
Source: Cricinfo, 5 November 2024

Personal life

O'Dowd was born on 4 March 1994 in Auckland, New Zealand.^[1] His father Alex O'Dowd played first-class cricket in New Zealand for Auckland and Northern Districts,^[2] and played and coached club cricket in the Netherlands for HBS Craeyenhout.^[3]

O'Dowd holds a Dutch passport through his mother.^[4] He lived in the Netherlands until the age of twelve,^[5] before returning to Auckland and attending Westlake Boys High School.^[1]

Domestic and franchise career

O'Dowd played for the Netherlands national under-19 cricket team in the month-long 2012 European Challenge Series. His tournament included a five-wicket haul (5/20) against Jersey, and two half-centuries (against Jersey and Guernsey).^[6]

Back in New Zealand for the 2012–13 season, O'Dowd played every match for the Auckland under-19s in the National Under-19 Tournament.^[7] He played club cricket in England in 2013, and also appeared in a single match in the Second Eleven Championship in the same season, playing for Nottinghamshire.^[8] O'Dowd played regularly for Auckland A during the 2014–15 New Zealand season. For the 2015 season, he signed for the Northern Hurricanes franchise in the North Sea Pro Series, a professional league which features teams from the Netherlands and Scotland.^[7]

In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Rotterdam Rhinos in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.^[9][10] However, the following month the tournament was cancelled.^[11]

International career

In June 2015, O'Dowd made his senior debut for the Netherlands in an Intercontinental Cup match against Papua New Guinea. He scored 14 runs in the first innings before being dismissed by Loa Nou, and in the second innings was out to Willie Gavera for a five-ball duck. Brought on to bowl in Papua New Guinea's second innings, he took the wicket of Lega Siaka with his fourth ball in first-class cricket, finishing with 1/44.^[12] O'Dowd had not been named in the initial squad for that match.^[13]

O'Dowd made his Twenty20 International debut for the Netherlands against Nepal on 1 July 2015.^[14] He was named in the Dutch squads for both the WCL Championship fixture against PNG and the 2015 World Twenty20 Qualifier.^[15] He made his List A debut in the WCL Championship against Scotland on 14 September 2015.^[16]

In July 2018, he was named in the Netherlands One Day International (ODI) squad, for their series against Nepal, but did not make it to the playing eleven.^[17] In June 2019, he was named in the Netherlands' ODI squad for their series against Zimbabwe.^[18] He made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe on 19 June 2019.^[19]

In September 2019, he was named in the Dutch squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates.^[20] In April 2020, he was one of seventeen Dutch-based cricketers to be named in the team's senior squad.^[21]

In March 2021, O'Dowd was named in the Dutch squad for the 2020–21 Nepal Tri-Nation Series.^[22] In the second match of the tournament, against Malaysia, O'Dowd scored 133 not out from 73 balls, and became the first batsman for the Netherlands to score a century in a T20I match.^[23] In May 2021, during the first ODI between Netherlands and Scotland, he became the second batsman to score half-centuries in each of his first three ODI matches after Tom Cooper.^[24]

In September 2021, O'Dowd was named in the Dutch squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.^[25]

During the West Indies tour of the Netherlands in 2022, O’Dowd was the top scorer, with 179 runs across three matches, including 89 in the final game. ^[26]

In May 2024, he was named in the Netherlands squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.^[27]

References

1. "Max O'Dowd". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
2. Alex O'Dowd – CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
3. "Best Cricket Team of HBS". HBS Craeyenhout. 17 December 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
4. "Max O'Dowd". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
5. @Maxiboi23 (20 October 2022). "Just fyi I did grow up in the Netherlands and played cricket for the Dutch youth teams from the age of 6 to 12!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
6. Ingrid van der Elst (3 August 2012). "U19 wint drie keer van Guernsey en Jersey" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (Dutch). Retrieved 16 June 2015.
7. Miscellaneous matches played by Max O'Dowd – CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
8. Second Eleven Championship matches played by Max O'Dowd – CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
9. "Eoin Morgan to represent Dublin franchise in inaugural Euro T20 Slam". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
10. "Euro T20 Slam Player Draft completed". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
11. "Inaugural Euro T20 Slam cancelled at two weeks' notice". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
12. ICC Intercontinental Cup, Netherlands v Papua New Guinea at Amstelveen, Jun 16–19, 2015 – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
13. (11 June 2015). "Netherlands, PNG squads for I-Cup and WCLC matches announced" Archived 17 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine – Cricket Europe. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
14. "Nepal tour of Netherlands, 2nd T20I: Netherlands v Nepal at Amstelveen, Jul 1, 2015". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
15. Netherlands Squad / Players, ICC WORLD TWENTY20 QUALIFIER – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
16. "ICC World Cricket League Championship, 9th Match: Netherlands v Scotland at Amstelveen, Sep 14, 2015". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
17. "Selecties Nederlands XI voor Lord's en Nepal". KNCB. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
18. "Netherlands vs Zimbabwe: ODI & T20 Series". Cricket World. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
19. "1st ODI, Zimbabwe tour of Netherlands and Ireland at Deventer, Jun 19 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
20. "Ryan Campbell announces squad for T20 World Cup Qualifier". Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
21. "Dutch men's squads announced". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
22. "Tri-Nations T20I series in Nepal". Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
23. "O'Dowd blitz secures Dutch win". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
24. "How many players have started their careers with three successive fifties in ODIs?". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
25. "Dutch ICC Men's T20 World Cup squad announced". Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
26. "The Netherlands go down fighting in third ODI against West Indies". Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
27. "Netherlands' Squad for ICC Men's T20I World Cup". ScoreWaves. Retrieved 5 June 2024.

External links

• Max O'Dowd at ESPNcricinfo