Following on from the first OCC player profile (on Euan MacDonald), kindly contributed by Bryan Rouse, below is the next in the series. This interesting insight into Joost Mees (current Committee Member and long time member) has been kindly submitted by Bryan Rouse and looks into one of our stalwart members who is a former Club Chairman and Club Captain.
Joost Mees’s cricketing life
Following the recent article about Euan MacDonald, the question arose as to who else might have an interesting story to tell. Several, even many Optimists spring to mind, but as Joost, sadly, is leaving us soon to return to the Netherlands, it is on him that the choice has fallen. So here we go.
Joost, tell us when and how you became interested in cricket.
“I grew up close to The Hague in the Netherlands and at the age of six I started to play football. I joined a club in The Hague where football was played in the winter, and in the summer they had cricket at the same club. As my two older brothers and most of my football mates also played cricket, the choice was very easy. The cricket set-up in the Netherlands is quite good, with a lot of foreign coaches. We played competition cricket at youth level and later on I played for the 4th, 3rd and 2nd teams of HCC. During my university years we had a friendly club, Leidse Studenten Cricket Club (LSCC) for which I also played. In those years that was the Saturday competition, and HCC played on Sundays.”
What level did you reach in NL?
“I played at the second highest level in the Netherlands for HCC 2nd XI as a batsman. I made some different choices in my university days and unfortunately did not reach the highest level. I continued playing for HCC until I left the Netherlands in 2003. After working in Curacao for 3½ years, with just one tapeball evening, I was looking forward to getting back to cricket.”
I believe you also played in GB. Tell us about that. Did you play with or against anyone famous?
“With our U17 team I went on tour to London and the surrounding area to play a 2-day match vs Whitgift School, which counts Jason Roy, Rory Burns and Dom Sibley among its alumni, and two matches against other schools. The 2-day match was the highlight of youth cricket at HCC. It was played every other year either at home or away, and I was lucky enough to be able to go there on tour. Unfortunately none of the Whitgift cricketers I played against made it to professional level. In the Netherlands in those days we used to have professionals playing and coaching for various clubs, so we had Gary Kirsten, Chris Pringle and Andre Adams as coach when I was playing there. I once played in a 2nd-XI match vs Bloemendaal, who had Ryan ten Doeschate in their team for a couple of matches, and he already looked like a great bat then!”
When you decided to move to Luxembourg, did you know there was cricket here?
“Not really, but the sister of a friend from Curacao lived here, and so we met up when we arrived. Her boyfriend mentioned that cricket was played here and of course I was thrilled to hear it. In early 2007 my first interaction with OCC was to meet some members for a drink at the Arizona Bar in Contern. I started playing as of the summer of that year.”
You soon became a leading player for both Optimists and Luxembourg, captaining both and chairing OCC. Tell us about some of your memories of special games and achievements.
“From the moment of joining the club, it felt like a super nice, warm and welcoming club and so I was keen to get involved in any way I could. I believe, in the course of our 18 years in Luxembourg, I might have held all possible positions at the club! I loved the BCF double-headers and the Ostend games, for which we would go up to Ostend on a Saturday afternoon, have a nice evening out and stay over to start fresh on the Sunday with our match. My first outing to Ostend was such a game. We arrived at the ground full of energy, and I recognised the umpire as being from the Netherlands. I stopped to say a polite hello, and we had a very nice chat, but on the second ball of the match I brushed the mat with my bat and after a typical BCF appeal he gave me out. And that was my first experience at a ground 3½ hours’ drive away. Another away match in the early 2010s, this time at RBCC, ended in a tie on the last ball, which was enough for us to get promoted to the first division again. This was definitely a highlight of my BCF matches.
Another BCF game I will never forget was a T20 match against Antwerp Indians, where I was on 96* and we needed 6 to win with plenty to spare. But instead of grabbing the chance to make a century, I went for the glory shot and got castled. I’ve never been close to making a 100 in a T20 match since.
More recently, last year the de-facto final of the LCF league was played against Star CC and ended up being an extremely close contest, befitting a final. We won by 10 runs in the end, but it was tight until the second-last ball. It was a game played in the best of spirits between two of the oldest clubs in Luxembourg.
On an international level, I am honoured to have played 40 official T20Is for Luxembourg. I have also led the team and had many highlights over the years. I particularly enjoyed the win against Switzerland in the 5th place play-off in Finland in 2022. We only made 115/9 from our 20 overs but with great bowling and some inventive field placings we managed to get them all out on the last ball of the match for 108. A team performance above anything.
Individually, I have scored 5 tons for OCC in BCF games, but more recently, and keeping up with modern cricket, I made 80* off 22 balls in a T10 match in Malaga against Serbia, which I don't think many of my teammates (or myself for what it is worth) were expecting :-)”
You've seen a lot of developments in Luxembourg cricket since your arrival. Anything you'd particularly like to remark on?
“I love the Sunday mornings at the ground with all the kids there playing cricket. The juniors have made such great steps in numbers in my time, thanks to all the volunteers who have put their time and heart into it and given something back to cricket. Apart from hitting a six over cover, there is no better sight than to see one of the kids you have trained with a smile from ear to ear because he (or she) has just bowled a jaffa or played a great shot.
Next to that, the new clubhouse is such a great addition to the ground. Various committees have put a lot of effort into the relationship with the commune, and it is fantastic that they have helped us with that clubhouse. I also must give a shout out to the ground staff. To have them prepare the ground for us like they do makes playing even better. I remember when the commune was still doing the mowing, and it was always a bit of a lottery as to whether they would come on the Friday afternoon!”
How do you see your future cricketing career when you move to NL?
“I will definitely try to play a little and see whether it will be fully recreational or if I might be able to help the Seconds out as a more experienced player. Next to that, I will definitely get involved in the youth set-up at HCC and try to help out where needed. As it seems to be in the blood somehow, I have already been roped into a committee at HCC, so will probably also be involved on the admin side.”
You've also done some umpiring in Luxembourg. Might you do that more seriously at some stage?
“I enjoy anything which has to do with cricket and so I have also enjoyed umpiring. It was just a bit hard to combine with playing and also coaching the Sunday juniors (though I still umpire junior matches when we travel to Switzerland). Best view in the house, as they say! I am not sure how the umpiring will pan out in The Netherlands, but how cool would it be to stand in a match with Sri Kolla, who moved to The Netherlands last year as well. Although I have to be honest, he is at a different level, so I will need to work on my game there!”
Joost, thanks very much. We’ll miss you, but of course we wish you and your family all the best for the future, and I’m sure we’ll stay in touch.