Born in Christchurch, Peter Borren turned out for Canterbury 'A' and New Zealand Under-19s - playing alongside Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder at the Under-19 World Cup in 2001-02 - before opting for Netherlands. A naturally talented allrounder, he had never been seriously coached until joining up with the Dutch squad. Borren earned that nickname 'Baldrick' from his team-mates - after the character in Blackadder - and is a chirpy presence in the field. Although his medium pace was taken apart on his ODI debut against Sri Lanka, as he picked up 1 for 94 from his 10 overs, his performances in the World Cricket League in Kenya where he averaged 21.25 in his three games proved enough to earn him a place at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean. In the same year Borren showed his allround ability when he narrowly missed out on a maiden one-day international hundred, getting out stumped for 96 against Canada in Toronto. That confident innings must surely have owed something to Netherlands' thrilling last-ball win over England in the opening match of the ICC World Twenty20 at Lord's a month before. Borren played an important role in that famous win, snapping up the wicket of Eoin Morgan and then cracking a 25-ball 30 that included a monstrous six off Paul Collingwood in the course of a 50-run partnership with Tom de Grooth that tilted the game for Netherlands. In January 2010 Borren was part of the first group of Netherlands players to be awarded central contracts - a vital step in the professionalisation of the game at Associate level - and was appointed captain of the national side for the World Cricket League Division One tournament in July 2010.
Liam Brickhill