Tom Cooper

Right-hander Tom Cooper made his state debut in 2008 and quickly made an impression, scoring a century against New South Wales, the state of his birth, in just his fourth one-day match for South Australia.

He gained international headlines with an incredible innings of 160 not out from 120 balls for the Prime Minister’s XI against the touring West Indies side in early 2010 and later that year, he decided to represent the Netherlands, who he qualified for thanks to his mother who was born in Dutch New Guinea.

He became the first cricketer to score half-centuries in each of his first three ODIs before he added a century in his fifth match and 96 in his seventh, at which point his average was 81.33.

He represented the Dutch at the 2011 World Cup and then found form for the Redbacks in Sheffield Shield cricket, scoring an unbeaten 203 against NSW in Sydney and compiling 881 runs at 51.82 in 2013-14 to earn Australia A selection.

He also performed well in the Big Bash League for Adelaide Strikers and then Melbourne Renegades, before steering the Netherlands at the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. He averaged 57.75 for the tournament, including an incredible innings of 45 from just 15 balls to guide to the Dutch to a qualification win over Ireland.