Although born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, Logan van Beek holds a Dutch passport due to his father’s Dutch descent. It wasn’t until the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh that he became eligible to play for the as a local player While much of the cricketing community was focused on tweeting congratulations to athletes securing medals and podium finishes at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Netherlands’ medium-fast bowler, Logan van Beek, chose to highlight a different aspect of the global spectacle in his tweet, laden with humor and light-heartedness.
Logan Van Beek career in cricket
The path of a professional sportsperson can rely as much on talent and luck as on preparation and planning, and Logan van Beek is a fan of the latter. Early in his New Zealand domestic career for Canterbury, he wrote down some goals. “Play in the 2015 World Cup” was one.
It was more of a dream than an actual destination because by the beginning of 2015, van Beek had only played 15 List A matches over four years. He averaged 9.00 with the bat and 40.00 with the ball. If those numbers were the other way around, he would have been a shoo-in for the squad, but as they stood, he was nowhere near it and he knew it.
In 2017, van Beek played for Netherlands in series against Zimbabwe and the UAE. He returned to New Zealand later that year to play domestic cricket in the southern-hemisphere summer and in 2018 was picked for New Zealand A in a series against Pakistan A.
Switching from playing for an Associate member to a Full Member carries no qualification time, so van Beek could easily go from playing for Netherlands to doing so for New Zealand if he got selected, but his numbers did not improve quickly enough. His batting average rose to 17.27 in the time between the World Cups and he took 41 wickets at 28.43, but he still missed the squad while his friends, Latham and Henry, both made it and played in a final that remains among the best 50-over matches of all time.
Van Beek played first-class and List A cricket for New Zealand against India and Australia in the 2022-23 season, but he only had two scores in double figures and his 14 wickets in six matches came at an average just under 30. That’s when reality hit. “I am not quite in the picture,” he admitted. “The quality of players we have in New Zealand is immense.
The way that Kyle Jamieson came into the picture, the way Matt Henry is still bowling, and with Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Scott Kuggeleijn – all these guys – it’s a tough team to get into.”
But it wasn’t the only team van Beek could play for. While struggling to make the New Zealand side, he was included in the Dutch team. He played white-ball formats for Netherlands, including at last year’s T20 World Cup, where the team reached the Super 12s, but it still didn’t take him closer to his ultimate aim.
Netherlands cricketer Logan van Beek expresses desire to compete in break dance at Olympics in LA 2028
In response to a tweet by Turkish social media influencer, Figen, who had shared a video showcasing Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast, Taisiia Onofriichuk, performing to Michael Jackson’s iconic track “Thriller” at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with a hula hoop and enthusiastic crowd support, van Beek remarked on the outstanding performance by the 16-year-old. Logan Van Beek then wittily expressed his own desire to participate in the breakdancing event, teasing that spectators should be prepared for his involvement in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Netherlands fast bowler Logan van Beek hilariously expressed his desire to compete in break dance event at the next edition of Olympics. Break dance made its Olympic debut yesterday in Paris, with clips from the sport grabbing enormous attention on social media.
16-year-old player Taisiia Onofriichuk performance on Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ song also went viral on X. Van Beek noticed the clip and reacted with the following quote tweet:
“This is awesome… LA 2028 here I come!”
Fans had some hilarious responses to Van Beek’s tweet. Since he represents the Netherlands at international level but was born in New Zealand, a fan asked him which country would he represent at the Olympics. Replying to him, van Beek wrote:
“Great question…”
Another X user joked that he would fully support Van Beek if he participated in the break dance event at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Another fan also reminded the fast bowler that even cricket would be a part of the next Olympics.