Michael Richard Swart (born 1 October 1982) is an Australian former professional cricketer who played international cricket for the Netherlands national cricket team between 2011 and 2016. He was born in Australia and also played for Western Australia in Australian domestic cricket.
Domestic career From Perth, Swart was a member of the WA state under-19 teams in 2000 and 2001 that were captained by Brett Jones and Shaun Marsh, respectively.ACB 2000–01 Under-19 championship gets underway | Cricket News | Global. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2011-02-23.Western Australia Under-19s squad for Newcastle announced | Australia Cricket News. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2011-02-23. However, he did not make his senior debut for the Warriors until January 2010, despite years of scoring heavily for his grade-cricket side Joondalup.Warriors late bloomer gets his shot. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (28 January 2010). Retrieved 2011-02-23. While he made a duck in his first List A game, a few weeks later he made an impressive 83 in his debut Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania.Tasmania secure crucial win over WA. Perth Now (23 February 2010). Retrieved 2011-02-23. In May 2010, he was awarded a contract with the Warriors for the 2010–11 season.Western Australia like imported Michael Beer | Cricket News | Global. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2011-02-23. He scored his maiden century in October 2010 against Victoria at the WACA Ground.Vics on target after Pattinson heroics. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (12 October 2010). Retrieved 2011-02-23.
In February 2011, Swart was dropped from the Warriors squad after being charged with assaulting an opponent,Warriors give kids a go – The West Australian. Yahoo! News (9 February 2011). Retrieved 2011-02-23. Billy Godleman, in a grade cricket match between Joondalup and Bayswater-Morley. He was later found guilty by the WACA tribunal and suspended for three matches, with the tribunal rejecting his defence that he was only acting in self-defence.Banned Swart 'hung out to dry' by Warriors – The West Australian. Yahoo! News (19 February 2011). Retrieved 2011-02-23. The following week the conviction and suspension was overturned upon appeal.Swart's Warriors reprieve after ban lifted
Swart's contract with the Warriors was not renewed for the 2011/2012 season,Mickey Arthur has wasted no time clearing the decks after his first season as Western Australia's coach, cutting six players including Aaron Heal and David Bandy from the squad with him instead signing with Bootle Cricket Club in England.Cricket: Clubs get ready for start of new season
International career In February 2011, it was reported that Swart was to be called up to represent the Netherlands at the 2011 Cricket World Cup following an injury to the team's captain Peter Borren.Warrior Swart answers Dutch SOS . Wwos.ninemsn.com.au. Retrieved 2011-02-23. His father was born in the Netherlands, enabling Swart to hold a Dutch passport and be eligible to represent the country. He had previously rejected an offer to join the team at the Twenty20 World Cup, preferring to concentrate on maintaining his position in the Western Warriors team.Swart's World Cup bid stalled – The West Australian. Yahoo! News (17 February 2011). Retrieved 2011-02-23. However, in the following days it appeared that he was unlikely to play at the World Cup, with both Borren's injury being less severe than first thought and a Dutch selector denying that Swart had been approached.Confusion over Swart's Cup bid – Cricket – Sportal Australia . Sportal.com.au (17 February 2011). Retrieved 2011-02-23.
Although he missed the World Cup, Swart went on to play 12 One Day Internationals and 26 Twenty20 Internationals for the Netherlands between 2011 and 2016, including the 2014 ICC World Twenty20.. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 February 2014. He was the team vice-captain and even captained in two games when Peter Borren was unavailable. He was dumped from the national squad at the end of a tour in the UAE in 2016 and told his services were no longer required.
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