Paul van Meekeren Net Worth 2024 - Successful Journey from Delivering Uber Eats to Playing the World Cup

Article Highlights
Paul van Meekeren has taken the second most number of wickets for the Netherlands in Cricket World Cup 2023. He is a moderately rich cricketer with a net worth of $1 Million. In 2020, he delivered Uber Eats to survive during covid pandemic.

Paul van Meekeren is a Dutch cricketer who is making headlines with his stunning performances in the Cricket World Cup 2023. Apart from the Netherlands, he has also represented various country cricket teams in England including Somerset, Durham, and Gloucestershire.

He is a successful cricketer and has been accumulating good Wealth. Currently, his net worth is more than $1 million and it is expected to rise even further courtesy after his stellar performance in CWC 23.

The story of Paul van Meekeren has been inspiring. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked as an Uber Delivery boy to make a living. He came back strongly and got a contract with Durham in 2021. Since then, he has earned many contracts for playing in various leagues around the world.

Profile Summary of Paul van Meekeren

Name	Paul Adriaan van Meekeren
Age	30 Years
Profession	Cricketer
Nationality	Dutch
Batting	Right-Hand Batsman
Bowling	Right Arm Fast Bowler
Sources of Income	Cricket contracts with the Netherlands national cricket team and various other teams in different leagues.
Net Worth	$1 Million

Contract salary and Total Annual Income

The primary source of Income for Paul van Meekeren is his cricket contracts with various teams and a little bit of sponsorships.

He gets $115,000 to $135,000 annually from the Netherlands Cricket Board for representing Holland in various tournaments.

Holland has not got a test team status yet. So, Paul van Meekeren gets this salary for playing only T20s and ODIs for the team.

He had a contract with Gloucestershire with $200,000 to represent the team in 2022-2023. However, the team has made it clear that they are not renewing van Meekeren’s contract. So, the right-hander will be seeking a deal now.

Paul van Meekeren plays for the Khulna Tigers in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and gets around $100,000 annually for the same.

Unlike Indian and Australian Players, the Dutch players are not fortunate enough to get big deals from brands.

Early Life and Cricket Career

Paul van Meekeren was born on January 15, 1993 in Amsterdam, Holland. He started playing cricket at a young age and represented Rood en Wit CC, one of the largest and oldest cricket clubs in the Netherlands.

He then switched to Amsterdam CC to seek better opportunities. His aggression and fierce speed caught the selector’s attention and he was chosen for the Netherlands “A” team in 2010 when he was only 17 years old.

Domestic Cricket and County Career

Van Meekeren got his first short-term English county cricket contract in 2016 with Somerset. He was playing club cricket in the North East back then. He signed a full two-year contract with the team next season.

After a couple of successful seasons with Somerset, he played for Durham and Gloucestershire.

In June 2019, Van Meekeren joined Winnipeg Hawks to represent them in the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament.

He is also the first Dutch player to play in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). He played for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2021.

Additionally, he has featured in Hong Kong Blitz playing for Kowloon Cantons and Everest Premier League representing Biratnagar Warriors.

International Career

Paul Van Meekeren was first included in the Netherlands squad in April 2013 to play against Kenya.

He bowled extremely well in the Inaugural Desert T20 Challenge and broke the record for the highest score by a number 11 batsman in Twenty20 Internationals scoring 18 runs in just 11 deliveries.

He made his One Day International (ODI) debut against South Africa in 2013. In that match, he got a lot of praise when he got Hashim Amla as his first wicket.

His most recognized performance came when the Netherlands needed him the most in the 2020 T20 World Cup qualifiers in the UAE. He scalped 15 wickets in the tournament with an impressive average of 14.06.

Paul has been the man of big occasions for the Netherlands. In the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, he was one of the top 10 highest wicket-takers. Plus, in the ODI World Cup 2023 in India, he played exceptionally well helping the Netherlands upset both South Africa and Bangladesh in the league stage of the tournament.

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Stats and Records

Here are Paul Van Meekeren’s cricket stats as per ESPN Cricinfo in November 2023.

Batting
Format	Innings	Runs	Average	Highest Score
ODIs	19	97	8.81	21
T20Is	17	99	7.07	24
First Class	16	113	8.69	34
T20s	37	175	7.60	24
List A	54	229	8.17	21
Bowling
Format	Innings	Wickets	Average	Best Bowling in an Innings
ODIs	22	27	36.55	4/23
T20Is	56	64	21.21	4/11
First Class	17	33	31.60	5/73
T20s	95	90	27.38	4/11
List A	87	113	30.22	5/48

Viral Tweet in November 2020

When the ICC T20 World Cup got postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul van Meekeren made a tweet describing his poor condition. He wrote, “Should’ve been playing cricket today. Now, I’m delivering Uber eats to get through the winter months!! Funny how things change hahaha keep smiling people”.

This tweet went viral instantly and people criticised the ICC for their discriminatory behaviour against teams from associate nations.

After Paul’s great performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, the official account of the Indian Food Delivery app Zomato once again quoted that tweet and reminded everyone of his amazing journey.

Cricketer VVS Laxman also joined Zomato in praising Van Meekeren. He wrote, “What an incredible story the Dutch have written for themselves. Shows once again that “Never give up and keep chasing your dreams”.