Roelof Erasmus van der Merwe (born 31 December 1984) is a Dutch-South African professional cricketer who has played internationally for both South Africa and the Netherlands and is one of the few players to represent more than one international team.

Johannesburg-born Van der Merwe made his First Class and List A debut for the Northerns in the 2006/07 season before moving into franchise cricket with the Titans the following season. An all-rounder, he bowls left-arm and is a right-handed middle-order batsman. Between 2009 and 2011, he played ODI and Twenty20 International cricket for South Africa, making 13 appearances in each format. Van der Merwe received a Dutch passport in June 2015 and was selected in the Netherlands squad for the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.

Personal Life

Van der Merwe was born on December 31, 1984 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Due to his ancestry, he has Dutch citizenship through his mother.

Domestic Career

Van der Merwe began his career as a wicketkeeper-batsman and in this capacity represented the South Africa national under-19 cricket team at the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh.

Van der Merwe made his List A debut for Northerns in October 2006 against North West. He was dismissed for a duck and bowled all nine overs, conceding 29 runs. He made his first-class debut for the Northerns against Limpopo in December 2006. He bowled 12 overs without a wicket but scored 36 runs and took three catches.

Van der Merwe had a successful 2007/08 season and moved into franchise cricket with the Titans. He made his debut for the Titans in the SuperSport Series in November 2007 against the Eagles. His first one-day appearance for them was against Zimbabwe in February 2008. He took four wickets and conceded 24 runs (4/24). He finished the MTN Domestic Championship as the Titans' leading wicket-taker with 27 wickets at an average of 14.25. He also scored 269 runs at 29.88. In the following Standard Bank Pro20 series, van der Merwe was the third highest wicket-taker with 13 victims at 13.92 and also contributed 192 runs at 27.42. The Titans won both 50-over and 20-over competitions and for Van der Merwe's part in this he was named the team's Player of the Year, MTN Domestic Championship Player of the Year, Standard Bank Pro20 Series Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year Award at the end of the season. At national level, he was named Domestic Newcomer of the Year at the SA Cricket Awards.

The Titans retained the MTN National Championship in 2008/09, with Van der Merwe again a key contributor to the success: he took 30 wickets at 13.96, 14 more than any other bowler.

After switching allegiances to the Netherlands, Van der Merwe signed with Somerset on a two-year contract to play county cricket ahead of the 2016 season. In April 2017, he recorded his first List A century score with 165 in the 2017 Royal London One-Day Cup against Surrey.
In July 2022, he took his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket against Lancashire in the County Championship.

Club Cricket

In 2007, Van der Merwe played for Monton & Weaste in the Central Lancashire League before being released mid-season after the club determined he was ineligible for amateur status as he had played first-class cricket the previous winter. He has also represented Stretford, in 2006 scoring a league record 1200 runs at 80 and taking 53 wickets at 11.26.

T20 Cricket

In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Amsterdam Knights in the first edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament. However, the following month the tournament was canceled. In September 2019, he was named in the Tshwane Spartans team's squad for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.

In April 2022, he was purchased by the Northern Superchargers for The Hundred's 2022 season in England.

International Career

Van der Merwe was selected in the South African team for the 2004 U-19 Cricket World Cup. He played five matches, scored 129 runs and took three wickets. It took over two years after the tournament for him to make his first-class debut, and Van der Merwe admitted that he "didn't take things too seriously" and was "partying all the time".

In August 2008, Van der Merwe was selected for the South Africa Academy to play against their counterparts in Bangladesh. In the second of five games he scored 79 off 70 balls and took 6/52.

Van der Merwe played in the 2008 Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes and was South Africa's leading run-scorer and wicket-taker.

South Africa

Van der Merwe was selected in the South African Twenty20 squad for the two Twenty20 internationals against Australia in March 2009. In the second of these internationals he made his full debut, top-scoring with 48 from 30 balls and an innings that included four sixes, and taking the first international wicket of David Hussey, he was named man of the match. After this appearance, he was included in the squad for the One Day International series as a replacement for Jacques Kallis. Van der Merwe made his ODI debut in the second match of the series at SuperSport Park, bowling five overs without a wicket and not having to bat. In his second ODI he played a more prominent role, scoring his first ODI runs with a six and taking 3/37 from his allotted ten overs. He picked up five more wickets in the last two games and ended his maiden ODI series with eight at 18.62.

Netherlands

In 2015, Van der Merwe secured a Dutch passport and was selected to play in a four-match series against Nepal. He was also selected for the 2015 World T20 Qualifier after Vivian Kingma withdrew. He made his T20I debut for the Netherlands on 3 July 2015 against Nepal, becoming the fifth cricketer to represent two international teams in T20Is. He was also included in the Netherlands squad for the 2016 ICC World Twenty20.

In June 2019, he was named in the Netherlands One Day International (ODI) squad for the series against Zimbabwe. He made his ODI debut for the Netherlands on June 19, 2019 against Zimbabwe. He became the 12th cricketer to represent two international teams in ODIs.

In September 2019, he was named in the Netherlands squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates. In September 2021, he was named in the Netherlands squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.