(SNO) – One of Saint Lucia’s outstanding cricketers has taken his talents to the Netherlands, and he has been a roaring success thus far.
Dalton Polius, a 27-year-old left-handed batsman from Gros Islet, has taken up duties with Salland Cricket Club in Hoofdklasse, where he is coaching and playing. The Netherlands are an associate member of the International Cricket Council, with over 6,000 registered players, and the sport is growing in popularity.
An alumnus of Castries Comprehensive Secondary School, as well as Woodhouse Grove School in England, Polius has played for West Indies Under-19, and for the Windward Islands, with a five-wicket haul, 5/50, and a first-class half-century, 77, to his name. But having fallen out of favour, and not playing for Windwards since 2017, the young man is unable to ply his trade in the United Kingdom. Hence, the Netherlands.
Says Polius: “I am just opening doors for our young cricketers, building relationships, playing and then coaching. The season is from May until August, but I came last moment from July till end of August. First game I got a bad decision on 23, next game I scored 71 not out, and third game I scored 18. But I am over here coaching the young players to develop the cricket in the Netherlands.”
Last Saturday (August 11 ) Polius hit his first century in the Netherlands, an unbeaten 108 against a Guyana XI, leading an eastern Salland SGS team to victory. According to a story on the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond website, the crowd for the match was one of the healthiest that has been seen in the Dutch domestic game.
Batting first, the Salland team amassed 212/4. Polius’ fast century including 64 runs off boundaries, 10×4 4×6, whilst opening batsman Geert van Seventer made a “beautiful” 48. Fox Doodnath 2-31 in 8 and Manish Moorjani 2-61 in 7 were the best bowlers for the Guyana XI.
In reply, chasing 213 for the win, the Guyana XI was held to just 166/9 and were beaten by 46.
A Level 2 coach, Polius has been enjoying developing young cricketers in the Lowland Countries, saying: “It’s been a great experience, playing and living in a country with a very different cricket culture, and the level of the cricket is much higher than I expected over here in the Netherlands.”
Polius is expected to return home at the end of August.
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