Picture by John Heald. Logan van Beek in action for Yorkshire against Glamorgan at the weekend.
“The best ability is availability,” says overseas all-rounder Logan van Beek as he sits out his baseline aim for his near three-month spell with Yorkshire.
Van Beek made his White Rose debut in the opening round Rothesay County Championship draw against Glamorgan at Cardiff last weekend, the first of eight Division One games which he is signed up for.
He took one wicket, a remarkable one-handed catch and put the finishing touches to sealing a draw with the bat yesterday evening.
The Dutch international, whose main suit is his fast bowling, hopes to make his home bow against Hampshire at Headingley, starting on Friday (11am).
“Knowing that I’ll be available and ready to contribute for all eight games, that’s my plan,” said the Christchurch-born 35-year-old.
“I’d love to play all eight games. But if Jhye (Richardson) comes in and for whatever reason I only play two games out of the eight, that’s something I’ll have taken pride in – knowing that the best ability is availability.”
Van Beek has all the traits of a modern cricketer; he bowls quick, he bats positively and is sharp in the field, as shown by his stunning one-handed catch at long-leg on day two down at Cardiff to help George Hill remove Andy Gorvin.
“I take a lot of care in my body,” he said, before being asked what the secret to staying on the park is.
Picture by John Heald. Logan van Beek hopes to help point the way to silverware.
“If you don’t use it, you lose it. That’s literally it.
“Try and bowl fast, sprint, keep lifting, keep stretching because as soon as you stop doing those things, it becomes harder and harder.
“I do a half-hour primer, which is a variety of different exercises, every morning, and it’s just my way of clicking into gear.
“In cricket, I feel like a lot of cricketers can get cast aside pretty quickly. But 35 now is not 35 15 years ago. Back then, 35 was pretty old – a lot more beers, a lot less strength and conditioning, a lot less recovery techniques.
“Look at Jimmy Anderson. He’s just given guys inspiration. He’s shown that he’s able to do it at 43 now, 44. He’s about to play a full season of county cricket. So there’s no real excuse.”
Van Beek is closing in on 300 first-class wickets. He has taken a number of those for Derbyshire, Worcestershire and Leicestershire since his first taste of county cricket in 2019. He won the Division Two title with the latter last season.
“Worcester in ’23, I only played four games but we got promoted. Then, in ’24, they got to sixth in Div One,” he said. “ In ’25, obviously, Leicester winning it. So the momentum’s on my side.
“I’m here to contribute and help win in the Championship.
Picture by John Heald. Logan van Beek poses alongside new team-mate Jack White.
“If I can, through my effort and attitude, help guys get better as well – help some of these younger guys potentially get into the England side – that’s my goal. If that results in wins, then happy days.”
Van Beek continued: “I’m quite excited about the squad we’ve got.
“You get a vibe check. I had that last year at Leicester. There was a good mix of old and youth. You had that with Rehan Ahmed and Josh Hull, but then you had guys like Peter Handscomb.
“This is what I feel we’ve got here.
“We have the captain of WA in Sam Whiteman, Jonny Bairstow 100 Tests, Adam Lyth evergreen who still loves the game and scores 1,000 runs every year, Jack White had a great season last year and Ben Coad.
“Then you’ve got guys like Wharton, Hill, Revis, Bean, Luxton, Moriarty and Jafer Chohan, these guys have all been around for a while now but are just coming into their own.
“They’re not young, fresh-faced guys anymore. They can win games.
“It’s such an easy changing room to walk into. So, fingers crossed, we’re standing here in three months’ time with six wins out of eight.”
Picture by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images. Logan van Beek in action for the Netherlands at the recent T20 World Cup.
Van Beek bowled second and third change down at Glamorgan but is happy to do any role which is required.
“My strength is my ability to just keep turning up and keep bowling,” he added. “I’ve already said to Jonny, ‘Bowl me any end, into the wind, downwind. If I’ve bowled 25 overs, I’m keen to go any time.
“I guess I’m a bit of a chameleon. I guess I’m a bit of a hybrid in that where I can kind of ebb and flow with the nature of the game.
“I think one of my strengths that I’ve had in my career is that I can run hot and win a game. So, for the most part, it would be whatever the team needs in that moment. But if there’s a little opportunity to break a game open, that’s something I enjoy. And something I pride myself on, is taking those opportunities.
“I guess I always call myself a bit of a glue player for a team.
“I’ll bowl the hard overs. I’ll bat if we get in a bit of trouble running at seven or eight.
“And, for me, coming into the season, there’s so much talent in that changing room that I feel like if I can just glue the team together.
“I’m the type of cricketer that will just keep turning up regardless of how yesterday went.”