It's been over six years since Tom Cooper last represented the Netherlands, and with the T20 World Cup just around the corner, the stars have aligned for the Australian-born Dutch cricketer yet again.
Cooper is currently without a big bash contract, and the 35 year-old had no idea where he would be playing cricket next.
Enter former Netherlands skipper Roland Lefebvre, now apart of the coaching staff at the National team, with an email to Cooper asking if he would 'consider a comeback'.
Cooper, still feeling like he had more to give to cricket before retirement, knew he had no choice but to accept the offer.
"I found that email and I guess I got excited at first." Cooper said to cricket.com.au.
"But then I didn't really think it was going to happen, with a young family now.
"It's quite a lot to ask my wife to take that on board, being an Associate team, the budgets aren't quite as big as the big international teams.
"So it wasn't quite as easy just bringing the family over and them having a holiday."
Cooper's wife played a big factor in his decision to return to the Dutch set-up, strongly encouraging him to get on that plane and make his comeback.
The batsman played 41 times for the Netherlands between 2010 and 2016, managing 10 half centuries and one century.
"It's almost like the stars aligned again," Cooper stated.
"South Australia … my priorities were there over the last five to six years since I'd played before.
"But without that, it left the door open to get back over here and help the boys qualify (for the T20 World Cup) and then enjoy these other games (against England, New Zealand and Pakistan).
"It's been nice just to play those games and build up that experience and belief in a young and very talented side."
Cooper hadn't thought of playing for the Netherlands until the opportunity came around in 2010, when ex-Dutch coach Peter Drinnen picked up the phone and reached out.
"I got a phone call out of the blue from Peter Drinnen saying, 'have you ever thought of coming and playing in Holland?'
"I was like 'well, no, because I didn't realise cricket existed there'. Obviously, hockey and football are the two main sports.
"I was probably the first outsider as such. I had to commit to playing the season there to prove my allegiance."
Cooper and the Netherlands T20 World Cup campaign begins on Thursday October 20 against Sri Lanka at GMHBA stadium.
