Not many employees at Tata Steel’s Velsen-Noord office had realised that their new colleague, who joined as a trainee in August 2025, was a former captain of the Netherlands women’s cricket team. Cricket remains a niche sport in the Netherlands. Heather Siegers’ achievement, hence, went unsurprisingly unnoticed.
“My colleagues weren’t aware of my background and any form of cricket, really. Cricket isn’t very big back home and only a few of my colleagues know much about cricket,” Siegers told The Indian Express.
That anonymity, though, would soon end. Her colleagues eventually found out about her alternate identity, and that is when the questions began.
“They were very surprised. They found it really cool. I get a lot of questions about it all the time. Now that I’m back playing, they’ve put up a TV in the break room, where they watch all the games. So it’s very cool,” she said.
In October 2025, Siegers faced a difficult decision. With her dual identity lifestyle proving to be unsustainable, she had to let go of one. It was cricket. With 1,081 T20I runs and 28 wickets to her name, Siegers bowed out of the game in the immediate aftermath of an unbeaten 106 against Germany.
“It was quite tough to combine the two,” she said. “I felt like my social life and my family didn’t get enough of my time and efforts. So choosing a career outside of cricket meant having to give up cricket to be able to be present for my family.”
“I had a lot of free time where I could explore new activities and do more with my family and friends. I picked up dancing classes, which I really enjoyed, and I hope to pick them back up when I retire again from cricket,” she said.
It did not take long for the 29-year-old to withdraw the retirement decision. The Netherlands’ Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier campaign in Nepal, held earlier this year, changed everything.
Retirement reversal
The spark behind the reversal came from Heather’s sister, Silver.
“She reminded me that it was a dream that I’ve had for a very long time, as well as the team performing very well and being in good form,” Siegers said. “And on top of that, the pool that we had for qualification looked very favourable. Therefore, it kind of felt like all the pieces were there to make something good happen.”
Making that comeback also required the backing of an employer willing to accommodate an international athlete chasing one final opportunity.
“They’ve (Tata Steel) been very supportive with trying to fit my work around my training schedule,” Siegers said. “And they’ve been good with giving me time off for playing games and stuff.”
The World Cup dream suddenly felt within reach again. “That was the main motivator to come back.”
Her second stint in cricket, however, is different from the first. Now that she has a safety net — the cushion of a full-time job — she can play the sport that she loves without the burden of having an obligation to make a career out of it.
“It feels a little different to play cricket now. It’s only for fun. Before, I tried to make my career out of it. But now that I can just play because I love the game, I enjoy it a lot more.”
Back in Velsen-Noord, the same colleagues who once had very little knowledge about cricket now gather around a television in the break room to cheer Siegers on, whenever the Dutch women take the field. Those colleagues are yet to visit India, though Siegers hopes that changes one day.
“If I am invited, I would love to meet everyone,” she said when asked about the possibility of visiting India with her colleagues. It would be her first trip to the country.
Before a potential visit to India, however, Siegers will have the opportunity to play against the Indian team — the defending ODI World Cup champions — on Wednesday. The Dutch put up a good account of themselves in their campaign opener, with Bangladesh securing a win only in the last over.
India could, and in all probability, would pose a much bigger threat. 11 places adrift on the ICC women’s T20I rankings, the Netherlands will have to play better than they ever have if they aspire to even make the match at Leeds a competitive affair. Regardless of the outcome, though, the employees at Velsen-Noord will be proud of their colleague.
(Left) Heather Siegers after winning the Player of the Match award in the T20 World Cup qualfier against USA in January 2026 that helped seal qualfication for the T20 World Cup; (right) In training in England last week 
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