Former Netherlands and Somerset fast bowler André van Troost (35) has been named as the new CEO of the Dutch governing body (KNCB).

He succeeds Maarten Westermann, who announced earlier this year that he was not seeking an extension of his initial two-year contract.

Van Troost, who played for Somerset over eight seasons between 1991 and 1998, took 146 wickets in his first-class career, his best figures six for 48 against Essex in 1992. In 1994-95 he played in four matches for Griqualand West in South Africa.

He retired from first-class cricket in 1999, because of a back injury. Since then he has played for Excelsior ’20 Schiedam, the club where he learnt his cricket and for which his brother Luuk, the former Dutch skipper, also plays. This season André played for the Excelsior second team in the Overgangsklasse, hitting three half-centuries.

He also played 34 times for The Netherlands between 1990 and 1997, taking 39 wickets for his country.

After his retirement from first-class cricket, Van Troost turned to a career in business, gaining a BA in Marketing Management and Exercise Sciences from the University of Gloucestershire and an MA in Marketing from the University of Brimingham.

For the past five years he has worked for Procter and Gamble as Market Strategy and Planning Manager, concentrating on marketing and sales in the pharmaceuticals and health care sector.

KNCB chairman Marc Asselbergs said on Tuesday that the Bond was convinced that by attracting Van Troost it had found the right man for the position.

‘His long professional career in English cricket and his recent experience as Strategy Manager for Procter and Gamble make him outstandingly well-qualified for the job,’ Asselbergs said.

‘The way in which he has built up his business career since his retirement from professional cricket demonstrates that he is ready to deal with the challenges currently facing the sport in The Netherlands.’

Asselbergs added that the contacts which Van Troost has on the international scene would also be invaluable for the KNCB.

Van Troost himself is upbeat about what he is taking on.

'I'm really excited by the challenge,' he said on Tuesday, shortly after the news became public. 'I truly believe that there's enormous potential there, and that with structured management we'll be able to push things along in the right directions.'

But he also recognises that it will take him some time to come to terms with the inner workings of an organisation which he has in the past only seen from the outside.

'But I'm convinced that the present Board is highlighting the right issues, focusing on the need to improve things at the top while broadening the base as well.'

The new CEO could scarcely take up his new position, which begins formally on 1 November, at a more crucial moment for Dutch cricket.

With the national side having qualified for the World Twenty20 tournament in England next June, the World Cup qualifiers taking place before that, the prospect of significantly increased funding from the ICC, and clubs and Bond currently considering proposals for far-reaching changes in the domestic game, it is certain that Van Troost will be confronted with a full in-tray.

But it is also a moment which offers the possibility of a real breakthrough in the sport, and it will be for Van Troost, together with his Board, to respond to that challenge and give Dutch cricket the boost it so urgently needs.