Ingrid van der Elst is a former Dutch sportswoman who represented her country in both cricket and field hockey. In hockey, she was a goalkeeper for the Dutch national indoor team, while in cricket she represented both the Netherlands and an "International XI", playing One Day International matches for the latter team. Born in Bilthoven, Utrecht Province, van der Elst is first recorded as playing cricket for her country in 1977, when the Dutch team toured England. All of her early matches for the Netherlands were played against regional and underage English teams, as the side was not yet judged competitive enough for full internationals. At the 1982 World Cup in New Zealand, van der Elst was one of two Dutchwomen to be selected in the "International XI", a composite team featuring players from several different countries. All seven of her ODI matches were played in the WorldCup. Van der Elst was the team's number-three batsman for the first five matches, but after a run of three consecutive ducks, she was pushed down the order for the rest of the tournament. Her best score was 16 not out in the second game against Australia, made from number seven, and she finished the tournament with 28 runs at an average of 5.60. Despite being a regular bowler for the Netherlands, van der Elst did not bowl at all in the World Cup, and in her last game, against India, was asked to keep wicket in place of Chris Miller, going on to effect a stumping off the bowling of Gill McConway. In 1983, van der Elst played her first recorded internationals for the Netherlands, appearing against Denmark, Ireland, and "Young Netherlands" in the one-off Centenary Tournament at Utrecht's Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd. Her tournament included scores of 43 against Ireland and 70 against Denmark, the latter made from a team total of only 116. Later in 1983, van der Elst moved to New Zealand. For three seasons, she played for Wellington in the New Zealand competition, and was also a member of the New Zealand national squad. Van der Elst later returned to the Netherlands, and continued to play club cricket and hockey for several more decades. Outside of her playing career, she worked as a sportswriter – in New Zealand she wrote for The Evening Post and The Dominion Post, and in the Netherlands for the Algemeen Nederlands Persbureaunews agency and certain regional publications. She has also worked in administrative positions for the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond, the governing body of Dutch cricket.
