A wicketkeeper batsman, Derek de Boorder started his career with Auckland in 2005-06 before switching to Otago. His Auckland stint included just a solitary limited-overs match, but when Gareth Hopkins announced that he was leaving Otago for Auckland, de Boorder took the opportunity to fill that void in Dunedin. A former Under-19 player, de Boorder spent time at the New Zealand Cricket Academy and was part of the Emerging Players squad in 2005. He made his first-class debut in 2007-08 and took over the wicketkeeping duties in the absence of Brendon McCullum. He says his keeping technique improved after consulting Adam Parore. He only played four first-class games in 2008-09 but ended the season with a batting average of 53.75.
Cricinfo Staff October 2009