The journey that began at the ICC Academy ground in Dubai on 08th December 2017 in a List-A game against Namibia Men has completed its’ course on 06th July 2023 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The fateful day saw Netherlands Men edge past Papua New Guinea Men at the top of the World Cricket League (WCL) Championship, which gained them entry into the newly introduced ODI Super League pathway competition by ICC, which was the qualification pathway program event towards 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India.
During December 2017 and July 2023, a lot has happened on and off the field for Dutch Cricket, and a lot needs to be credited to the ODI Super League structure, that provided players the opportunity to play twenty-four (24) One-day matches against eight (8) Full member countries under ICC. During this period, KNCB (Netherlands Cricket Board) also had the opportunity to host countries like West Indies, Pakistan and England at home, where a young squad made up of talent from the domestic circuit got groomed to play International cricket. Why a young squad is because despite ICC giving a directive for players having contracts with county clubs in the UK to be released for Super League fixtures, it was not adhered to most of the occasions during the home summer of 2022. Nothing against the county players, because post-Brexit, they will no longer be eligible as local players in the County Championship season, and this was their last opportunity to be selected as one before Brexit process was completed. The contracts provide them professional salaried careers to provided for themselves and their families, and leaving every now and then to play for the National Dutch team during 2022 and ongoing 2023 season could have had some contractual obligations not get fulfilled and thus, lose on the opportunity to earn a proper living in the future.
So, came along the youngsters, who have been playing in the Dutch TopKlasse competition system for the last 4-5 years now, who were suddenly the mainstay definitely in the batting department and there were opportunities in the bowling department as well. To add to that, the sudden retirement of Pieter Seelaar due to an ongoing injury during one of the Super League series at home in 2022 meant that Scott Edwards was in charge of the team for few home series leading up-to the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia and towards the World Cup Qualifiers this year in Zimbabwe. The whole process of getting the young players get groomed in a competitive environment began under the watchful eyes of then Head Coach Ryan Campbell has continued after the expiration of his contract, with Ryan Cook taking over the reigns heading in-to the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
The players struggled mostly during the ODI Super League matches to grab chances for winning more games against the Full members, and while there were examples of good progress also shown during the competition, the end-result always eluded the team. But the experience of playing against some of the top bowling and batting line-ups was something that can’t be taken away from them, cause those matches prepared this young side into what we have seen today in Zimbabwe during this competition.
A 12-man squad has travelled to Bengaluru for a spin camp, from which those selected in the Dutch squad will remain back. The selected World Cup squad will travel to Alur from September 19th – 28th to train and play 3 One-day matches against Karnataka state team (dates TBC).
Netherlands Men’s Squad
Scott Edwards (Captain), Colin Ackermann, Shariz Ahmed, Wesley Barresi, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Ryan Klein, Bas de Leede, Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe, Teja Nidamanuru, Maxwell O’Dowd, Vikram Singh and Saqib Zulfiqar
Netherlands Men’s Schedule in 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
06th October 2023: vs Pakistan @Hyderabad (Scorecard)
09th October 2023: vs New Zealand @Hyderabad (Scorecard)
3) 17th October 2023: vs South Africa @Dharamsala (Scorecard)
4) 21st October 2023: vs Sri Lanka @Lucknow (Scorecard)
5) 25th October 2023: vs Australia @Delhi (Scorecard)
6) 28th October 2023: vs Bangladesh @Kolkata (Scorecard)
7) 03rd November 2023: vs Afghanistan @Lucknow (Scorecard)
8) 08th November 2023: vs England @Pune (Scorecard)
9) 12th November 2023: vs India @Bengaluru (Scorecard)
