Due to county commitments, a number of the Netherlands cricket team’s most important players may skip the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier. Roelof van der Merwe, Colin Ackermann, and Frederick Klaassen will be among the squad’s most notable absences. Notably, these individuals played a crucial role in the Netherlands‘ 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup victory over South Africa. In fact, Colin Ackermann was named the match’s Most Valuable Player against South Africa.
These athletes will not participate in the competition scheduled for June–July in Zimbabwe. In addition, the fast bowlers Brandon Glover and Timm van der Gugten are not on the roster for the Netherlands’ participation in the tournament. In contrast, Bas de Leede, a 23-year-old all-rounder who recently qualified as a local and signed a two-year contract with Durham in February, has been included in the squad due to a clause in the contract that allows him to participate in the tournament.
Although counties are required to allow their players to compete for their associate teams in ICC competitions, players and boards are aware that counties cannot enforce this rule for fear of losing contracts with certain players.
Last year, Klaassen described this as a “tricky situation” in an interview, due to the fact that the county agreements provide the players with financial stability.
Prior to the qualifiers, the current captain of the Netherlands cricket team, Scott Edwards, displayed a great deal of optimism. Since the Zimbabwe series a few months ago, the team has been preparing for the Qualifiers, according to the 26-year-old. The wicketkeeper-batsman believed that the team’s chances in the tournament were enhanced by the team’s combination of young and experienced players.
Edward was quoted by ESPN cricinfo as saying, “We have a good mix of experienced players and exciting young players who have performed well in the domestic Pro Series and club season leading up to this tournament.”
On June 20, 22, 24, and 26, respectively, the Netherlands will compete against Zimbabwe, the United States, Nepal, and the West Indies from Group A. Group B consists of nations such as Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland, Oman, and the UAE. In the Super Sixes round, the best three players in each group will only face opponents they did not face in the group stage. The top two teams from the Super Sixes will compete in the ICC Cricket World Cup in India during the months of October and November.
Max O’Dowd, Logan van Beek, Vikramjit Singh, Aryan Dutt, Vivian Kingma, Bas de Leede, Noah Croes, Ryan Klein, Teja Nitamanuru, Wesley Barresi, Shariz Ahmad, Clayton Floyd, Michael Levitt, and Saqib Zulfiqar comprise the squad.
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