ICC’s
ODI League has come as a relief for Netherlands who have found hard to
get regular games over the years
 |
| Netherlands have always played with lot of pride |
The early morning of 17th February 1996
at Baroda’s Reliance Cricket Stadium was very special for the Dutch Cricket fraternity
as Netherlands were playing their first ever international cricket match. The
World Cricket has opened the doors for Netherlands and it looked a golden
opportunity for country’s cricket to become a major force in international
cricket in coming decades.
Twenty four year later, Netherlands is still
struggling to find its feet in international cricket. They have played only 80
matches during these 24 years, on an average of 3 matches per year. The
reluctance of major countries to play with them ( top 10 nations have played
only played 25 of those 80 matches),lack of funding, losing ODI Status and
Cricket not being popular as it is in England or Ireland are some of the
reasons which have compounded all the problems for the Netherlands.
In such a scenario the Oneday International League
announced by International Cricket Council ( ICC) have come as a huge relief
for them and teams like Scotland,
Namibia and Papua and New Guinea. The league will not only give them chance to
get more exposure but will also help
them in getting much needed funding. The winner of ICC World Cricket League
Championship was to be the 13th team other than 12 Test nations.
Netherlands won the final against Namibia to get the ticket for ODI League.
 |
| VRS Stadium is the major cricket stadium of Netherlands Cricket |
Over the next 3 years from 2020-2023,Netherlands
are scheduled to play 24 limited overs games against top 12 Test nations which
is much more than what they played in these 24 years. It shows the importance that
the league holds for them. This was one reason why their coach Ryan Campbell
pleaded ICC not to scrap the league due to Covid. As the league got underway in
England, Netherlands cricket authorities took a sigh of relief . The league will be giving Dutch players much
needed exposure to play with some of the best players in the game. Experts believe that the kind of exposure
which players have received from T20 leagues might happen to the Netherlands.
Netherlands is one of the four major cricket
playing nations in Europe part from England, Ireland and Scotland. The culture
of cricket in the country is almost 200 years old and once it was considered a
major game however with time the football overtook it. However unlike Kenya who
started their journey with Netherlands at the same tournament (The Wills World
Cup 1996) , Netherlands have always shown a consistent effort , in fact it
wouldn’t be wrong to say that they ruled the associate tier for almost 18 years
(1996-2014) during which they were the best associate team. Between 2014-2018
however they slumped as a team, they lost their ODI Status and also could not
qualify for the world cup. It was the biggest shock for the cricket fraternity
in Netherlands.
Netherlands in spite of having relatively small
percentage of population playing the game (around 4000-6000) have been a very
proud team, they have stunned full member like England twice on World Cup stage. They
have produced some really good cricketers, players like Ryan ten Doeschate,Peter Seller,Tom Cooper,Wesley Baressi. These
cricketers on different occasions have tried their best to keep the Dutch flag flying high. However over the years the chances to play have been sparse and
this have resulted in frustration among these players. The popularity and
achievements of Football and Hockey countries top two sports have make things
more difficult for the cricket.
Its not only these
factors which has frustrated the fans but falling behind Ireland and Scotland, who
started later than Netherlands and could be termed as junior, which has
compounded the misery. Ireland has become Test nation while Scotland have been
able to get cricket every year during its summer. Netherlands on the other hand
have been going through inconsistent
fixtures unable to get matches on regular basis.
However one positive
aspect has been that Netherlands have not withered away like Kenya. However as
some new growing nations like Namibia, Papua New Guinea have started to exert
pressure on Netherlands, the
Comments
Post a Comment