The Netherlands are hardly new to cricket. Their first national association was formed in 1886, predating even the West Indies. They've enjoyed ICC Associate membership since 1966, been amongst the 'best of the rest' in recent one-day and T20 tournaments and regulars in the English domestic limited-over competitions for two decades.
On the major international stage it's not surprising they have made little impact but their one success against a Test playing nation came in the World T20s in 2009, when they beat England at Lord's off the last ball. Of course they came close to pulling off an even greater upset in the 50-over World Cup two years later thanks to a wonderful century by Ryan Ten Doeschate, easily the best batsman to have represented the Netherlands. He has the most runs, wickets and probably the biggest bank balance of any man still representing the country.
Other Dutch passport holders include Dirk Nannes. Although born in Australia, Nannes did play for the land of his forefathers in that groundbreaking victory over England. However, Australia snapped him up soon afterwards and he continued to make his mark as a superb T20 fast bowler, a reputation which has made him a top-earner in the IPL and other franchise tournaments but a has-been at international level.
Paul-Jon Bakker became the first Dutch-born player to represent an English county back in the 1980s, and I remember seeing Roland Lefebvre and Adrian Van Troost playing for Somerset in the early '90s. Lefebvre could be a mean bowler in one-dayers, while Van Troost was just mean. A 6 ft 7 giant, he could extract awkward bounce, but he wasn't the tightest of bowlers. However, he conjures up find memories from the Somerset faithful. As well as Tendo and Nannes, Alexei Kervezee and Bas Zuiderent were also in the England-beating T20 side. The former was actually born in what is now Namibia and remains a useful Worcestershire batsman. Zuiderent scored a few centuries for Sussex a decade ago.
None of the aforementioned cricketers have been playing for the Netherlands in the 2012 Pro40 tournament, so it is some surprise that they lead Group A with four wins out of five. Perhaps it should not be a shock given the ICC Associate experience of the likes of Tom Cooper (born in Oz), skipper Peter Borren (New Zealand), Mudassar Bukhari (Pakistan) and Pietar Seelar (home-grown!), the national side should give counties a good game.
So far this summer they have beaten Gloucestershire ,Worcestershire, Lancashire and Essex, losing only to Middlesex. SA-born Stephan Myburgh is currently the competition's highest run scorer, with 255 and three half-centuries so far. Whether they maintain early season form and reach the knockout stage is doubtful. However, I welcome their inclusion in the premier domestic one-day tournament. They do more than make up the numbers, which possibly does apply to Scotland and the Unicorns, and it gives their players a chance to compete regularly against top players in between ICC tournaments. Apart from Cooper's stints for South Australia, they don't have other professional contracts, so this kind of experience is very important. Ireland and Afghanistan may have pipped them to the forthcoming World T20 Cup but I hope to see a Dutch team featuring Tendo and Kervezee on the biggest stage in the future.
