AFPLogan van Beek (center) after the stunt against South Africa
NOS Sport•vandaag, 11:22
Jeroen Bal
follows cricket for NOS Sport
Jeroen Bal
follows cricket for NOS Sport
The mission therefore seems to have been a hopeless one. But still, with a little imagination it could have worked.
That the Netherlands, with only 6,000 active cricketers, had qualified for one of the biggest global sporting events of the year at all seemed like a minor miracle. The reality, however, is that the Dutch cricketers have been making good progress for years and, thanks to a very strong qualifying tournament in July, were among the best ten countries in the world.
High bar
“We are going for a place in the semi-finals,” was the voice from all the mouths of the selection of national coach Ryan Cook, who injected his players with a good dose of positivism and belief in their own abilities. The international press listened with pity. “It’s great that they set the bar so high,” was the overall tone.
Nobody really believed in the Dutch team’s chances, especially after losing the first two World Cup matches. But the players stuck to their mantra and when cricket superpower South Africa was suddenly treated to a big defeat, the cricket followers took out the calculator with a surprised look at the score. Could it be possible after all?
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Conditions for Cook’s scenario to succeed were that the Netherlands had to act as a collective, that some players would occasionally rise above themselves and that sometimes things would simply have to go along with it. His selection met the first condition with flying colors, but things were less successful with the second and third.
Because the Dutch team also defeated Bangladesh in the future, it was not because they played so well or that the stars in the Indian sky suddenly all aligned correctly. The puny Netherlands is simply a strong team that can make life difficult for most top countries on a good day.
Triple role
Scott Edwards played a fine tournament in his triple role as captain, batsman and wicketkeeper. Sybrand Engelbrecht, who only became eligible to play this summer, turned out to be a great asset as a batsman and top fielder and the young spin bowler Aryan Dutt showed to be an enormous talent.
AFPSybrand Engelbrecht
But no one rose above themselves. In the entire tournament, none of the players managed to completely turn a match on its head with a score of 100 runs or by taking 5 wickets.
While the experienced Logan van Beek and the still only 23-year-old all-rounder Bas de Leede exploded the qualifying tournament, they turned out to be mere mortals in India. Both played a reasonable tournament, but did not achieve superhuman performances.
The Dutch team lost too many wickets too quickly, putting itself at an almost hopeless disadvantage several times. Secretly more was expected from the first two batsmen Max O’Dowd and Vikram Singh, who were in such good form this year.
Annoying virus
And then the Netherlands created opportunities. There were passages in the match against Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and also against England when the Netherlands was the superior party.
But at those moments things just weren’t going well. A catching opportunity was missed, a promising batting innings was nipped in the bud by a lame run out, or an umpire’s decision went just the wrong way. The fact that part of the selection contracted a nasty virus halfway through the tournament did not improve performance.
AFP
Despite the good impression that the Netherlands ultimately left on the cricket world, the words ‘what’ and ‘if’ will probably still run through the minds of the players.
Fortunately for them, the next opportunity has already presented itself. In June, the Netherlands will participate in the T20 World Cup (a shorter form of the game) and coach Cook will undoubtedly set the bar unreasonably high for that too.
After all, the experience gained in India will only make the players better. And if the stars suddenly align over hosts West Indies and the United States, who knows what the David of international cricket can suddenly do among all the Goliaths.
2023-11-13 10:22:56
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