OPINION
Follow UsEven before the ODI series against Afghanistan began, the Netherlands were dealt with a blow. Max O’Dowd, who scored two fifties from three innings in the T20 World Cup last year, could not board the flight to Qatar due to travel restrictions in New Zealand. With the likes of Stephan Myburgh and Ben Cooper among other senior pros not considered for the tour, it gave an opportunity for some of the lesser experienced members to make a case for themselves.
While announcing the squad for the series, head coach Ryan Campbell indicated that such a move comes into play with an eye on the future.
“I have picked this squad with one eye on the future. Asad Zulfiqar comes into the squad to give us a genuine top-order option as well as being the back-up wicketkeeper to Scott Edwards,” Campbell had said.
“Aryan Dutt & Boris Gorlee get more opportunities to push their case for what will be a big summer of cricket, as does leg spinner Philippe Boissevain. The improvement in these youngsters will be vital for us going forward.”
While the 3-0 scoreline is not ideal, there were a few bright spots for the Dutch, which will hold them in good stead in the future. As far as the immediate future is concerned, they have a couple of months till their next fixture – a T20I against New Zealand – followed by three ODIs, before they welcome England at home in June.
After that, they embark on yet another qualifier for the T20 World Cup 2022, where they will be up against the likes of PNG, USA, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe to name a few.
That said, let’s take a look at what they can take away from the recently-concluded series against Afghanistan:
The Edwards show
Scott Edwards shone the brightest for the Dutch in the three-match series. Edwards grabbed his opportunity at the top where he was in sublime form in all three matches, scoring a fifty in each one of them. He finished the series with 208 runs at 69.33. The next highest scorer for the Netherlands was Colin Ackermann, who managed 96 runs in three outings – further underlying Edwards’ domination.
Having played much of his career in the middle or lower-middle order, including the recent ‘A’ series against Ireland, where he also led, Edwards’ promotion to the top was indeed a masterstroke.
He had a decent outing behind the wickets, not giving away a single bye throughout the series, despite having to contend with many spinners, but he did drop a couple of catches in an otherwise top display with the gloves.
Influx of youth
One vision the Dutch have clearly gone with over the last few series – be it at home against Ireland or away to South Africa – is that they want to invest in youth. This is evident from the fact that the likes of leg-spinner Philippe Boissevain, Aryan Dutt, Clayton Floyd or Boris Gorlee inclusion in the side. 
As mentioned earlier, Campbell is keen on having youngsters take over the mantle, which would certainly behoove Dutch cricket in the long run.
Leg-spinner Boissevain is certainly someone to keep an eye on. The 21-year-old took some time to settle in, but once he did, he bowled wicket-taking lines and lengths, but was unlucky not to get more than three wickets.
Another bright prospect 18-year-old Aryan Dutt, showed in the Topklasse 2021 (Domestic 50-over competition) that he cannot just hold his own, but bowl match-winning spells as well. Playing for Voorburg Cricket Club (VCC) Dutt scalped 23 wickets at 15.83, but had to wait until the third match to play in the series, in which he dismissed skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi.
Along with Boissevain and Dutt, Boris Gorlee, who was the leading run-getter in the U-19 World Cup Qualifier (Europe) Division Two with 312 runs at 78 is certainly one for the future. He bowls handy off-breaks as well. While his performance in the series was nothing to write home about, if the Dutch continue to persist with him, he could go a long way.
Bowling beyond powerplay
With the likes of Fred Klaassen, Vivian Kingma and Brandon Glover leading the pace attack, even an attacking side like Afghanistan could not get them away easily. They kept the opponents in check and in fact, skipper Pieter Seelaar was not afraid to introduce spinners, including himself in the first 10.
While the Dutch bowlers kept things tight in the first powerplay, picking up a wicket every 33 deliveries (SR 60), things just unravelled in the next two phases. Between overs 11 and 40, they struck every 82.2 runs (SR 108) and in the final 10, they picked up a wicket 18.4 runs (SR 16.4), compared to Afghanistan’s 5.6 (SR 7.9). Middle phase is an area where a game is potentially won or lost, and hence grooming a few bowlers from the vast talent of spinners and pacers to excel in this area would do wonders.
With the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and in the third game Qais Ahmed bowling a huge chunk of overs in the middle overs, it’s little surprising that Afghanistan are well and truly ahead in that phase.
Batting beyond Edwards
Thanks to Edwards holding fort, the top-order (1-3) scored at an average of 35.7, while the middle-order (4-7) and lower-order (8-11) could muster up an average of 13.4 and 3.3 respectively. The Dutch failed to bat out their entire 50 overs in all three matches and fell well short of their target. This despite Edwards and Ackermann putting up 106 for the first wicket in the third ODI, chasing 255.
In a bid to steady the ship, the likes of Bas de Leede and Seelar completely choked the batting with strike rates of 39.94 and 51.16 respectively, which is not ideal even if you are chasing modest targets as the Dutch did in the three games.
Given that the Netherlands are coming off a winter lockdown in their country, a majority of the players were a tad rusty. However, such games under their belt would certainly help them see their shortcomings and give them an opportunity to work on them.
With many new faces getting a look in, we could see them put up a much better show in the upcoming fixtures. Whether or not the Netherlands qualify for the 2023 World Cup through the ODI Super League is a different matter, but what it would do is give them opportunities to come up close with some top teams and give them a platform to perform at the highest stage – like many other associate nations, it is something they have been craving for a long time.
