Team will be missing key players like van der Merwe and ten Doeschate who have not been released by their counties
At long last, Netherlands will finally play their first match of the ODI Super League, which will decide who goes through to the 2023 World Cup. They qualified for the 13-team competition in December 2017 and might already have been initiated but for the complications caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now though the Dutch are ready to return to the top-flight as they take on Ireland over the course of three ODIs on June 2, 4 and 7 in Utrecht.
“We welcome back Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen and Brandon Glover from county duties and I expect them to form a potent fast-bowling combination with Logan van Beek and Vivian Kingma, whose form has been outstanding so far this season [10 wickets in his last four 50-over matches].
“We will continue to back our best young talent and I’m extremely pleased to add Musa Nadeem to our long list of recent debutants. His form in the Topklasse [the local 50-over competition] has been outstanding as well as his hard work throughout our long hiatus from International Cricket due to Covid.
“This will no doubt be an extremely tough series, but I know the players are ready to go and it should be an exciting week of cricket.”
A press release from the Netherlands cricket board on Thursday also indicated that this will be the “first time ever that cricket can be watched live on Dutch television, including Dutch commentary.”