| Dutch Cricket Team |
Article Index for Dutch |
Website Links For Dutch |
Information AboutDutch Cricket Team |
|
The Dutch cricket team is a national Cricket team representing the Netherlands . It is administered by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (''Royal Dutch Cricket Association'') which is based in Zeist in the centre of the country. The team is often referred to as ''' Holland ''', and indeed the players' One-day Cricket shirts bear that name rather than the country's official title. Cricket has been played in the Netherlands since at least the 19th Century , and in the 1860s was considered a major sport in the country. Many other sports (notably Football and Tennis ) have long since surpassed cricket in popularity amongst the Dutch, and today there are around 6,000 cricketers in the Netherlands, making it the 25th most popular sport. The first national association, the forerunner of today's Royal Dutch Cricket Association, was formed in 1883 and the Netherlands achieved Associate Membership of the ICC in 1966 . The Dutch team has taken part in all eight ICC Trophy tournaments, winning the competition in Canada in 2001 and finishing as runners-up twice (in 1986 and 1990 ). The Netherlands have also participated in the 1996 and 2003 Cricket World Cup s, and from 1996 onwards entered the English domestic NatWest Trophy competition (and its successor, the C&G Trophy ). In 2004 they played First-class Cricket as part of the ICC Intercontinental Cup , drawing with Scotland in Aberdeen and then going down to an Innings Defeat against Ireland in Deventer . In 2005 the Dutch team beat The UAE to finish fifth in the ICC Trophy , a slightly disappointing result but one which meant that they qualified for the 2007 World Cup and would gain full One-Day International status from 1 January 2006 until the 2009 ICC Trophy. HISTORY 19th Century The first club in the Netherlands was formed in Utrecht by students from both The Netherlands and the Cape Colony in 1856 . Further clubs came into existence in the 1870s . The Netherlands national team played their first game in 1881 . They fielded 22 players against an Uxbridge Cricket Club XI, but still lost by an innings. The Dutch Cricket Union was formed in 1883 , with 18 member clubs, four of which are still in existence today. The first national tournament was held the following year, and was won by Haagsche CC. English touring teams then began visiting in 1886 including one in 1891 that featured Sherlock Holmes author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle . In , which also saw the emergence of Carst Posthuma , who was to become the first Dutch player to play first class cricket. He was eventually to take 2339 wickets at an average of 8.66 in his career in the Netherlands. 1900s to 1910s saw the first international game against Belgium , which finished in a draw. In 1910 , the Dutch team visited Belgium to take part in an exhibition tournament, which also featured the MCC, Belgium and France . They lost to the MCC by 2 wickets, and to France by 63 runs [http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1910S/1910/OTHERS+ICC/BEXT/NL_FRANCE_BEXT_26JUN1910.html , but beat Belgium by 116 runs. [http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1910S/1910/OTHERS+ICC/BEXT/BELGIUM_NL_BEXT_25JUN1910.html] During World War I , in which the Netherlands remained neutral, large numbers of British officers were interred in the country, and many of these joined local cricket clubs. A team made up of these players even won the Dutch championship in 1918. 1920s to 1940s The Flamingo's, a Dutch touring side was formed in 1921 , they would go on to make several tours of England. Tours by English teams would continue in this period also. In 1934 , the first Dutch women's league was formed, and the women's national team played two games against Australia in 1937 , losing heavily in both. Cricket was curtailed somewhat after the German invasion in 1940 . 1950s to 1980s The 1950s saw visits to the Netherlands by Australia and the West Indies , in addition to the first match against Denmark . In 1958 , the Cricket Board received a Royal charter, and became the "Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond", a name which it retains to this day. 1964 brought the Netherlands first victory against a Test-playing nation, with a 3 wicket win over the Australian team. They were rewarded with associate membership of the ICC two years later. {Link without Title} . The first two ICC Trophy tournaments, in 1979 and 1982 brought little success to the Dutch, not progressing beyond the first round in both tournaments. But in the 1986 Tournament , they finished as runners up to Zimbabwe . The same year, Paul-Jan Bakker became the first Dutch player to play county cricket. In 1989 , the Dutch beat a strong England XI that featured two future England captains in Alec Stewart and Nasser Hussain by 3 runs. 1990s would also finally see the Dutch qualify for the World Cup , after finishing third in that years ICC Trophy. In the World Cup itself in 1996 , they didn't progress past the first round, but performed with some credit in their game against England. 1995 saw the Dutch enter the NatWest Trophy for the first time, and they would spend 10 years in the tournament, their best performance coming in 1999 , when they progressed to the 4th round, beating Durham along the way. 1999 also saw a World Cup game come to the Netherlands, but sadly for them the Dutch were not involved, after a 6th place finish in the 1997 ICC Trophy . The Netherlands competed in the first European Championship in 1996 , coming second. They have competed in every tournament since, winning in 1998 and 2000 . 2000s 2001 finally saw the Netherlands win the ICC Trophy, beating Namibia in the final in Toronto . They thus qualified for the 2003 World Cup . They again failed to progress beyond the first round in the tournament, but recorded their first ODI win over Namibia during the tournament. In the 2005 ICC Trophy , the Netherlands finished 5th, qualifying for the 2007 World Cup , and gaining one-day International status until the 2009 ICC Trophy . Tournament History World Cup
ICC Champions Trophy Intercontinental Cup
ICC 6 Nations Challenge
ICC Trophy
European Championship
FAMOUS PLAYERS Several Dutch cricketers have also played at first-class level elsewhere, the most successful of these probably being Roland Lefebvre who played for Somerset and Glamorgan in English County Cricket as well as for Canterbury in New Zealand . The Essex all-rounder Ryan Ten Doeschate is the only current member of the Dutch team to be playing regular county cricket. Other Dutch players to have played first class cricket outside of the Intercontinental Cup are:
CRICKET IN 2006/07 In March 2006 , the Netherlands will travel to Kenya for a four-day Intercontinental Cup game against Kenya . They were originally hoping to play a one-day international on this tour, but that was cancelled due to Kenya's commitments in Bangladesh . In July, they will play their first one-day internationals at home, playing twice against Sri Lanka . This is followed in August by the European Championship in Scotland , where they will play Denmark , Ireland , Italy and The Hosts . The games against Ireland and Scotland will be official ODIs. In November/December, they will travel to South Africa , where they will play Intercontinental Cup games against Bermuda and Canada . They will also play a ODI triangular series against those two teams. In January 2007 , they will return to Kenya to play in Division One of the ICC World Cricket League , which will be followed by another ODI tri-series, this time against Kenya and Ireland. The World Cup starts in March, and the Dutch have a tough first round group, playing Australia and South Africa in addition to fellow qualifier Scotland. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCE Cricket Europe Netherlands timeline |
|
|