Netherlands to miss Rippon, van Beek in World Cup qualifiers

Allrounder Michael Rippon and medium-pacer Logan van Beek have made themselves unavailable for Netherlands in the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers due to commitments in the Plunket Shield, New Zealand's domestic first-class competition.

Rippon, Netherlands' highest wicket-taker in the recently-concluded WCL Championship, plays first-class cricket for Otago, while van Beek represents Wellington. The duo's absence has left Netherlands with a slightly deflated bowling attack.

Ryan Ten Doeschate, who recently made his international return for Netherlands, was named in the 15-man squad, which will be captained by Peter Borren.

The 2019 World Cup will be a 10-team tournament, down from 14 in the previous edition. And with four of the ten teams in the qualifiers being full members - Afghanistan, West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe - Borren acknowledged the need to raise their games.

"World Cups only come around every four years. This one will be even tougher to get into, with only 10 teams involved," he was quoted as saying by the Netherlands cricket board's press release. "I'm so excited to see how our boys will go against quality opposition. We are confident after winning in Dubai, but in saying that, we have also put that behind us. Now it's about performing at a level higher than we ever have before."

Netherlands leave for South Africa on February 10 for warm-up matches against Hong Kong, Scotland and Ireland, before flying out to Zimbabwe for the tournament.