Dutch courage begins to pay off ahead of ICC World Cricket League

It's difficult to keep the Dutch down. From the dizzying heights of winning the ICC Trophy in 2001 to a slump that almost saw them lose out on qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, the Netherlands are now very much on the up and up again.

The ICC Trophy 2005 in Ireland was a turning point for Netherlands cricket. It was fortunate that the number of qualifying places for the CWC had been increased from three to five as the Dutch just managed to sneak in by beating the United Arab Emirates in the fifth-sixth place play-off.

Since then, though, the Netherlands has used that scare as a wake-up call and it really appears to have turned a corner. Selectors had the courage to give youth a chance and it now has the look of a well-balanced side, full of ability and application.

One of the stars of Dutch cricket in the past year or so has been Ryan ten Doeschate. In the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2006 he scored a total of 686 runs in five matches, at an astonishing average of 228.66, giving a real solidity to the Dutch batting line-up.

But now the focus has shifted away from the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup to the different challenge of the shorter form of the game and ten Doeschate is confident that the Netherlands will acquit themselves well at the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 (WCL Div. 1) in Nairobi.

"We have been working very hard to get the formula right," said ten Doeschate (26). "We were on a recent tour to Pretoria and we devised a formula for one-day cricket that we think is going to work for us," he said.

Without giving too much of the game-plan away, the all-rounder said that the bowlers had been working on tying down batsmen rather than always going on the attack. And the batsmen have been working out how to build partnerships effectively.

"I think we learned a lot from the ICC Trophy. Ireland and Scotland had obviously moved ahead and we had started to stagnate a little bit. Now I think we are back on track and we have been putting in some strong performances," he added.

"We certainly want to get to the final of the World Cricket League (and so qualify for the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa in September). That may sound optimistic because the favourites will probably be Kenya, Scotland and Ireland for the two final spots, but we think we have what it takes to get there."

Ten Doeschate can rely on team-mates Bas Zuiderent, Tim de Leede and Daan van Bunge for support along the way while 17-year-old Alex Kervezee, who has signed for Worcestershire, looks to be a genuine prospect.

Mark Jonkman, Edgar Schiferli and Mohammed Kashif are also going to be names to watch out for at the WCL Div. 1 and the ICC Cricket World Cup after that as they seek to bring Dutch cricket back to the glory days.

Netherlands (squad): Joeren Smits (captain), Eric Szwarczynski Ryan ten Doeschate, Mark Jonkman, Tim de Leede, Bas Zuiderent, Peter Borren, Luuk van Troost, William Stelling, Mohammed Kashif, Alexei Kervezee, Daan van Bunge, Abdeel Raja, Darron Reekers, Edgar Schiferli.

The WCL Div. 1 involves the top six Associate teams As the six teams in this competition have all qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, the WCL Div. 1 is being used as part of their preparations for the event, which opens in Jamaica on 11 March.

But the WCL is about much more than that. Firstly, all games in the tournament carry ODI status so players are competing for their place in the historical analysis of top level one-day cricket. And secondly, the top two teams from this year's WCL will qualify for the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Championships, which is scheduled for South Africa in September.

The idea of the WCL is to give regular global one-day cricket opportunities to the top 18 non-Test countries. Apart from Division 1, the next eight best from the ICC Trophy 2005 have been allocated to Division 2 and 3 events later in 2007 along with the top teams from five regional qualifying events.

Promotion and relegation will be possible between divisions as each team seeks to move up the world cricket rankings. Events for Divisions 4 and 5 will commence in 2008 as the WCL expands.

This gives each of the 87 Associate and Affiliate Members a clearly defined pathway to progress and develop in world cricket. Every side can now make its own plan as to how it will some day take its place alongside the very best at the ICC Cricket World Cup. It also means that the ICC can identify the relative strengths of these member countries on a more regular basis than ever before.

ICC today (Tuesday) launched a new section of its website devoted to the WCL Div. 1 in Nairobi. The site contains player profiles, news stories, previews and photographs, all you need to learn more about the event. During the tournament, there will be live scores of all matches as well as match reports, audio clips of interviews with players and coaches and action shots of the players doing their thing out in the middle.

For more information go to https://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/events/wcl/