Euro 2000: Dutch coach, Trotman, says Scots and Irish still equal

Netherlands national team coach, Emmerson Trotman, believes there is little separating the Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland, despite his team's win in the European Championships last month.

"I think on any given day, any of the three can beat the other," Trotman said.

"It's not going to be a walkover next year," he forecast, looking ahead to the ICC Trophy in June.

The Netherlands regained their status (some would say they never lost it) as one of the top three Associate countries with a mostly untroubled passage through the tournament.

Only against Scotland were the Dutch threatened, with a last ball win with two wickets to spare.

The main surprise of Division One came when Italy, thanks largely to Peter Di Venuto, brother of former Australian ODI player, Michael, upset a young Danish squad by nine runs. Di Venuto scored 90 and then took 2-30 in the Danish innings.

In Division Two, Gibraltar remained undefeated against Germany, France, Portugal, Israel and Greece.

Gibraltar coach, Richard Cox, was especially pleased with the performance of his younger players, citing all-rounder Daniel Johnson as a key performer.

Germany demonstrated its improvement with second place, ahead of the French, who were considered to have not played to full potential.

Affiliate member, Portugal, caused the most notable upset, beating Associate country, Israel by nine runs.

For the enthusiastic Greeks, it was valuable experience playing against four Associate countries.

Division Two was marred by the quality of the umpiring, with the Scottish Cricket Union evenutally providing umpires from their own ranks, replacing those provided by the competing countries.

One of the more humourous moments came when the Glasgow groundsman was asked why the pitches were so dry, to which he apparently explained that he had never had to water the pitches before, because Glasgow had never had five consecutive days without rain.