Netherlands: Weakened national team ko'd; Season preview

"On May 16 the Dutch national team was eliminated from the NatWest Trophy by Minor County, Lincolnshire. It was a disappointing performance from a weakened Dutch XI that lost by 95 runs.

Holland played without some of their key players: former County player André van Troost is still injured, his brother Luuk was not available, professional player Bas Zuiderent (Sussex) is not allowed to play and Feiko Kloppenburg, last year's Man of the Match in the sensational win over Durham, has taken a one year break from international cricket to give full attention to his study. Also bondscoach, Emmerson Trotman, who has probably lost his house in the firework disaster in Enschede, did not make the trip to Grantham.

The small squad of the Dutch national team is a problem. "When a few players are not available, we are vulnerable", admitted Roland Lefebvre in the weekly Dutch Cricket Magazine. However, the Dutch captain thought Holland still could have beaten Lincolnshire. Before the start of the European championships, Holland will play New Zealand A on June 6 and 7 at Amstelveen and will tour Canada in July.

The format of the Dutch first class competition has changed this year. To keep pace with international cricket, the number of overs has been reduced from 55 to 50. Apart from the Duckworth/Lewis system all international rules will be applied. Also most of the Dutch clubs will play in coloured clothing this year. HCC (The Hague) and VOC (Rotterdam) have chosen a yellow outfit, VRA (Amstelveen) will play in grey and Hermes DVS (Schiedam) and Voorburg CC in blue. Because only light colours are allowed still can be played with a red ball.

In the first class competition, injury-hit champions VRA lost their first two matches to Quick (The Hague) and Excelsior (Schiedam). Now HCC, HBS and Excelsior'20, who all won their first two games, are favourites for the title.

HCC (The Hague), runners up last year, depend heavily on New Zealand star player Chris Pringle, by far the best bowler in the hoofdklasse in the last four years.

Excelsior Australian player/coach Michael Dighton is said to be the best batsman in the Dutch first class at the moment. Dighton played as overseas player for the Dutch national team in the Nat West Trophy. Besides Dighton, Excelsior star players are Luuk van Troost - Dutch best allrounder at the moment - and his brother André, who got injured two days before the start of the competition. The former Somerset player hopes to return in June.

HBS (The Hague) have a balanced team, with Dutch internationals Bradley, Van Oosterom and Lefebvre as strongest players.

VRA, with their New Zealand players Craig Cumming and - former Test player - Shane Thomson are still an outsider for the championship.

The Dutch national women's team will take part in the Dutch men's league this year. In the 2B-1 competition, an average level in Dutch cricket, the national team won their first game. Holland is preparing for the CricInfo World Cup in New Zealand starting in December this year."