Bas de Leede walked off the Ahmedabad surface with mixed feelings on Wednesday night. He had punched a brisk 33 off 23 balls and, for a brief spell, kept Netherlands in the chase against India. Yet the margin – 17 runs – and the nagging sense of what might have been lingered.
The 26-year-old all-rounder is hardly alone. Throughout this T20 World Cup several Dutch players have voiced a familiar frustration: the scarcity of matches against Full-Member opposition. De Leede put it plainly afterwards.
“We’ve shown at what level Associate cricket is at the moment, we can only ask for more and more opportunities against the big teams, ultimately that’s how we’re going to improve as a collective,” he said. “We’ve got nothing planned until June. The next series is for World Cup qualification. We’ll have two weeks off and training starts again.”
For context, Netherlands’ diary now looks empty for almost four months. The contrast with leading nations – who often slot straight into bilateral series or franchise leagues – could scarcely be sharper.
Star turn, slim schedule
De Leede was central to the Dutch campaign. His unbeaten 72 and tidy 2 for 20 dragged the side over the line against Namibia, their sole win. Against India he took on the spinners early, a calculated gamble that nearly paid off. No Dutch batter looked as at ease, yet the chase stalled once he fell.
Still, the spectacle itself – a packed house of more than 50,000 – felt significant for a team used to playing before a few hundred in Amstelveen. “Once in a lifetime opportunity,” was how de Leede described it, thankful for the buzz yet keenly aware such stages are rare.
The money problem, and a possible workaround
Associate nations have long argued the cricket calendar is stacked against them. De Leede recognises the economics. “I get the financial reasoning,” he admitted, accepting that contests between India, Australia or England effectively fund the sport. But he believes room can still be found.
“Maybe a tri-nation series [involving them and two Full Members] could be an option. I recently saw a post about a European T20 series involving England, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands and Italy.
“We saw how close Italy pushed England. So there are a lot of options. Normally during the World Cup, it gets attention and then it fades away. We can only hope this World Cup may change that. We’ll see what happens in the next couple of months.”
One suggestion is simple enough: teams heading to England could tack on a brief stop in the Low Countries. Warm-ups in the Netherlands or Scotland would hand Associates meaningful outings while visiting sides fine-tune for tour matches. De Leede concedes the Future Tours Programme is tight, but insists smaller tweaks could make a difference.
County deal sacrificed
Last month he turned down a fresh county contract to focus fully on the national side. Few doubt the commitment – or the gamble. County cricket provides salary, high-quality fixtures and exposure to different conditions. Giving that up highlights how strongly de Leede and his peers believe in the Dutch project.
Infrastructure remains a hurdle. Netherlands still rely on a handful of turf wickets, modest funding and volunteer coaches. An as-yet unconfirmed European T20 league could inject cash and profile, though previous attempts have stalled. Until then, much of the heavy lifting involves winter training blocks in Amsterdam sports halls, fundraising and a relentless push for more fixtures.
Where next?
The immediate plan is a brief break, then camps geared towards the Africa-based global qualifier early next year. Several squad members will dip into club cricket in England or Australia to stay sharp, but the core group is expected to reconvene in early April.
Perspective
Associate cricket has improved markedly over the past decade. Upsets at recent World Cups – Netherlands beating South Africa, Ireland stunning England, Scotland tripping up West Indies – are no longer giant-killing novelties. Yet sustained progress, coaches argue, needs regular exposure, not occasional shocks.
De Leede’s call is hardly revolutionary, yet its timing matters. The ICC is currently revisiting the men’s pathway for the 2029 World Cup. A modest adjustment – say, each Full Member hosting one Associate series per cycle – could shift the landscape. Whether financial realities allow for it remains to be seen.
For now, Netherlands return home with a solitary win, a couple of near misses and another stack of unanswered questions. De Leede can rightly be pleased with his personal returns, but the bigger battle goes on.
“Obviously the schedules, with all the franchise leagues and the ICC FTP, it can be hard to find a window for a full series against the top nations,” he said. “But the one way is for travelling teams to have the option of playing warm-ups in the Netherlands and Scotland before they go to England. There are ways around that, where we also get the exposure of playing against the best teams and they get something as well.”
Whether administrators will seize that “way around” is, as ever, the next mystery.
