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The Netherlands have officially announced their 15-member squad for the much-anticipated ODI World Cup 2023, scheduled to kick off on October 5th in India. In a notable development, senior cricketers Paul van Meekeren and Roelof van der Merwe, along with Colin Ackermann, have made their way back into the Netherlands’ squad for the global cricketing extravaganza.
These three players had been notably absent from the squad during the World Cup Qualifier held in Zimbabwe earlier this year due to their county cricket commitments. Despite their absence, Netherlands successfully secured their qualification. The trio’s return is expected to bolster the team significantly for the main event in India. Durham’s Bas de Leede, who played a crucial role in helping the Dutch secure qualification, will also join the squad in India.
Scott Edwards Continues to Lead
Scott Edwards will continue to lead the 15-member outfit, and the squad will feature South Africa-born batter Sybrand Engelbrecht. Engelbrecht, with an impressive record of 58 List A games, where he scored 1275 runs at an average of 45.53 and a strike rate of 78.89, along with 54 first-class games and 45 T20s, brings valuable experience to the team.
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The Netherlands has made some strategic changes from the World Cup Qualifier squad, omitting Michael Levitt, Vivian Kingma, and Clayton Floyd. However, they have included Noah Croes as a travelling reserve, alongside Kyle Klein. Tim Pringle will also accompany the squad during the pre-tournament camp, scheduled from September 19th to 28th.
Historic Moment for Dutch Cricket
For those unfamiliar with Dutch cricket, the last time the Netherlands participated in an ODI World Cup was in 2011. This year’s World Cup marks their fifth appearance in the prestigious tournament, and fans are eagerly awaiting their performance on the global stage.
Netherlands’ head coach, Ryan Cook, expressed his thoughts on the team’s preparation for the World Cup. In an official statement, he said, “Naturally, our planning and preparation for the World Cup started soon after our qualification in Zimbabwe. Having no bilateral fixtures after the qualifiers enabled us to plan for various scenarios for the duration of the summer. Over the past few months, the players and staff have been hard at work with the full squad being very dedicated and detailed towards achieving our objective in the World Cup. We have an exciting mixture of youth and experience and a unified, cohesive culture which allows those to express their best selves within the group.”
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Netherlands squad for ODI World Cup 2023:
Scott Edwards (c and wk), Colin Ackermann, Shariz Ahmed, Wesley Barresi, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Ryan Klein, Bas de Leede, Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd, Vikram Singh, Saqib Zulfiqar
Travelling reserves: Noah Croes, Kyle Klein
