In naming his team for the forthcoming visit to South Africa this winter, Dutch national coach Peter Cantrell has again kept faith with the players who have been in his side all summer, making only minimal alterations to the squad which took part in the European Championship in August.

All the players who were in that squad have again been selected, with promising young seamer Mark Jonkman added to the mix and set to make his first appearance in the full Dutch side. Opening batsman Maurits van Nierop, who has recovered from his ankle injury and will be playing club cricket in South Africa, will join the team for the tri-series which forms the middle element of the three-week tour.

The trip will start in Pretoria with a warm-up game followed by an Intercontinental Cup match against Bermuda, beginning on 21 November, and end with a game against Canada at Benoni in the same competition. In between there will be a six-match tri-series involving all three countries, scheduled to be played in Potchefstroom and Benoni.

The length of the tour has caused a few availability problems for Cantrell, since work commitments will force skipper Luuk van Troost to miss the second Intercontinental Cup match, while Tim de Leede is unavailable for the first. Jeroen Smits will take over the captaincy for the game against Canada.

The Dutch side will go into their Intercontinental Cup matches knowing that they must win both outright if they are to qualify for next year’s final. Canada have beaten both Kenya and Bermuda in Toronto since The Netherlands managed only the better of the drawn game with Kenya in Nairobi, and only two wins will enable the Dutch to overtake the Canadians.

Much will therefore depend on The Netherlands’ attack’s ability to bowl their opponents out twice.

The full squad is:

  • Luuk van Troost (Excelsior ’20, captain) (unavailable for IC Cup v. Canada)
  • Jeroen Smits (HCC, vice-captain, wicketkeeper)
  • Peter Borren (VRA)
  • Daan van Bunge (Excelsior ’20)
  • Ryan ten Doeschate (Essex)
  • Tom de Grooth (HCC)
  • Mark Jonkman (HCC)
  • Muhammad Kashif (VOC)
  • Alexei Kervezee (HBS)
  • Tim de Leede (VCC) (unavailable for IC Cup v. Bermuda)
  • Maurits van Nierop (VRA) (tri-series only)
  • Darron Reekers (Quick Haag)
  • Pieter Seelaar (Hermes-DVS)
  • Billy Stelling (HBS)
  • Eric Szwarczynski (VRA)
  • Bas Zuiderent (VOC)