A pattern is emerging in this year’s Intercontinental Cup. With the Scots struggling to put together a reasonably competitive side for this week’s visit to Ireland, Dutch national coach PJ Bakker has been able to announce a greatly strengthened squad for the home match against Bermuda in Amstelveen, starting next Monday.

With skipper Jeroen Smits, Bas Zuiderent, Edgar Schiferli and Adeel Raja all available, only seven of the Dutch side which lost by an innings to Scotland last week have retained their places.

Smits resumes the captaincy and the wicketkeeping duties. Zuiderent rejoins Alexei Kervezee, Tom de Grooth and Nicky Statham at the top of the batting order, and it will be interesting to see whether the fairly successful opening pairing of Kervezee and de Grooth is retained, with Zuiderent perhaps slotting in at three in place of the injured Eric Szwarczynski. Atse Buurman, who might have been included as a batsman, is unavailable because of work commitments.

There’s a first cap for HCC seamer Maurits Jonkman, whose twin brother Mark is still unavailable through injury. Maurits has been bowling consistently well for his club this season, and his call-up, together with the return of Schiferli, should add some sharpness to the seam attack.

Bakker has also included three spinners, with Pieter Seelaar and Mangesh Panchal rejoined by Adeel Raja. It is unclear whether Peter Borren’s medium-pace will be among Smits’s options, or whether the knee injury which kept him out of the attack in Aberdeen will mean that he plays as a specialist batsman.

Like the Dutch, Bermuda have been hit by retirements and availability problems since the World Cup, and only four of the side that took part in that tournament will play in Amstelveen. They include captain Irving Romaine, opener Steven Outerbridge, who takes over the vice-captaincy, batsman Lionel Cann and spinner Dwayne Leverock, who emerged as one of the personalities of the World Cup.

Fast bowler Ryan Steede, who played against The Netherlands in South Africa last winter, is back in the squad, as is Arthur Pitcher, who played one match in the World Cricket League in Nairobi but is set to make his first-class debut.

That applies also to George O’Brien, who has appeared in four ODIs but has yet to play in the Intercontinental Cup. Two others to be recalled have each played one first-class match in the past: 23-year-old batsman Jekon Edness and 22-year-old allrounder Jacobi Robinson.

Three new caps in James Celestine, Roderick Masters and Dwight Basden complete the party.

The squad will be strengthened for the final stage of the tour, in Ireland, by the arrival of three players – Malachi Jones, Stefan Kelly and Rodney Trott – who will be taking part in the Americas Under-19 Championship later this month.

Glamorgan captain David Hemp, whose not-out 247 was so crucial in the drawn match between the countries in Pretoria last November, is naturally unavailable, as is The Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate, who hit two centuries in that game.

But both sides have a good deal to prove, and the battle in Amstelveen next week should be a fascinating one.

The full squads are:
The Netherlands: Jeroen Smits (captain), Peter Borren (vice-captain), Mudassar Bukhari, Tom de Grooth, Maurits Jonkman, Alexei Kervezee, Mangesh Panchal, Adeel Raja, Pieter Seelaar, Edgar Schiferli , Nick Statham and Bas Zuiderent.
Bermuda: Irving Romaine (captain), Steven Outerbridge (vice-captain), Dwight Basden, Lionel Cann, James Celestine, Jekon Edness, Dwayne Leverock, Roderick Masters, George O’Brien, Arthur Pitcher, Jacobi Robinson and Ryan Steede.