A clearer picture of the debates currently taking place within Dutch cricket has emerged with the publication of the papers for the general meeting of the governing body (KNCB) scheduled for 13 December.

The documents include exchanges of letters between the Youth Committee and KNCB chairman Marc Asselbergs, and between the group of fourteen prominent cricket enthusiasts who in September submitted a manifesto entitled ‘Concern about Cricket’ and the Board.

Other papers include the budget for 2008, and an action plan for next year which reveals the current state of the projected international programme.

All the papers are available in pdf-format (and, of course, in Dutch) on the KNCB website.

It is now possible to see more concretely the reasons for the Youth Committee’s decision to resign en bloc. In a letter dated 9 November, the committee members mentioned lack of consultation over the job specification for the new national coach, the continued absence of a policy document about youth cricket, the reported decisions of the Board to concentrate the KNCB’s attention on age groups from under-15 upwards and to appoint a Board member responsible for youth cricket, points on which the committee had again not been consulted.

Youth cricket was also one of eight areas addressed in the Manifesto Group’s analysis of the problems facing Dutch cricket. Their document supports the idea of a Board member for youth cricket, but also advocates the appointment of at least two more qualified coaches for the youth squads, a dramatic increase in the number of games played in youth competitions, and a much more active recruitment campaign for the sport.

While its authors emphasise that the manifesto is intended as a positive contribution to the development of the KNCB, it is strongly critical of the current performance of the Board and the office. Communication between the Board and its committees is seen as poor, and the document complains that the office has not yet achieved the service-oriented goals set out for it eighteen months ago.

Money, or the lack of it, is clearly at the root of many of the Bond’s problems, and the manifesto, as well as demanding more transparency in the finances, is critical of the stress created by the demands of the ICC High Performance Program, describing as ‘a myth’ the claim that participation in the HPP would lead to a significant improvement in the financial situation.

Other recommendations include the creation of an independent foundation to manage and finance the Dutch national side, a possible separation in domestic cricket between competitive and purely recreational teams, and the introduction of two-day competitions involving regional teams at under-17, under-19 and under-23 levels.

The Board’s response to the group’s analysis is broadly sympathetic, stating that there are no ‘excessive differences in vision’ between its approach and that outlined in the Manifesto. It deals with the recommendations on a point-by-point basis, and goes on to list the areas in which progress has been made over the past year.

It remains to be seen whether this reaction will be sufficient to disarm the criticism of the KNCB which has built up in recent months.

One positive development is the introduction of an information session in advance of the general meeting, at which treasurer Steven Hartman will explain his budget for 2008. He is currently projecting an operational loss of €9,000 for the current year, and has budgeted for a surplus of €2,270 next year.

He reports an increase in sponsorship income from €87.5k. in 2006 to €175k. this year, and expects a further rise to €225k. in 2008. There is no separate document on sponsorship among the papers, but a section of the Action Plan proposes the creation of a category of ‘Friends of Cricket in The Netherlands’ to encourage companies and individuals to support the sport.

It is apparent that the Dutch international programme for 2008 is still in a less advanced state than those of Ireland and Scotland. There is nothing definite apart from the ICC- and ECC-organised competitions such as the Intercontinental Cup, the European championship and a qualification tournament for the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup (which the KNCB is keen to host), a projected visit to Denmark, and two ODIs at home to Canada in August.

Even the dates for the Intercontinental Cup matches have not yet been finalised, and it is unclear whether there will be any ODIs linked to the visits of Ireland in July and Kenya in August. There is also the ‘possibility’ of one or two ODIs against either India or the West Indies, although the Action Plan gives no indication of when such matches might take place.