The Dutch governing body (KNCB) has signalled that it has ambitious plans to reverse the decline in clubs, teams and players which has affected the sport in recent years.

That decline was identified as a key symptom of the problems facing Dutch cricket in the 2006 report which paved the way for the election of the new Board.

The Board’s initiatives in trying to generate new clubs has already borne fruit with the establishment of Gelre Cricket in Zutphen, in the east of the country, and there are plans to set up another in Heerenveen (Friesland). There is at present no club in the latter province.

One of the hallmarks of the reduction in activity over the past couple of decades has been the increasing concentration of the sport in the ‘Randstad’, the linked conurbations which extend from Rotterdam to Amsterdam and Utrecht.

The last club from outside that area to play in the Hoofdklasse was Kon. UD Deventer, relegated in 2000, with other teams like PW Enschede, Quick Nijmegen, Heerlen and Groningen seemingly permanently condemned to the lower divisions. Stimulating new clubs in the rest of The Netherlands would help to broaden cricket’s base, although it would not in itself lead to the extension of the Hoofdklasse’s reach beyond the Randstad.

The papers for the KNCB’s general meeting on 13 December include an agenda item on expansion, and the issue is discussed in the Board’s Action Plan.

The latter document notes that the decline in numbers contrasts with an upsurge of wider interest, as reflected in ‘clinics’ run for companies, colleges and other organisations, requests for information, the playing of social cricket, and some evidence of greater coverage in the Dutch media.

Noting that the availability of suitable grounds is a constraint, the Board nevertheless sets a target of between 100 and 200 additional cricketers per year. It has already stated that it wishes to see five new clubs formed by the end of 2008.

The plan identifies a number of possible sources of expansion, but is in no doubt that the ultimate responsibility for any significant growth lies with the existing clubs, ‘the only platform where growth can be realised’.

The Board’s function, it states, is to stimulate the clubs’ initiatives by such measures as producing new promotional material (including a DVD), better marketing of the sport, the development of new and attractive competitions, and possibly appointing a consultant to support clubs and deal with local authorities, schools and companies.

There is no doubt that the participation figures would be much worse were it not for the increasing role played in Dutch cricket by immigrant communities, but that is at the same time a continuing source of tension, and sometimes of conflict.

The KNCB Board has expressed its concern about the ‘two cultures’ of Dutch cricket, and has set a goal of reconciling the differences which are sometimes seen to exist between the different cricketing communities.

But in some ways things seemed to deteriorate during 2007, with a growing number of disciplinary cases, some of them involving allegations of violence.

And talk persists of establishing a separate ‘Pakistan Cricket League’, although whether its disgruntled proponents see this as operating in parallel with or as a rival to the KNCB’s competitions remains unclear.

A truly multicultural cricket community, operating within the laws and Spirit of Cricket, is a sine qua non for the future health of the sport in The Netherlands, but it is clear that considerable difficulties lie in the way of the KNCB’s plans for growth.