Further details of the Dutch international programme for next year have emerged following last week’s meeting of the High Performance Program countries’ chief executives in Dubai.

The 2008 campaign still begins with two away matches in the Intercontinental Cup, but now the Dutch side will play first in Namibia from 27-30 March before moving on to the Gulf, where they will meet the United Arab Emirates from 4-7 April.

There are then no firm commitments until Ireland visit The Netherlands, again on Intercontinental Cup business, playing from 9-12 July, although it is likely that there will be a couple of one-day matches in Denmark in May or June.

The European Championships take place in Dublin between 25 and 31 July, with full ODIs against Scotland and Ireland and further matches against Denmark, Italy and Norway, and it is now virtually certain that the qualifying tournament for the Twenty20 World Cup will be in Belfast between 2 and 4 August.

It is possible that the Dutch will play two one-day games against Bermuda after the conclusion of the Twenty20 tournament, although that is still subject to confirmation.

The final round-robin match in the Intercontinental Cup will be at home to Kenya between 16-19 August, and an ODI against the Kenyans is scheduled for 21 August.

Discussions are continuing over the possibility of two home ODIs against Test opposition in the first week of September. The opponents could be either India or the West Indies.

One disturbing feature of the programme is how few full ODIs are in the programme for 2008. With none scheduled for the Namibia-UAE tour, neither of next year’s tourists in England – New Zealand and South Africa – booked to play in The Netherlands, and the uncertainties elsewhere in the timetable, the Dutch could be playing as few as three ODIs next year, none of them against Test playing opponents.

Even if all the possible fixtures were confirmed, the total would only rise to seven. This contrasts starkly with the situation of the Scottish and Irish squads, who could be playing at least 10 and 16 ODIs respectively next year, in addition to their eight fixtures each against county opposition in the Friends Provident Trophy.

With the qualifying tournament for the 2011 World Cup not much more than a year away, the KNCB must be seriously concerned about the way in which their rivals are building up much more international experience.