The Dutch side, smarting from their seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Namibia last weekend, will be looking to put their Intercontinental Cup campaign back on the rails when they take on the United Arab Emirates in Sharjah on Thursday.

Conditions in the Gulf are likely to be quite different from those they faced in Windhoek, and it seems unlikely that skipper Jeroen Smits would give even a moment’s thought to inserting the opposition again should he call correctly at the toss.

The Netherlands will probably need to dismiss the Emiratis twice if they are to secure the 20 points they need from the match, and there can be little doubt that should they bat first their first priority will be to post a really substantial total to put the home side’s batsmen under as much pressure as possible.

Settling on the final combination will not be a straightforward matter, but Smits and coach Peter Drinnen are hopeful that left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar will have recovered sufficiently from the blow he suffered when batting in Windhoek to take his place in the side.

If that is the case, the Dutch will have the option of playing two specialist spinners, with off-spinner Mohammed Kashif joining Seelaar in the side. That would almost certainly mean dropping a batsman.

The tourists will also have to decide whether to find a place for either of the other players who missed out in Namibia, Geert Maarten Mol and seamer Maurits Jonkman.

Drinnen has made it clear that he will be looking for a more sustained effort from his batsmen, several of whom got a start against the Namibian attack but were then unable to convert that into a big score.

Ryan ten Doeschate is, of course, a key figure, but in Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bas Zuiderent and Peter Borren the Netherlands has top order batsmen who have already demonstrated their ability to score heavily in this competition. Eric Szwarczynski reportedly played well in both innings in Windhoek, and he, too, is due a big score.

Smits will also be looking for a solid performance from his seamers, led by Edgar Schiferli, who bowled impressively against Namibia. It is disappointing that Ten Doeschate’s side injury may again prevent him from bowling, especially as he took four for 49 when Essex recently beat the Emiratis.

For the home side, stability has obviously been a problem: they have used no fewer than 27 players in their six Intercontinental Cup matches so far, with a further four appearing in the recent Pro ARCH Trophy, in which the Emirates took on Essex, Lancashire, Somerset and Yorkshire.

They have named an 18-man squad for the match against The Netherlands, including three – Alawi Shukri, Muhammad Awan Ali, and Salman Farooq – who have not so far appeared in either competition, plus two more, in Indika Batuwitachchi and Vikramath Shetty, who will be making their Intercontinental Cup debut if they are selected in the final eleven.

Only skipper Saqib Ali has played in all six matches in the competition, and his splendid rearguard 195 in the defeat by Ireland last month demonstrated just how important he is to the side.

Others who have become fixtures in the team since the Emirates’ innings defeat in Canada last year include seamer Fahad al Hashmi and 19-year-old slow left-armer Ahmed Raza.

Raza is one of an impressive group of spinners in the squad, which also includes further left-arm spinners in leading wicket-taker Khurram Khan and Shadeep Silva. Al Hashmi may share the new ball with 21-year-old Shoaib Sarwar.

The Emirates side also includes a strong element of left-handed batsmen, including Amjad Ali, Nizel Fernandes and Silva. The top order may also feature right-handers Arshad Ali, Naeemuddin Aslam and Rashid Khan.