Dear fellow cricket enthusiast,

There used to be occasional references in the UK Guardian newspaper to the ‘Campaign for Real Cricket’, a jokey idea based on the entirely genuine Campaign for Real Ale.

The notion of a cricketing equivalent was linked to support for some county player who
looked more like a pub cricketer than international material, but whose doughty performances for his county side were claimed to justify his selection for an under-performing England.

Well, if such an organisation existed in The Netherlands, there would be no doubt about where its members could be found over the next few weeks.

They would be at Hazelaarweg, Rotterdam this week, and in Amstelveen from 16-19 August.

Because that’s when the Dutch national side will be playing their final two matches in the 2007-08 Intercontinental Cup, the first against defending champions Ireland, the second against aspiring finalists Kenya.

And what will be on offer will be, in my book, Real Cricket.

It is true that for the Rotterdam match both sides will be at less than full strength: the Dutch will be without Ryan ten Doeschate and Bas Zuiderent, while it is highly unlikely that Ireland will be able to call on their top players who have county contracts.

But there will still be a wealth of cricketing talent on display, with Worcestershire’s brilliant young Dutch signing Alexei Kervezee, paceman Edgar Schiferli (one of the leading wicket-takers in the Cup), Ireland captain and off-spinner Kyle McCallan, the miserly skills of seamer André Botha, and the prodigious ability of the young Irish batsman Paul Stirling among those involved in the first game.

And Kenya have Steve Tikolo, still one of the finest players ever produced by an Associate country, the redoubtable Thomas Odoyo, and the rising spin star Hitesh Varaiya among their number.

The reasons for being at one or both of these matches, however, go far beyond the quality of the players who will be on view. They have to do with the nature of the games themselves.

Four-day cricket is the one-day game’s big brother, offering the infinite complexity of chess in place of the relatively limited options of draughts, a fine wine in place of an everyday bottle of supermarket plonk.

For those who have the patience, the steadily-unfolding fluctuations and subplots of a four-day match reveal cricket at its most fascinating, a delicate and constantly-shifting balance between bat and ball.

There are those who believe that modern society, and particularly a society like The Netherlands, has no time – literally and metaphorically – for such leisurely pursuits, and that even 50-over-a-side cricket is too slow for people to appreciate.

No doubt it’s true that in broadening the sport’s popular base the instant delights of Twenty20 cricket are essential, but for those already sold on the game, time invested in its longer form will be amply repaid in enjoyment.

Here is a chance to appreciate skills of concentration and stamina which a one-day match never calls upon: to watch a batsman maintain his focus for hours on end, adapting to changing conditions in the process, or to admire the strength of a seam bowler who can put in fifteen or twenty overs in a day or a spinner controlling line and length and flight through an entire two-hour session.

You don’t have to commit yourself for the whole four days. Walk into the ground at any point – get off work a little early so you can take in the post-tea session – and there will be plenty to enjoy.

Above all, if you have kids who play the game, bring them along so that they, too, can take their appreciation up a level or two. They may wander off at some point to belt a ball around themselves, but that’s all part of the experience, and they will pick up something of cricket’s real magic in the process.

And for the Kenya match there will be even less reason not to come along, since the first two days are a Saturday and Sunday.

Last year, The Netherlands played Bermuda in Amstelveen, in front of the proverbial three men and a dog.

Bermudian skipper Irving Romaine hit a fine century, only to be outdone by a magnificent, six-and-a-half-hour knock of 196 by Tom de Grooth. There was some fine seam bowling from Edgar Schiferli, Mudassar Bukhari and Bermuda’s George O’Brien, eight wickets for Mangesh Panchal and a long spell of spin bowling from the legendary Dwayne Leverock.

Bermuda were never in the hunt, and the Dutch won by an innings and 44 runs. But there was plenty to savour on each of the game’s three days, and it’s a shame so few people were there to see it.

This season’s matches are likely to be much more competitive, and outright wins will be vital for sides battling for places in October’s final.

We’re bound to see plenty of positive cricket, and some terrific individual performances.

Yes, Hazelaarweg in July and Amstelveen in August will be the places to be if you really care about cricket.

I look forward to seeing you there.


Rod Lyall