The proponents of structural change in Dutch domestic cricket may have a difficult time at Tuesday evening’s meeting between the KNCB and the clubs if the response to the questionnaire put out by Top Cricket Nederland is any guide.

The leading Dutch clubs have reacted with moderate enthusiasm at best to the ideas offered by TCN last month, to the extent that a discussion paper summarising the results of the survey concludes that ‘it appears that Dutch cricket has little real ambition to play at the highest level’.

It is a disturbing sign that of the thirty clubs which play in the three top divisions of the domestic competition, one third did not attend the initial meeting, and the same proportion failed to respond to the questionnaire.

Among those clubs which did respond, moreover, there appears to be little support for introducing a two-day element in the Hoodfklasse, although there is more enthusiasm for the alternative proposal for the establishment of a new regional competition involving two-day matches.

The TCN summary of the clubs’ responses notes that as far as the ideas for restructuring the existing domestic competition are concerned, there tends to be more support for those elements which do not involve the club directly: the Hoofdklasse clubs are resistant to change at the top but more positive over changes further down the leagues, while with the lower ranking teams the reverse is true.

This leads the authors of the document to speak of an ‘egocentric cricket world’, in which the clubs are unwilling or unable to think beyond their own narrow interests for the greater good of Dutch cricket as a whole.

The opposition to the introduction of two-day club cricket centres on three arguments: that there are two few players interested in taking on the challenge of a new form of the game; that the Dutch cricket public, such as it is, would have no interest in or understanding of two-day cricket; and that bar profits would be hit as a result.

In these circumstances, experimenting with a two-day regional competition might well be the best way forward, although it is hard to see how it could be fitted into the existing season without some restructuring of the club competitions.

There is better news for the KNCB in the clubs’ response to three other proposals: an expanded Twenty20 Cup competition, the proposed KNCB Coaching Model, and the introduction of a Club Charter system.

On the first point, only three clubs are against the change, while all but two give at least a cautious thumbs-up to the idea of a Coaching Model.

Perhaps the most significant change of all, however, might come through a Club Charter, which would encourage better planning and a more proactive approach at club level to the challenges facing the sport in The Netherlands.

One can’t help wondering, though, how many in the tiny world of Dutch cricket yet understand what will be required if The Netherlands is to avoid slipping down the ICC’s world rankings. If the majority are content to settle for mediocrity, it may be the KNCB’s best option to form some kind of Coalition of the Ambitious to achieve its ambition of strengthening the top while at the same time broadening the sport’s base.