There was not much evidence at last Saturday’s general meeting of the KNCB that the pleas of the national coaching staff for a much more substantial international programme are yet bearing fruit.

The list presented to club delegates does, of course, contain a number of major events: a preparatory tour, pencilled in for India, leading up to the World Cup qualifier in late March/early April – still not officially confirmed as taking place in South Africa! – and the World Twenty20 tournament in England in June, together with the Under19 World Cup qualifiers in Europe in July and, one hopes, at global level in the autumn are the obvious highlights of the year.

Just what the future holds depends to some degree on the performances of the Dutch side at the World Cup qualifying tournament, which will decide not only which Associates go on to the main competition in 2011 but also the make-up of the top divisions of the World Cricket League and, possibly, the participants in the next Intercontinental Cup.

That makes many things provisional, but current plans provide for four-day home Intercontinental Cup matches against Canada at the end of July and the UAE in September.

As is increasingly the manner of these things, Canada’s projected visit is likely to form the basis for other fixtures: a possible ODI tri-series which might also include Bermuda and, in an interesting departure, a similar Twenty20 series which might, it is hoped, become quadrangular through the participation of India.

There is also the prospect of a visit by the Pakistan women’s team, following the invaluable visit of the West Indies last season.

With more than 70 days already committed for the men’s national squad between the end of February and the end of September, and the idea of contracted players currently on hold, it is perhaps not surprising that the plans don’t contain additional fixtures for the full side.

One cannot help wondering, however, whether it wouldn’t be wise to build in some pretty challenging Twenty20 games in advance of the official warm-up matches in England on 1 and 3 June, and how many more ODIs against Canada and Bermuda – seemingly perennial opponents for the Dutch – the human system can be expected to stand.

And there is as yet no sign of a decent programme for the A squad, apart from another European championship planned to take place in August.

That should be a high priority, and it is to be hoped that some pretty determined planning is going on behind the scenes.

That applies even more to the schedule beyond September 2009 – with Bangladesh and the West Indies scheduled to tour England in 2010, and Australia also down to play ODIs there that June, there must be some scope for at least one Test country to visit The Netherlands.

The Dutch have played just one ODI against a Full member since the last World Cup, and no Test side has visited since Sri Lanka in 2006. There hasn’t even been a match against an A side or, for that matter, an English first-class county.

As their rivals from Canada and Namibia to Scotland and Ireland come up with more challenging fixture lists, this is one more area where a far greater sense of urgency is required if the Dutch are to avoid falling behind.