Last week's rain-affected Netherlands A tour to Essex saw the Dutch sink to three defeats against Essex 2nds and MCC young Cricketers.

The four day tour, part of a broadertrend of development cooperation between the KNCB and Essex CCC, was to consist of four matches, a 50-over fixture each against Essex 2nds and the MCC young cricketers and two T20s against MCC YC.

Wednesday's match saw Essex bowled out for 286 in exactly 50 overs, with Netherlands A debutant Shane Snater bag 5 wickets for 58 in 10 overs, with Kishen Velani top-scoring for the hosts with a 58-ball 102.

The Dutch reply never really got going, with the run rate barely climbing over 3-an over as successive batsmen got starts and got out. By the time Quirijn Gunning came in at number 9 the match was all-but lost, but his 37-ball 49 restore a measure of respectability to the scoreline, Netherlands A eventually bowled out for 224.

The following day saw the Dutch bat first against MCC YC, but the visitors couldn't find much acceleration after a slow start, somewhat belaboured 30's from Rahil Ahmed and Dirk van Baren provided a platform, and Saqib Zulfiqar's unbeaten 59 from number 5 got them as far as 192, but Gareth Harte's 4-47 ensured they wouldn't pass 200.

The MCC would chase down the runs with 7 balls to spare, despite Ahsan Malik bowling with remarkable economy for figures of 2-27-10, Jordan Thompson's unbeaten 62 the top score for the Young Cricketers.

The first of Friday's T20s was cut short by the weather with the Dutch 11 runs behind on DLS at 70-4 chasing 186. Glen Phillips' 36-ball 64 from number 3 had set a platform despite Snater ensuring a rotation of fresh faces at the other end, and a 34-ball, 66-run partnership between Sean Solia and Ryan Buckley provided late acceleration. Ben Cooper's 31 from 14 balls kept the Dutch in contention, but the loss of four wickets meant 70 would not be enough when the rain came.

Netherlands A are in action again this week as the Continental T20 kicks off in Schiedam, with a warm-up match against Denmark at Harga on Wednesday their next fixture.


Wednesday 15/6/16 (ODM)
Essex CCC 286 (50 overs): KS Velani 102; S Snater 5-58-10
Netherlands A 224 (48.4 overs): QWM Gunning 49, TGJ Gruijters 35; ASS Nijjar 3-36-10, MW Dixon 3-40-10

Thursday 16/6/16 (ODM)
Netherlands A 192-9 (50 overs): SM Zulfiqar 59*, ZDA van Baren 38, RI Ahmed 33
MCC YC 193-7 (48.5 overs): JA Thompson 62*, AA Shafique 37, RS Buckley*; MAA Jamil 2-27-10

Friday 17/6/16 (T20)
MCC YC 186/9 (20 overs): Snater 3-13/3
Nederland A 70/4 (7.4 overs): Ben Cooper 31