Bas de Leede spoke to Phil Walker about the World Cup Qualifier, what it is like growing up playing cricket in the Netherlands, and their World Cup goals. This article first appeared in issue 71 of Wisden Cricket Monthly, a World Cup special.
Bas de Leede knew what was needed, and what was at stake. Chase down Scotland’s 277 inside 44 overs at Bulawayo, and his country would be at their fourth World Cup. He’d already shot out five Scottish batters with his seamers; now he proceeded to play one of the most gutsy ODI knocks of the century. His 123 from 92 balls marmalised the chase, booked the Netherlands a place at the big show, and made him just the fourth player in ODI history to take a five-for and hit a century in the same game.
After the party has settled down, he, a 23 -year -old son of the former Dutch national Captain Tim de Reed, returned to the northeast of England and resumed the first full season of the county cricket. A month later he scored his first red-ball century at Durham. On the day of the club promotion bidding, WCM told him about his wonderful personal summer and his country to achieve in the World Cup. . p>
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“For such a small cricket country to qualify for the World Cup with 10 teams is huge.” If you think about it, we were one of only 10 teams to make it through the qualifying rounds. makes it even more special.
“In the qualifying match against Scotland, I didn’t feel much pressure. I didn’t think about it too much. When you get out, you know how many runs you need and how many overs you have left. The first 20 balls. At the 30-ball mark, I knew I couldn’t score too late or I’d ruin the rest of the batters, but once I got in, I was fine. My focus was on the ‘over’. We need six players per over, we need seven players per over, and in this over we need to find two boundaries to the short boundary.” It was great to play alongside Saqib Zulfiqar. He never seems too worried. We joked and had a few laughs. It was perfect for relieving my pressure. I was very calm.
“I felt incredible after that. It was a great way to accomplish my goals for this tournament. We were sitting in the locker room and I literally looked into the eyes of everyone in the room. It was great to be able to celebrate this victory together as a group and toast our success with a beer.
“It’s not just about the players on the field. There are 16 players who have to take part in the tournament, but the amount of support they received from Dutch players who weren’t selected and from former players. will not be displayed.
“This is a niche sport in the Netherlands. There’s no getting around that fact. Only 6,500 people have registered to play in this country. But once you qualify, Interest has increased even more. We have the potential to grow significantly, but we need funding.
“All employees should receive more funding, not just in the Netherlands. If cricket wants to become a global sport in the future and not just a sport played seriously in a few countries. We need to find ways to increase full-time employment opportunities in countries like the Netherlands.
“When I first joined the national organization, they gave me 50 euros for travel expenses, but that was it.” They lost money playing games. It’s a little better now, but it’s still difficult for young players. Currently, we have 6 to 7 part-time employees. In the summer he has a contract for six months, and in the winter the players go abroad to play in Australia or South Africa.
“Like people of all ages, we traveled to England every year during the summer holidays. We played against minor counties and it was a good test for us. We had 11 or 12 players and the rest were pretty average at youth cricket level.The highlight of the summer was the match against England.
“I have a lot to thank my dad for. As a coach, he spent probably six winters in a row with me in front of the bowling machine. There were two or three other people who came and worked with me during the week. Spent 3-4 days, 3-4 hours a day with us on the inside net.There are very few people in the Netherlands who want to be successful in cricket, so we have to train in very small groups .
“There is a chance to develop a game. The only difficulty is how to do it.” We don’t play sports at school. All sports are played outside of school. Your parents must enroll you in a soccer team or hockey club. Of course, all children play the same way their friends play. You get to play cricket because your family already plays cricket. It’s not on TV and it’s not big at all.
“If we show some good performances at the World Cup, interest will increase even more. Our goal is to get to the semi-finals, regardless of whether others think this is realistic or not. , you can express your opinion. If we play our best cricket, I hope that team has a chance to win and qualify for the semi-finals.”
This article first appeared in issue 71 of Monthly Wisden Cricket, a special feature on the World Cup.
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