Even though Netherlands aren’t a household name in international cricket, they have deservedly earned themselves a spot at this year’s CWC. I’m not expecting them to challenge for the title by any means but they might be able to cause an upset or two. Get the inside scoop on Netherlands' Cricket Squad for the upcoming GameDay Squad competition with an in-depth analysis and preview. Find out who to watch out for!
Squad
Colin Ackermann – All-rounder
Shariz Ahmad – Bowler
Wesley Barresi – Wicket Keeper
Bas de Leede – All-rounder
Aryan Dutt – Bowler
Scott Edwards – Wicket Keeper
Sybrand Engelbrecht – All-rounder
Ryan Klein – Bowler
Teja Nidamanuru – All-rounder
Max O’Dowd – Batter
Vikram Singh – All-rounder
Roelof van der Merwe -All-rounder
Logan van Beek – All-rounder
Paul van Meekeren – Bowler
Saqib Zulfiqar – All-rounder
Batters
Netherlands only has one player with a batter position designation and that is Max O’Dowd. When applying the GDS scoring to their stats over the last ten games played, I’ve come up with the following fantasy point averages for the batters.
Max O’Dowd – 46 points
Over O’Dowd’s last ten games he has scored two 50s, four 30+ scores, three scores between 18-26 and a duck. Of these ten games, only four of them are against teams playing in the CWC. His average drops down to 31 points across these matches. Depending on what cards you have available, it may be an idea to fade O’Dowd. I think the batters that come up against Netherlands will offer a higher ceiling than O’Dowd would.
Bowlers
Netherlands go into the tournament with four players that have a bowler position designation in GDS. When applying the GDS scoring to their stats over the last ten games played, I’ve come up with the following fantasy point averages for the bowlers.
Shariz Ahmad – 53 points
Aryan Dutt – 58 points
Ryan Klein – 61 points
Paul van Meekeren – 66 points
Netherlands has a well-balanced bowling attack that will likely be spearheaded by van Meekeren and Ryan Klein. Over van Meekren’s last ten ODIs he has bowled 79 overs, taken 14 wickets and averages 3.2 dot balls an over. Over Klein’s last ten ODIs he has bowled 81.2 overs, taken 11 wickets and averages 3.5 dot balls an over. These two bowlers are the pick of the Netherlands bowlers for me. Shariz Ahmed will likely play more matches than Aryan Dutt so I will rank him as my third bowler.
All-rounders
Netherlands have great depth at the all-rounder position and are coming into the tournament with eight players that have the all-rounder position designation in GDS. They have Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, and Logan van Beek as their seam bowling all-rounders. Their spin bowling all-rounders are Teja Nidamanuru, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Saqib Zulfiqar and Sybrand Engelbrecht. When applying the GDS scoring to their stats over the last ten games played, I’ve come up with the following fantasy point averages for the all-rounders.
Colin Ackermann – 71 points
Bas de Leede – 119 points
Sybrand Engelbrecht – (yet to play an ODI)
Teja Nidamanuru – 35 points
Vikram Singh – 71 points
Roelof van der Merwe -45 points
Logan van Beek – 85 points
Saqib Zulfiqar – 44 points
When choosing which all-rounder to play in your squad it really depends on where Netherlands are playing, who their opposition is and the pitch conditions. When selecting players from the Netherlands to start in your squad, all-rounder is the position that offers the most upside in my opinion.
The batting all-rounders that I like are Singh, de Leede and Ackermann as it seems that these players are likely to bat in the top 6 for most matches. The bowling all-rounders that I like are van Beek and van der Merve as they are likely to start in most games.
My top batting and bowling all-rounders would be de Leede and van Beek and this is due to their recent form. Over de Leede’s last ten ODSs he has one 100, one 50, four 30+ scores, four scores between 4-16, bowled 83.4 overs, taken 20 wickets and averages 3.2 dot balls an over. Over van Beek’s last ten ODSs he hasn’t offered too much upside with the bat but in the bowling department he has, bowled 87.2 overs, taken 13 wickets and averages 3.6 dot balls an over.
Like I mentioned earlier, Netherlands have only had four ODIs in their last ten against teams that are playing in the CWC. Even though some of the averages for these all-rounders look good, just remember that they will be playing against tougher opposition than what these averages are calculated off.
Wicket Keepers
Scott Edwards and Wesley Barresi are the two Netherlands players that have a wicket keeper position designation in GDS. On the field Edwards is the keeper and this makes him the clear number one. When applying the GDS scoring to their stats over the last ten games played, I’ve come up with the following fantasy point averages for the wicket keepers.
Scott Edwards – 55 points
Wesley Barresi – 34 points
I’m predicting that Edwards will be batting at six but might not spend as much time at the crease as Barresi due to Barresi likely batting at three. If you have a Barresi card it may come in handy if Edwards was to miss a game. Until then, he isn’t an option if you hold both of their cards.
Predicted Starting XI
1. Singh
2. O’Dowd
3. Barresi
4. De Leede
5. Ackermann
6. Edwards
7. Klein
8. van Beek
9. van der Merwe
10. Ahmed
11. Van Meekeren