Overseas players dominate a rain-affected opening day

Rod Lyall 21/04/24

There was some good cricket played in Saturday’s opening round of this season’s Topklasse T20 Cup despite the weather, but that is by no means the most important dimension of the day’s events.

For the first time in the 134-year history of the Dutch competition, more overseas-produced players took the field in top-flight games than those who had learned their cricket in the Netherlands – the actual figure was 57%.

This remarkable statistic is perhaps skewed a little by the fact that three teams did not play, the triple-header at Thurlede having been called off on Friday night after a week of heavy rain, but nevertheless the trend is clear: the leading Dutch clubs are relying ever more heavily on imported players in their quest for silverware.

Of the seven teams who did play, only three fielded a majority of Dutch-produced players, and one, Salland, actually put out a side without a single member who had learned their cricket in this country.

Without being xenophobic about it, you have to ask whether it is in the long-term interests of Dutch cricket that home-produced players should be marginalised in this way, and whether the clubs who are ready to splash so much cash to try to build a championship-winning team might not be better off using their scarce resources on youth development and recruiting new members.

This is doubtless a topic to which we shall return, since the policy implications for Dutch cricket are enormous, but in all fairness it needs to be recorded that the two most notable innings of the opening day were played by South Africans making their Dutch debut.

At Schiedam’s Loopuyt Oval, a ground which did not exist when Hermes-DVS last played in the top flight, the Sky Blues’ winning return was spearheaded by opener Christoffel Klijnhans, who hammered a superb, 46-ball 114 which included six fours and ten sixes, sharing an opening stand of 155 with Spanish international Daniel Calle Doyle.

In a match reduced to 19 overs after an initial delay the pair completely dominated the HCC attack for the first 11 of them, and after Klijnhans had finally fallen to the youngster Teun Leijer Doyle went on to make 73 from 41 deliveries, helped by skipper Sebastiaan Braat’s 19-ball 43 not out.

Hermes’ 239 for three effectively put the match out of HCC’s reach, and with spinners Aryan Dutt and Murid Ekrami keeping things tight early, the visitors had reached 77 for two in 10.2 overs, well behind the required rate and the DLS par score, when more rain swept in and proceedings came to an end.

Meanwhile at the Bermweg, Sparta 1888’s new wicketkeeper, Riley Mudford was putting the Salland attack to the sword in still more devastating vein, his 136 coming from 45 deliveries and including nine fours and 13 sixes.

He, too, had valuable support, sharing a second-wicket stand of 179 in 11.5 overs with Sam Ferguson (75 from 44) as Sparta ran up a massive 244 for four.

Then former international Ahsan Malik took over, running through the Salland top order to the tune of four for 19 in his four overs, and the Deventer side were eventually dismissed for just 84.

Salland did a little better in their second match, largely thanks to a defiant 52 from young German international Arcelan Pruss, but their 120 for seven never seemed likely to be enough against Voorburg, and with skipper Noah Croes making a 29-ball 47 and opener Nehaan Gigani anchoring the innings with 44 not out, the Villagers cruised to a seven-wicket victory with 46 balls to spare.

The strength of the Voorburg attack was confirmed in the final game of the day, Sparta battling their way to 125 for eight, opener Shaquille Martina showing that his skills have not suffered hugely from his time away from the game with a solid 35 and Khalid Ahmadi chipping in with an 18-ball 25 in the latter stages.

Gigani again led the way for his side with 49 from 31 deliveries, but Sparta’s bowlers fought all the way, and it took an unbeaten 28 from young allrounder Michael Molenaar to see Voorburg to a three-wicket win in the 18^th over.

The greatest excitement, and not a little confusion, was generated at Craeyenhout, where a rain-affected game between HBS and VRA Amsterdam went down to the final delivery.

After a delayed start and in miserable conditions, a new-look VRA side reached 140 for five in 13.4 overs, although it was well-established Dutch international opener Vikram Singh who set the tone with a rousing 17-ball 32.

Sint Maarten-born keeper Semari Prince contributed 31, Bangladeshi Abul Khayer Biprob Sheikh made 21, and then Shariz Ahmad and Australian Elijah Eales maintained the pressure as the rain threatened, smacking 15 from nine and 24 from eight respectively.

After a long delay it seemed that HBS would be chasing 120 from 11 overs, and for a time it looked as if this would be beyond them, Ben Fletcher, Singh and Ashir Abid combining to reduce the home side to 66 for four.

But Matthew de Villiers had produced a rapid 20, and once he was gone Kyle Klein’s eight-ball 27, 26 of them in boundaries, swung the game back towards the home side.

There were seven deliveries left when Klein holed out at long on and five (or, as it proved, six) runs required, and with Eales bowling a tightly- controlled final over it took until the final delivery for Lucas del Bianco to secure the winning single, with Wesley Barresi at the other end having made a crucial 27 not out.