Asides

Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 22/06/19

With the season half-done, the traditional opening fixture reversal is upon us. Also upon us, as some have noted with indignation, are the first international fixtures of the Summer, the Dutch national team making a good start to their four-match ODI/T20I series against Zimbabwe with outstanding wins at Deventer on Wednesday and Saturday. Such elevated international goings-on are usually rather above our pay grade here at TK of course, except that the scheduling of the first T20I on Sunday afternoon means the 13 players called up for Oranje will not be available this round. Such clashes are something of a rarity in Dutch cricket, where the national team’s sparse schedule has in the past made them easy to avoid, though they are likely to become more common in future as the international fixture list grows from “barely there” to “comparatively light.”

Whether Sunday’s availability issues merit the dread term competitievervalsing perhaps depends on your (sense of) perspective, it may equally be said that where you stand depends on where you sit. If, for example, you’re sat at Drieburg or de Diepput, one imagines it’s comparatively easy to be sanguine about it, less so at at Craeyenhout or Hazelaarweg, with some sides being significantly hit and others not at all.

BdJ: Without question the most affected are VOC Rotterdam who travel to Drieburg to take on Dosti-United. VOC will make the trip to Amsterdam under the leadership of Jelte Schoonheim, who will be standing in for regular skipper Pieter Seelaar. Also on national duty are Max O’Dowd and Scott Edwards, leaving VOC without their captain, keeper and two lead run-scorers. Dosti meanwhile are entirely unscathed by the decimation perpetrated upon the Topklasse by the national selection committee, and even with Taruwar Kohli currently looking comparatively out of form should fancy their chances of having the best of the mid-table encounter. They managed to sneak a one-run win in the season opener against a full-strength VOC despite Kohli contributing just 3 runs, and have at least shown they can win on occasion without him, if not with any consistency.

RL: If we try to think about these things positively, it’s an opportunity for players who usually have a secondary role to step up and prove their worth to the team. In VOC’s case, the attack will, of course, be weakened by the absence of Seelaar, but it’s the batting which will be especially tested. That said, the Dosti attack is hardly fearsome, and if Schoonheim’s depleted side can bat the fifty overs it could be an interesting contest. For Dosti, though, this looks like a great opportunity to harvest two much-needed points.

BdJ: Also passed over by the scouring hand of Campbell are Quick Haag and Excelsior ‘20 who will both be undiminished when they meet at Nieuw Hanenburg on Sunday. Excelsior won their rain-abbreviated opening encounter by four wickets with 14 balls to spare, the increasingly impressive David Woutersen getting them to the 147-run target with 31 from 33 balls from number 6, but then Quick were without overseas Dake and Bista. Bista’s presence will be Excelsior’s biggest worry, coming off the back of a titanic 194 against a much vaunted VCC attack last week. Though Excelsior will doubtless be relieved that their own pace spearhead, Sohail Bhatti, has once again been inexplicably overlooked by the national selectors, they will nonetheless be hoping the persistent rumours of Bista’s return to Mumbai prove better founded than they did last week.

RL: Although Bista has been justifiably attracting most of the attention, Prathamesh Dake’s addition to the attack has also been a key factor in Quick’s recent performances. Nor should we underestimate the contribution made by evergreen allrounder Geert Maarten Mol. If they, with or without Bista, can again cut through Excelsior’s top order then we could be in for an absorbing battle; otherwise Quick’s somewhat brittle batting may struggle to match the visitors’ run-scoring capabilities. And it seems likely that Lorenzo Ingram and Branton Parchment will relish the artificial Nieuw Hanenburg outfield.

BdJ: Also passing unreduced through the winnowing fan of national duty are Sparta 1888 who will be spared having to face either of Voorburg CC’s first pick opening bowlers, with Viv Kingma and Brandon Glover both called up. Perhaps then a chance for Sparta’s chronically underperforming Andrew Fletcher to make fresh start with the bat for the second half of the season. Sparta have muddled through without him thus far, but only VRA’s horror season has kept either of these sides out of serious relegation danger so far. With five teams on six points as it stands though, two points today would go a long way to calming nerves.

RL: Sparta have indeed crafted some surprising wins through the contributions not only of the invaluable Mudassar Bukhari, but also of Max Hoornweg and Joost Martijn Snoep. The Bermweg, too, is never an easy place to visit, and the Spartans will be hoping that they can get the jump on a Voorburg side which was distinctly a better outfit – even without Kingma – than they on the season’s opening day. It was the batting which gave Voorburg the edge that day, and the batting is essentially unaffected by international duty. If they perform to their potential, which is admittedly a fairly big if on recent form, Voorburg might well prove too strong again, even without their new-ball pairing.

BdJ: Meanwhile at de Diepput HCC will be happy not to have to bowl at Wesley Barresi this time round, after his unbeaten, 93-ball, 126 sunk them in their opening match at Craeyenhout. Also missing from HBS roster will be skipper Tobias Visée, also on national duty on Sunday and now likely to miss two more matches in early August having been picked up by the Vancouver Knights in the Canada Global T20 league. Conversely, Adam Wiffen’s bad luck at missing out on selection is his side’s good fortune, especially should he repeats his century-hitting efforts from the two sides’ last encounter. That said, HBS have a degree of depth in their batting, Sharn Gomes especially looking in good nick, and though they may be low on fireworks without Barresi and Visée they will be no pushovers.

RL: The absence of Visée and Barresi would be significant for any side, and with Ferdi Vink still out of the attack as well this will be a stern test for HBS. Their title hopes have taken a blow or two in recent weeks, while HCC have produced a series of solid performances when the weather has permitted. With two home games rained off in the past two weeks they may be a little rusty, but they are a well-balanced side who would be equipped to trouble even a full-strength HBS. Hidde Overdijk has been in great form with the ball, and with Tonny Staal and Bryce Street making runs, you have to think that the home side may have the edge here.

BdJ: Also skipperless will be table-toppers ACC when they make the short trip down the Kalfjeslaan to take on runaway wooden spoon favourites VRA. Whilst losing captain and lead wicket-taker Saqib Zulfiqar is a blow for ACC, VRA will probably miss Ben Cooper at least as much. The VRA batting has been shaky all season and taking Cooper out of it leaves a hole they don’t have the bench strength to fill, and these days deprives them of their second spinner too. That Cooper’s admittedly perfectly serviceable off-spin is so regularly called upon by skipper Peter Borren is itself a testament to the paucity of VRA’s bowling stocks, whilst Borren’s own return to the captaincy suggests that the threat of relegation is perhaps now being taken seriously at the Bos.

RL: If a serious relegation-avoiding campaign is to get under way at VRA, there could be no more satisfying spot to begin it than the traditional Amsterdam derby. It’s been a long time since these clubs went into the fixture with ACC top of the table and VRA bottom, and it must be acknowledged that both positions are a fair reflection of the sides’ efforts so far. ACC, like HCC, have been the surprise-packets of the season until now, and logic says that they will take another step towards their title goal on Sunday. But this is the Topklasse, and if anyone can craft a win from nowhere it’s Peter Borren.

Bertus de Jong’s picks: Dosti, Excelsior, VCC, HCC, ACC.

Rod Lyall’s picks: Dosti, Quick, VCC, HCC, VRA.

Rod Lyall 17/06/19

On a dank, damp, unseasonable June day Jay Bista announced his return to the Topklasse with a vengeance on Saturday, lighting up Nieuw Hanenburg with a magnificent 194 for Quick Haag against Voorburg.

It was the highest individual score since Ben Cooper’s 202 for VRA against Hermes-DVS six seasons ago, and it came off just 147 deliveries. Bista reached his hundred at exactly a run a ball, but his next fifty took just 28 balls and the remaining 44 only 19; in all he hit 19 fours and eight sixes.

It was a virtuoso effort which contributed almost two-thirds of Quick’s total of 315 for four, Bista’s only real support coming from the dependable Geert Maarten Mol, who made 59 in a third-wicket partnership of 175.

All the Voorburg bowlers came in for good deal of punishment; Brandon Glover was the most successful, but his two wickets came at a cost of 88 runs, while Clayton Floyd and Stef Mulder managed to keep the scoring down to four-and-a-half an over.

It was always going to be an uphill battle when Voorburg replied, and when Matt Smit and Noah Croes went cheaply, removed by Prathamesh Dake and Pieter Groenewald respectively, the incline became even steeper.

But Tom de Grooth was now joined by Nic Smit in a third-wicket partnership of 63, Smit making 40 of them, and after his departure De Grooth went on to post his ninth top-flight century.

He was the eighth to go, having made 107 from 118 deliveries with 14 fours, but even this could not match Bista’s solo effort, and the innings ended in the 44th over on 252, giving Quick a comfortable 63-run victory.

Dake was again the main wicket-taker for Quick with three for 43, and there were two wickets apiece for Groenewald, Mol and Jeroen Brand.

ACC consolidated their position at the top of the table with a 25-run win over Dosti United in a match at Het Loopveld reduced to 36 overs after overnight rain.

Put in to bat, ACC reached 185 for four, with Jean Marais leading the way with a 62-ball 61.

He departed with the total on 107, but then Sikander Zulfiqar and Brady Barends pushed on with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 78, of which Zulfiqar made 46 and Barends 40.

Without Kuldeep Diwan and Anees Davids, Dosti made a disastrous start to their chase, and at 29 for four the match appeared to be effectively over.

Devanshu Arya struck first, getting Shahdab Ghori caught behind by Marais and then claiming the all-important wicket of Taruwar Kohli, caught by Shreyas Potdar for four, and it was left to Amitoze Singh to try to reconstruct the innings.

He made 30 before falling to the Saqib-Sikander Zulfiqar combination, and he received some support from Waheed Masood, who hit two sixes in a 23-run cameo.

It was Mahesh Hans, though, who brought the side within striking distance of ACC’s total, posting a maiden Topklasse half-century and finishing on 54 not out from 47 deliveries with three fours and three sixes.

But it wasn’t enough, and with Arya taking another to finish with three for 9 and Saqib Zulfiqar claiming three for 30, the innings closed on 160 for nine.

The rain put paid to the other two matches scheduled for Saturday, a waterlogged Diepput unfit for the match between HCC and Sparta 1888 and conditions in the Amsterdamse Bos too wet even for the VRA–Excelsior ‘20 to be transferred to VRA’s second ground.

The postponement of the match between HBS and VOC Rotterdam until Sunday meant that it was largely played in warm sunshine, and it featured two innings with remarkably similar patterns before ending in a four-wicket victory for the defending champions.

Two wickets for Pierce Fletcher, one for Ashiqullah Said and a run-out meant that HBS, after electing to bat, were soon in desperate trouble at 39 for four, but they were rescued by a fifth-wicket stand of 105 between Wesley Barresi and Sharn Gomes, who had dropped down to bat at six.

Barresi was eventually bowled by Jelte Schoonheim after making 51, but Gomes continued in company with the lower order, recording his first century of the season before becoming one of three victims for Peter Seelaar in the final over of the innings. His 109 came from 110 balls with eleven fours and a six, while Seelaar finished with somewhat fortuitous figures of three for 35.

As VOC had done, HBS proceeded to rip through the opposition’s top order, Berend Westdijk producing an outstanding seven-over opening spell to reduce VOC to 40 for four.

But the Rotterdammers were in turn rescued by an excellent fifth-wicket partnership, this time between opener Max O’Dowd and wicketkeeper Scott Edwards.

They capped Barresi and Gomes’s effort by putting on 146, the stand only ended by the return of Westdijk, who proceeded to trap Edwards in front for 81, made from 76 balls with 13 fours and a six.

Schoonheim now joined O’Dowd and contributed a typically free-hitting 27 which took VOC to the brink of victory and which incidentally deprived his partner of what would have been a thoroughly-deserved century.

It was a valuable effort for the side, however, and although O’Dowd was left on 96 not out when he hit the winning boundary, it was the win – with more than eight overs to spare – which was important for VOC as they strive to recover from a poor start to their title defence.

O’Dowd faced 113 balls and hit nine fours and a six, while Westdijk finished with five for 39, his best figures of the season and his third five-wicket haul in total.

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 13/06/19

And so we reach the half-way point in the competition, ending the first round as we began it, with a split weekend: four matches are scheduled for Saturday, but the game between HBS and VOC will be played on Sunday.

RL: After two wins at the weekend, one by the skin of their teeth and the other very comfortably indeed, Excelsior ‘20 will be full of confidence for their visit to the Amsterdamse Bos to take on VRA on Saturday. It’s a rare occasion that neither Lorenzo Ingram nor Branton Parchment gets a bat, but the batting of Tim Etman and Roel Verhagen will have given Tom Heggelman’s side a boost, while Niels Etman filled in admirably in the absence of Sohail Bhatti on Monday. For the hosts the attack’s toothlessness continues to be a source of concern, and although Vikram Singh, Eric Szwarczynski, Ben Cooper and Peter Borren have all made runs at times they don’t often get much support, and the top order as a whole is not coming together to produce totals which their limited bowling can defend. Injuries are, of course, not helping the cause, but VRA will need to raise their game considerably if they are to get clear of the relegation zone.

BdJ: Etman and Verhagen coming into this game with runs under their belts will compound the worries of a VRA side that has indeed struggled to take wickets all season, and with the fitness of Gunning and Gul in question the Amsterdammers attack looks about the weakest in the league as it stands. The Schiedammers’ status as favourites ahead of thie game owes as much to some judicious acdditions to the roster over the winter as their results so far, with the acquisitions of Umar Baker and Branton Parchment both paying dividends. Conversely VRA were in retrospect perhaps unduly sanguine in declining to engage in a serious search to replace Daan ter Braak and Viv Kingma. Of the new faces that have rocked up in the Bos, largely on their own initiative, only Brandon Graber seems to have found his feet at Topklasse level. As the half-way point of the season looms one suspects VRA may be beginning to sense the peril of their situation, but with the competition’s new frontrunners headed their way with the wind at their backs a turnaround is a tough ask.

RL: Dosti United again have no ground available for the last round before the competition switches to Sundays – the extended football season affects them worse than any other Topklasse club – so they will again have to play on their opponents’ ground. This time it means the short trip to Het Loopveld to face ACC, who lost by the narrowest of margins to HBS on Monday. Saqib and Sikander Zulfiqar are both in good form for the visitors-become-hosts, and with Brady Barends, currently the competition’s leading wicket-taker, adding incisiveness to the attack ACC have thoroughly deserved their position among the leaders. Dosti, by contrast, have failed to gel, and their defeat by Excelsior on Monday confirmed once again how vital Taruwar Kohli’s wicket is to their chances of making a decent total. The battle between him and Barends could be one of the more interesting head-to-head contests of the season.

BdJ: As much as their two new overseas, it is the seeming confidence of ACC’s core of young players that has seen them hanging out near the top of the table all season. Though both Jean Marais and Barends have been excellent for ACC thus far, the continued improvement of the three remaining Zulfiqars and occasionally outstanding contributions from such youngsters as Shirase Rasool, Aryan Kumar and last week Jamie Mulready has given ACC the look of genuine title contenders for the first time in years. Dosti meanwhile have struggled when Diwan was absent or Kohli has failed, though skipper Vinoo Tewarie has on occasion shown admirable application and obduracy in the midst of collapse, it is a situation he has found himself rather too often.

RL: Having seen off VOC in convincing fashion HCC will look forward to entertaining Sparta 1888 at De Diepput, and they will be hoping that their ground doesn’t live up to its name again this week. Even without Ali Ahmed Qasim the HCC attack has a menacing look about it, Jan Willem Damhuis slotting in effectively against VOC, and with Bharat Itagi, Tonny Staal and Bryce Street all making runs even when Adam Wiffen doesn’t the Lions seem likely to maintain their pursuit of the leaders for a while yet. Sparta are a less predictable side, but their win against Quick, in which Garnett Tarr’s century was a highlight, has lightened any lurking fears of relegation, at least for the moment, as has their defeat of tailenders VRA. You have to fancy HCC to pick up the points here, but Sparta have shown they are capable of springing surprises.

BdJ: Given the forecast it should be said that here and elsewhere rain is the most likely winner on Saturday, but the hosts are indeed a solid second. HCC have looked a solid side in spite of occasional changes in the line-up, Damhuis the latest after Itagi and Walhain to successfully step up to the first team, and bench strength has generally been crucial to successful Topklasse campaigns. A win over Sparta will keep them well in touch with the leaders as the table begins to bifurcate, but Sparta have every chance of derailing them. The Capellenaars have yet to play at their collective best, with exceptional individual performances generally accounting for the points they have on the board. Should a few come along at once two points will be within their reach, weather permitting.

RL: Even with the arrival of their Mumbaikers (compensated in part by the departure of Rupert Young), Quick Haag are another up-and-down side, too dependent on a few players. Jay Bista’s batting is as talismanic for them as Kohli’s is for Dosti, and they will be tested this week by a Voorburg outfit which has been boosted by the advent of Nic Smit. The Voorburg top order is likely to enjoy the new artificial outfield at Nieuw Hanenburg, though Prathamesh Dake will no doubt have other ideas. Quick’s attack, however, is not as menacing as it once was, while Voorburg’s is varied, and with Viv Kingma and Brandon Glover on song likely to be a real handful for Quick’s brittle top and middle order.

BdJ: Quick are indeed arguably still more dependent on Bista than Dosti on Kohli, relying on him not only for quantity of runs but also for tempo. Barring the veteran Doc Mol, who looks set to put in another unassumingly crucial season for his side, Quick lack for hitters as much as accumulators to support or at least take the pressure off Bista. With Jeroen Brand, once the reliable purveyor 17-ball 30s down the order currently striking at 55 and the rest of the line-up little better Bista is relied upon both to provide the bulk of the runs and to drive the scoring rate. Facing VCC’s attack that task may prove beyond even his considerable talents.

RL: VOC Rotterdam’s incipient recovery received a setback on Monday when they were pretty comprehensively beaten by HCC, and they really need to take something away from Craeyenhout where they take on HBS this week. All the champions’ problems were clearly illustrated in that defeat by HCC: the batting, apart from the three internationals, contributed little, and the attack struggled to dismiss a side which is steadily growing in confidence. HBS, by contrast, are strong in both major departments: the batting, balanced between the aggression of Visée and Barresi and the quieter skills of Elkin and Gomes, consistently produces the highest total of the round, while the bowlers, both the seamers and the spinners, also deliver on a weekly basis. This being the Topklasse one can’t rule out a stellar performance from the whole VOC outfit, but there can be little question that HBS will start as clear favourites.

BdJ: Generally I’d try to find at least one point of disagreement on the prognostications for the sake of making a contest of it, but I find myself in complete accord with the good professor this round. As with last years’ runners-up VRA, the defending champions are feeling the loss of key players in Fred Klaassen and Umar Baker, with their replacements failing to fill their shoes. It’s beginning to look as if after contesting the championship last season, VRA and VOC may be back at the other end of the table again by the end of this summer in a 2017-style relegation battle. HBS conversely look a stronger side than they did last season, when they came a creditable third. The big-hitting top order remains Crows’ key strength, and with Elkin playing foil to the more belligerent elements it looks more balanced than the 2018 version, but the bowling attack has also been strengthened by the addition of Zac Gibson as well as the continued development of Julian de Mey and (whisper it) Wesley Barresi as a genuine slow bowling option.

Rod Lyall’s tips: Excelsior, ACC, HCC, Voorburg, HBS.
Bertus de Jong’s tips: Excelsior, ACC, HCC, Voorburg, HBS.