Bas de Leede replaces injured Stephan Myburgh in Netherlands squad
Stephan Myburgh, the 33-year-old Netherlands opening batsman, has been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 after aggravating an ankle injury, and will return home to undergo surgery.
The 18-year-old Bas de Leede, son of former Netherlands captain Tim de Leede, has been named Myburgh's replacement. De Leede, the former Netherlands Under 19 captain, had made his debut for the senior side in a first-class encounter against Namibia in November 2017. He will join the side ahead of the final practice game against Scotland, before the team sets off for Harare for the ICC CWCQ 2018.
Despite the loss of Myburgh – he is expected to be out of action for up to six weeks, according to team physio Evan Speechly – Ryan Campbell, the Netherlands coach, was confident about his team's chances, having finished atop the World Cricket League Championship table in December.
"The boys worked really hard to secure the top spot in that tournament (World Cricket League Championship). We are now here to go further than that, we need to be a top-10 team, we want to prove that and the process starts in Zimbabwe," said Campbell.
“Everyone is going to say that their first aim is to reach the Super Six. But we are aiming for one of the two top spots, our aim is to be in the World Cup and we won’t be satisfied with anything less.”
Peter Borren, the captain, echoed his coach's opinion and said that the practice matches made for adequate preparation ahead of their first game against Ireland on March 4. “We’ve played a few warm-up games and are looking confident at the moment,” said Borren. “Every game is crucial. You have to put in consistent performances, every team is really competitive. With only two teams qualifying, it is difficult. All the teams are under pressure.
"We’ve got a great group which has worked hard. There is a pretty positive vibe in the group and I see no reason why we can’t do well. We’ve practised hard and will hit the ground running. It’s pretty obvious that the first match against Ireland is going to be massive.”
The ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe will get underway from 4 March, with two spots for the ten-team ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 up for grabs. A total of 34 matches will be played across Harare, Kwekwe, and Bulawayo, with the final scheduled to be played in Harare on 25 March.
Netherlands squad: Peter Borren (capt), Wesley Barresi, Ben Cooper, Scott Edwards, Vivian Kingma, Frederick Klaassen, Bas de Leede, Maxwell O'Dowd, Pieter Seelaar, Shane Snater, Ryan ten Doeschate, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren and Sikander Zulfiqar.