Big names miss out as Netherlands announce squad for T20 World Cup
The Dutch revealed their 15-member playing group for next month's tournament
Two experienced names were missing as the Netherlands named their squad for next month's ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.
Veteran all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe and key batter Colin Ackermann were missing, with selectors replacing them with the more youthful choices of left-arm spinner Tim Pringle, and hard-hitting opener Michael Levitt in their squad.
Levitt turned heads with a blistering hundred against Namibia in a T20I tri-series played in Nepal back in February, hitting 11 fours and 10 sixes in a knock of 135 from just 62 balls.
Netherlands' fielder Roelof van der Merwe took a brilliant catch running back off the bowling of Aryan Dutt to dismiss Mark Chapman in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.
Wicket-keeper batter Scott Edwards will once again lead the Netherlands in his regular role as skipper, with star all-rounder Bas de Leede among the key players for a Dutch side that will face South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal during the group stages at the T20 World Cup.
The Netherlands' first match comes on 4 June against Nepal at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, with the European side looking to build on their impressive effort at the last T20 World Cup where they upset South Africa in one of two memorable victories during the Super 12 stage of the event.
"We have been able to select a well-balanced team which we are confident will be able to perform in the conditions against the opposition we face in the US and West Indies," head coach Ryan Cook said.
"All of the players have been training well and have been involved in the recent ProSeries with some exciting performances showing the growing depth and quality in Netherlands cricket. We have managed to perform admirably in the last two World Cups we have participated in and will be determined to rise to the challenges we face ahead to reach the next round of the tournament.”
Netherlands reflect on their performance and pinpoint things to work on after ‘the most competitive World Cup ever’.
Netherlands squad: Scott Edwards (c, wk), Aryan Dutt, Bas de Leede, Daniel Doram, Fred Klaassen, Logan van Beek, Max O'Dowd, Michael Levitt, Paul van Meekeren, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Tim Pringle, Vikram Singh, Viv Kingma, Wesley Barresi. Travelling reserve: Kyle Klein
All teams are allowed to make changes to their squad until 25 May, after which any alteration will require approval from ICC's Event Technical Committee.