Netherlands vs Zimbabwe: how they line up

Bertus de Jong



A multi-match full-member tour to headline the Dutch summer might be regarded as a victory in itself for the fixture-starved Netherlands team, but Peter Borren's side will be looking to be more than just competitive when they take on an inconsistent Zimbabwe side in three one day matches at VRA and Voorburg this week. Having watched fellow Associates Scotland pull off a dramatic win in Edinburgh last week to take the wind out of what was supposed to be a confidence-building warm-up tour for Zimbabwe, the Dutch will be looking to emulate their North Sea rivals and pick up a win or two of their own.

Zimbabwe are nonetheless firm favourites going into the series, especially given the Netherlands perennial availability issues, now compounded by injury, that will keep them from fielding a full strength side. The Dutch batting, especially, looks profoundly under-strength. Tom Cooper's continued absence from the side - he has not played for the Dutch since the last World T20 and not outside of major global ICC events for almost five years  is beginning to resemble a long-term exile, like that of Ryan ten Doeschate or Alexei Kervezee.

The gap left in the Dutch batting line-up is compounded by Pieter Seelaar's sidelining owing to a broken finger, and with Michael Swart and Eric Szwarczynski's retirements confirmed the Netherlands' batting stocks are looking increasingly threadbare - questions now cropping up in the lower-middle order in addition to the long-standing opening conundrum.

Michael Rippon's fine form with the bat of late - Otago's opening bat scored an unbeaten hundred and a fine 75 during the warm-up tour to Essex last week  at least means the first name on the Dutch team-sheet can conveniently be pencilled in at the top of the order, but the question of his opening partner remains unanswered. Stephan Myburgh has traditionally filled the role for the Dutch, but his recent slump is perhaps their greatest worry  increasingly looking like it may be a permanent decline rather than a temporary trough.

The Netherlands' other opening options are not particularly alluring however. The other contenders for the spot  VRA's Ben Cooper and Quick Haag's keeper-bat Wesley Barresi  have both had more success as lower order hitters. Barresi's own form has been little better than Myburgh's of late, and whilst Cooper has had the occasional decent innings this season his vulnerability against the moving ball early, and his value in taking advantage when the shine's off the ball, make him a dubious choice as opener.

HBS skipper Toby Visée is the final alternative, but even were it not for questions over his fitness Visée has yet to replicate his occasionally explosive domestic form at the international level, and will likely be a last-ditch gamble for the Dutch should other options fail. All told Myburgh's opening slot is likely safe simply for want of a better option, but the host's top order remains without question their greatest weakness. Losing some or all of Barresi, Myburgh or Cooper early is now almost expected, and losing Rippon is not a prospect a Dutch fan would willingly dwell on.

Zimbabwe of course have their own opening quandry, though the situation for the tourists is nowhere near as dire. With Ervine and Williams more-or-less nailed down for the number 3 and 4 slots, Zimbabwe have generally sourced alternative openers from the lower order or the bench. A disappointing showing during the Afghanistan series seems to have put a welcome end to the experiment of having keeper Peter Moor partner Solomon Mire at the top of the order, with veteran Hamilton Mazakadza returning for the Scotland games. Though neither looked entirely convincing in Edinburgh, a brisk fifty partnership in the first match was probably enough to persuade Zimbabwe to persist with the combination for now. Chamu Chibhabha may provide an alternative should one or other fail, but despite decent showings for the A side against Namibia and Canada, the right hander probably hasn't done enough to put the incumbent pair under real pressure.

Another option, if required, would be to promote Sikander Raza up the order - or possibly swap his postition with Mire to add some stability and experience of European conditions at the top of the order. But after a fluent showing at number 5 following his return to the sqaud one might be hesitant to drag him out of the role of middle order backstop in case of trouble at the top. With Ervine and Williams, unarguably Zimbabwe's two best batsmen, exhibiting somewhat spotty form across the Afghanistan and Scotland series, the ability of the visitors' middle order to arrest a collapse may yet prove crucial in the coming days.

The decision to take only one front-line spinner in the form of leg-spinning skipper Graeme Cremer, made possible by Raza's more-than serviceable off-spin and William's slow left arm talents, means Zimbabwe have been able to load their squad with middle order options. Ryan Burl is the man in possession at number six, with Moor having dropped down to eight and Malcolm Waller in the finisher's slot at seven.

Lack of another serious contender for the gloves means Moor is likely to feature in the lower-middle order throughout the series, and Malcolm Waller's doomed heroics in the first match at Edinburgh mean he's likely put to bed pre-tour questions about his spot. Despite his failure in that match, Burl's showing against the Afghans and a composed, unbeaten 30 in the second Scotland match mean that if Mire is displaced as opener he will probably drop straight to the bench, and young Tarisai Musakanda will likely start the series there too.

In principle the Dutch are similarly in the happy situation that their two first-choice spinners are also first-choice batsmen, which ought to open up space for at least one extra specialist bat at number eight. Seelaar's injury precludes him from taking the role however, and the simple fact is that the Dutch have no ready replacement. The upshot is that whilst the Dutch are likely pretty happy with their upper-middle order, with Somerset's left-arm spinning all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe and skipper Peter Borren forming the crucial core of the line-up  they nonetheless look at least one, probably two batsmen light.

Van der Merwe has been in excellent form in the English one-day competition, and Borren is currently averaging well over 100 in the Dutch Topklasse (though he would be the first to concede that Topklasse form is an unreliable indicator of international performance) but the pair will both likely be playing one spot higher than they would be were another top order bat available, and Seelaar's injury still leaves a glaring gap beneath them.

The natural candidates to fill that spot on current form - VOC's Max O'Dowd and Netherlands A skipper Saqib Zulfiqar  are both (barring a last minute reshuffle) set to miss the first two games owing to an A-team tour to England. In their absence the spot will likely fall to the second of the Zulfiqar triplets, Sikander, or Canterbury seam all-rounder Logan van Beek, with Zulfiqar in at eight. Zulfiqar and O'Dowd's return for the final game will do nothing to solve the question either, as van der Merwe will by then have returned to England together with Glamorgan's Timm van der Gugten.

One way or another, the Netherlands will likely play at least one pace bowler more than strictly necessary purely to strengthen the batting. This circumstance makes it a near-certainty that tomorrow will see Rood & Wit Haarlem's former Zimbabwe U17 seamer Shane Snater take the field against the country of his birth. Snater's form in the North Sea Pro-Series and on last week's warm-up tour suggests he'd make the side on the strength of either his bowling or his batting, and with the rickety state of the top order it is likely that he, van Beek and van der Gugten will be called upon to contribute more than a little with the bat this week.

With Somerset's Paul van Meekeren rounding out the seam attack, pace is at least one front on which the Dutch have a clear advantage, and not only as a potentially wagging tail. Zimbabwe's lack of penetration with the new ball and difficulty containing at the death were brutally exposed by Scotland last week, with not one Zimbabwe seamer going at less than a run a ball over the course of the two games, and the pace unit picking up only two wickets between them.

Young left-arm quick Richard Ngavara had a particularly torrid time on his touring debut for Zimbabwe, clubbed for 96 runs off his ten overs with only the wicket of Matt Cross to show for it. The experienced Chris Mpofu went little better when he was brought in for Ngavara for the second match, wicketless for 34 runs after five overs, leaving Tendai Chatara's return of 1-99 from 14 overs over the two games as the best showing from a Zimbabwe quick.

But with Tinashe Panyangara left at home and domestic lead wicket-taker Brian Vitori's action still undergoing remodelling, a return for Donald Tiripano is Zimbabwe's only other option. That may not be a terribly bad option, despite his indifferent domestic form, and in fact given that the Dutch batting line-up is rather less comfortable against pace than their Scottish counterparts, Zimbabwe might do well to consider picking a third seamer  depending on conditions on the day.

I t is rather typical of this match-up that neither team is terribly well suited to take advantage of the others' weaknesses, both sides somewhat unsettled and missing star players. The strength of the Dutch pace attack, and the weakness of their top order, means that early wickets are on the cards whichever side bats first, but the comparative depth of Zimbabwe's batting means they are better equipped to cope with such an eventuality. Conversely, if the visitors' seam attack perform as they did in Scotland they risk allowing a suspect but potentially dangerous Dutch top order to play themselves back into form.

Though the tourists remain odds-on to come out on top over the three games, a win for the hosts would not constitute a particularly shocking upset. With two dangerous but flawed teams taking the field and glorious weather expected for the whole week, the only safe prediction is that we're in for some cracking entertainment.





Netherlands likely playing XI:

Stephan Myburgh, Michael Rippon, Ben Cooper, Roelof van der Merwe, Peter Borren (C), Wesley Barresi (wk), Logan van Beek, Sikander Zulfiqar, Shane Snater, Timm van der Gugten, Paul van Meekeren.

Zimbabwe likely playing XI:

Solomon Mire, Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Malcolm Waller, Peter Moor, Graeme Cremer (c), Donald Tiripano, Tendai Chatara.

Netherlands v Zimbabwe Preview

Zimbabwe tour of the Netherlands 2017

20 June: Netherlands v Zimbabwe at VRA (11am)

22 June: Netherlands v Zimbabwe at VRA (11am)

24 June: Netherlands v Zimbabwe at Voorburg (11am)

All matches live on CricketEurope

Netherlands Squad: Peter Borren (Capt, VRA), Wesley Barresi (Quick Haag), Ben Cooper (VRA), Fred Klaassen (VRA), Stephan Myburgh (Hermes DVS), Michael Rippon (Otago), Shane Snater (Rood & Wit), Logan van Beek (Canterbury), Paul van Meekeren (Somerset), Tobias Visée (HBS), Sikander Zulfiqar (ACC), Timm van der Gugten (20 & 22 June only, Glamorgan), Roelof van der Merwe (20 & 22 June only, Somerset), Saqib Zulfiqar (24 June only, ACC), Max ODowd (24 June only, VOC).