Amsterdam, Sep 11 (IANS): Making their fourth appearance at the Men's ICC T20 World Cup, the Netherlands on Saturday named their 15-player group, as they enter the First Round of the tournament to be held in the UAE and Oman in October-November this year.
Led by the experienced Pieter Seelaar, 12 players return from the World Cup Qualifier of two years ago, with Tobias Visee and Shane Snater also joining the group as travelling reserves.
"After his omission from the World Cup Qualifier squad, 37-year-old Stephan Myburgh earns a spot in the squad, off the back of a period of run-scoring both domestically and in various international white-ball action. Myburgh carries experience from previous T20 World Cups, scoring 280 runs at an average of 31.11, with a strike rate of 145.83," said icc-cricket.com.
The 31-year-old Logan van Beek and 21-year-old Bas de Leede are new additions from the squad at the Qualifier, with van Beek returning to the Dutch setup and de Leede making his mark in the last eighteen months.
De Leede follows in the footsteps of his father Tim, who featured in all of the Netherlands Cricket World Cup matches from 1996 to 2007, and claimed Player of the Match honours with a spell of 4/35 against India in 2003.
With the bat, the Dutch boast balance throughout the order, with a number of options at the top of the order, and the likes of Ryan ten Doeschate and Roelof van der Merwe carrying the team through the middle overs. Myburgh's career renaissance adds depth to the top, with Max O'Dowd, Ben Cooper and Scott Edwards all likely to feature.
Captain and all-rounder Pieter Seelaar has no shortage of bowling options at his disposal, and will be encouraged by the results from the 2019 Qualifier, also in UAE. The pace battery of Paul van Meekeren, Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen and Brandon Glover extracted life on typically slow surfaces, with van der Merwe, Colin Ackermann and Seelaar himself tying opposing teams in knots throughout the middle overs.
Pieter Seelaar's men feature in a competitive Group A in the tournament's First Round, where they'll take on Ireland, Namibia and Sri Lanka.
Squad: Pieter Seelaar (c), Colin Ackermann, Philippe Boissevain, Ben Cooper, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards, Brandon Glover, Fred Klaassen, Stephan Myburgh, Max O'Dowd, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren; Reserves: Tobias Visee, Shane Snater.