Will Netherlands have an edge in their bowling? - ICC World Cup 2011
The most prestigious event of the cricketing world has finally started and so far most of the stronger teams have been busy playing the weaker teams in the tournament. These Matches would definitely give the weaker units the required confidence at the beginning
of the World Cup. The teams are divided into two groups and there are quite a few teams in these pools that cannot be considered as the top contenders.
England would be playing their first Match of the tournament against Netherlands and they would have a perfect opportunity of delivering a good performance against the latter. Netherlands, on the other hand, is not a solid
team and has a poor record in one day cricket especially against the stronger Test playing nations.
Given this scenario, the Dutch would definitely not be the favourites against England and they simply would have to be at their best in order to create some sort of impact against the Poms. If we consider the SWOT analysis of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Netherlands-c753 bowling line-up
then we would see that they do not have a lot of dynamics in their bowling department.
The basic “strength” of Netherlands bowling would be the presence of Peter Borren and Ryan ten Doeschate in their squad. Both of these players are talented all rounder’s and can bowl some decent spells for the Dutch. Ryan ten Doeschate is one of the most
senior players in the Netherlands side and can bowl some tidy over’s for his team.
Ryan ten Doeschate has played 27 Matches and has taken 48 wickets in them. He has a skiddy bowling action and can effectively vary his bowling within his spells. He would definitely be quite a handy player for the Dutch in the first Match
against the formidable Englishmen. He can effectively trouble the England middle order during his bowling spells.
Peter Borren, who is also the Captain of the Dutch, is another bowler who would be considered the strength of Netherlands bowling department. He is another all rounder of the Netherlands side and has picked 35 wickets in 39 Matches. He can certainly use
his experience to bowl some tidy over’s against the English top order.
Netherlands also have some quality spinners in their side and they with the likes of Mudassar Bukhari and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adeel-Raja-c928 in their squad. Adeel Raja is a good option for the Dutch bowling line-up and can bowl good spin with an excellent control during the middle
over’s. He can be used to contain the Englishmen when they start to dominate the Dutch.
He can effectively use the subcontinent conditions and can trouble the English middle order with his spin bowling. If we analyse the “weaknesses” of the Netherlands bowling line-up then we would come across some major failings. The biggest weakness of Netherland’s
bowling would be the absence of a quality pacer in their lineup.
Peter Borren and Ryan ten doeschate are all rounders and one cannot expect them to be at their best during the first Match. Bradley Kruger is a genuine fast medium bowler in the Netherland’s bowling lineup but he has played only 4 Matches in International
Cricket and has taken 3 wickets in them.
Another basic weakness of the Netherland’s bowling is the absence of an experienced bowler. Most of the bowlers in the Netherland’s bowling department have not played many Matches and the English batsmen would certainly cash in on this weakness in a proper
manner. The English batsmen would certainly be in a good position to play the inexperienced Netherland’s bowlers in a confident manner and can easily score some important runs off them.
If we consider the opportunities to the Netherland’s bowlers then it would be apparent that this would be a good platform to prepare their team for future contests against the Test playing nations. Their best opportunity would come from their most experienced
bowlers like Peter Borren and Ryan ten Doeschate, and both of these bowlers would have to bowl as a role model for the other Dutch bowlers.
The element of surprise can be an asset to the Dutch bowlers against the Englishmen. The Englishmen would not be privy to the bowling style of the Netherlands bowlers and hence this might work to the advantage of the minnows.
English players find it quite difficult to play effectively against spin bowlers in subcontinent conditions, and bowlers like Adeel Raja and Mudassar Bukhari can exploit this weakness of the English batsmen. There are a lot of threats for the Dutch bowlers
and there is a chance that the English bowlers might severely punish them during their spells.
The conditions would eventually become easy for batting and there is a huge chance that a huge “Psychological impact” might be created in the minds of the Dutch bowlers. Overall, their bowlers would have to be at their best in order to create a huge impact
on the English batsmen.
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