Cricket Star Bas de Leede Demands More Multinational Series for Netherlands Cricket

All-rounder Bas de Leede has demonstrated why he is a formidable presence in the Netherlands' squad during the current T20 World Cup 2026. The Dutch are now heading home after losing in the group round of the twenty-team event, and his 72 not-out and 2-20 against Namibia made him stand out during their lone victory.

When well-known teams visit England, De Leede offers doable fixes like setting up warm-up matches in the Netherlands. In order to keep associate nations visible and grow, he also suggests the notion of a tri-series or a European T20 series. Although the hectic foreign itinerary presents difficulties, he maintains his optimism.

The Netherlands cricket team is hoping for more opportunities as they have no games scheduled until June. In order to develop associate nations' abilities and competitiveness and ensure long-term growth and sustainability in the cricket world, De Leede emphasises the necessity of greater exposure to elite cricket.

Netherlands Cricket Update:

Netherlands women's captain Babette de Leede:

"We're one of the few countries with no contracts at all. We're an Associate country, where cricket is very small, but we made sure that everyone bought into this dream, and our dream has come true"#T20WorldCup#WT20WCQpic.twitter.com/i1VacVgPet

— hypocaust (@_hypocaust) January 28, 2026

ESPNcricinfo quotes Leede saying, "We've shown at what level Associate cricket is at the moment; we can only ask for more and more opportunities against the big teams. Ultimately, that's how we're going to improve as a collective. We've got nothing planned until June. The next series is for World Cup qualification. We'll have two weeks off, and training starts again."

De Leede is aware of the busy international schedules associated with the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP), but he believes that playing tour matches or one-time games against nations visiting England can be a good alternative that benefits both parties. The Dutchmen will have the chance to perform better at international competitions like World Cups, regardless of the format, if they are exposed to larger teams.

He further added, "I get the financial reasoning. But maybe a tri-nation series [involving them and two Full Members] could be an option. I recently saw a post about a European T20 series involving England, Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy. We saw how close Italy pushed England. So there are a lot of options. Normally, during the World Cup, it gets attention, and then it fades away. We can only hope this World Cup may change that. We'll see what happens in the next couple of months."

He concluded by saying, "The schedules, with all the franchise leagues and the ICC FTP, it can be hard to find a window for a full series against the top nations. But one way is for travelling teams to have the option of playing warm-ups in the Netherlands and Scotland before they go to England. There are ways around that, where we also get the exposure of playing against the best teams, and they get something as well."

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