Netherlands keep their SOUL intact despite World Cup reality check

Bas de Leede can't remember when the Netherlands cricket team was last seen on free-to-air TV back home prior to the 2023 World Cup. Negotiations are on, and the hope is they will be on it at some stage this World Cup.

On Friday, those who had the opportunity to watch may have dared to dream. Pakistan were in trouble at various stages, first at 38 for 3, then at 188 for 6 and finally, when Netherlands were cruising at 120 for 2 in their chase of 287. Then it all came crashing down.

Haris Rauf, the thunderbolts specialist, spelt doom in a telling spell that brought him two massive wickets the space of three balls. Training camps or intra-squad games alone can't prepare you for that kind of pace and hostility.

Did Netherlands really have a chance? It was their first official ODI since the World Cup Qualifiers in June and just being in the contest for 70 overs seemed like a win. The end result wasn't entirely unexpected, and their collapse underlined a lack of exposure.

On Monday, they'll play New Zealand, an opponent so familiar that a set of ODIs against them over 14 months ago seems a significant bank of experience. On the familiarity front, they also have a few players on whom they will rely on for significant intel.

Like Logan van Beek. The Wellington-born Dutch allrounder lives in New Zealand and plays for the Firebirds, where he's teammates with Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway. Van Beek was house mates with Tom Latham and Matt Henry as youngsters coming through. From training together, they will now be plotting against each other.

Max O'Dowd, son of a Dutch mother and New Zealand father, played his early cricket in Auckland, dreaming of doing "epic things" like he witnessed at Eden Park in 2015. He lives in New Zealand for much of the year, playing club cricket on decks that aid pace and bounce, against opponents he'll be facing up to.

Then there's Teja Nidamanuru, whose journey from Vijayawada to Amsterdam via Auckland has been well documented. Or de Leede, who is coming off a sensational maiden stint with Durham as a professional. While their inputs could be massive, there's a sense of acknowledgment that they're all learning on the job. It's not ideal; if things were, head coach Ryan Cook wouldn't have to plead teams to come forward to play them.

"This is a call-out to anyone who wants to play us," he had said at a press conference in July, soon after qualifying for the World Cup. "We'd love to have a fixture or two. Our guys have not been to the subcontinent many times before, so it would be good to have some fixtures somewhere in the subcontinent as well."

This can be deflating to the small cricket community of 6500 that yearn for game time. Sure, there's no bigger incentive than playing in a World Cup, but what about the four years in-between where there's hardly anything to look forward to? Of course you can argue the 2020-2023 Super League cycle served that purpose of giving them game time, but with that set to be scrapped - or is it? - there's no surety.

All said, the Dutch aren't using this as an excuse. In fact, they've tried to pack a punch; much of it centered around developing good vibes and culture within the group. They begin every training session with a huddle where one member of the group hands over a SOUL hat - Selflessness, Ownership, Unity, Learning - to another member whose work ethic and attitude on the previous day was worthy of the honor.

It isn't necessarily just restricted to the playing XI; it includes coaches, reserve players, other non-playing staff - essentially anyone who imbibed those team values the previous day.

At the World Cup Qualifiers, every player had a miniature oar, an instrument used to row boats, that they placed at the centre of their meeting room when they had a declaration to make. Like de Leede did ahead of that game against Scotland, where he declared, "I am going to do something special today." Eight hours later, he had sealed Netherlands' World Cup spot with a five-for and a blistering hundred in a mammoth chase.

This culture and camaraderie building exercise is massively important because most players don't play together for much of the year. The absence of professional full-time contracts has forced players to look for opportunities elsewhere, like in the county circuit.

Or in some cases, like Nidamanuru or Sybrand Engelbrecht, who retired from the game in 2016 to pursue an MBA, in the corporate sphere. Engelbrecht played in an Under-19 World Cup final 15 years ago, against Virat Kohli. All these years later, the itch to realise a dream he couldn't fulfil with South Africa has brought him back.

At the end of their camp in Bengaluru late September, the four net bowlers they'd hired through a talent hunt programme that involved scouring through more than 10,000 applicants, were cheered in unison by the entire group as they ran in to bowl their last ball. Videos were shared for posterity, souvenirs signed for memory, the genuine warmth and gratitude palpable. The culture that flows from the top was also flows back from the bottom.

In a long tournament, the importance of this can't be understated. Saturday was an optional session, but for the four players who didn't make the XI against Pakistan, it was an opportunity as big as any other. To not just develop their game, but contribute in whatever capacity they can. Like even picking up all the balls and putting them back into the ball boxes after training (every ball costs a lot of money, which is at a premium for a board like KNCB that rely heavily on ICC funding).

This in a nutshell is the Associate life. But they do it willingly, in the hope of being loved back by the very fraternity that can make them feel like outsiders. For now, any game time is good game time. Every game the biggest they'll ever play. Every 'W' next to their name as big a moment as they'd ever experience.