Interview: Klaassen keen for Netherlands IT20s
Friday 18th October 2019
Left-arm seamer Fred Klaassen will feature in The Netherlands’ squad for their upcoming T20 World Cup Qualifier, starting on October 18th.
14 of the world’s leading Associate nations will battle it out for six spots at next year’s World T20 first-round, which is essentially another qualifier. The first-round includes Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the two lowest IT20-ranked Full Member nations, and is split into two groups of four.
The Netherlands are in a group with: Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Singapore, Kenya and Bermuda.
The Netherlands kick off their campaign against Kenya on the first day of the tournament, and Klaassen can’t wait to get going: “I am very lucky that although Kent’s season has finished, I can continue to play competitive cricket.
“I always love representing the Netherlands. We have a very strong squad all round, and Dubai is a great place to be with the boys. ICC tournaments are always great to be a part of, as they are well organised and you get to play at some of the best venues around the world.
“Conditions here in the UAE are very different to those back in the UK, so it’s always a great challenge to test yourself in different environments. I can’t wait to get out there for our first game against Kenya on Friday.”
The Netherlands have just come from a warm-up camp in Oman, where they played against their hosts, as well as: Nepal, Hong Kong, and Ireland.
“We played four warm-up games, and although the results didn’t quite go our way, we showed a lot of positives going into the Qualifier.
“We then had two more warm up games since we have been in Dubai, and again results didn’t go our way, but it’s about peaking at the right moment, and I’m feeling very confident going into the tournament with the personnel in our squad.”
The Netherlands are joined by teams such as: Singapore, Bermuda and Jersey in the Qualifier.
Cricket outside of the Test world has been on the rise in recent years, and, Klaassen explains: “…every team is dangerous meaning every team has the potential to beat anyone on their day.
“The stakes are already high, with six teams lucky enough to go through to the World Cup in Australia next year. We have no easy games, so for us it is important that we don’t focus on the end result, but on each game at a time as they come.”
The Netherlands fixtures (October):
18th – Kenya
19th – Namibia
22nd – Singapore
24th – Papua New Guinea
26th – Bermuda
27th – Scotland
Freddie Young
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