by Akseli Pitkänen The 2022 T20WC saw a rough start and a forgettable finish to say the least. They lost to Zimbabwe outright but then beat Scotland and West Indies. In the Super 12 stage, Ireland beat England - who would go on to win the event - albeit through a dubious DLS but couldn't manage other wins. Now let’s go back to their Test debut. Ireland started off their journey in Test cricket in Dublin with a convincing loss against Pakistan, even though they bounced back in their second innings after being asked to follow on. In that same game, they got their first centurion in Kevin O'Brien. Then Ireland lost to a newcomer Afghanistan in India. That was another straight loss by wickets. The shocker Test and last Test came at the unique ground at London, Lord's. They bowled out England for just 85 but couldn't come anywhere close to 182 in the 4th innings. They were knocked out for 38 off 15 overs. Now it sounds tough and it is. Now what are the next planned Test tours for Ireland? It seems they are against Asian teams Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. At least get a draw this time, shall we? With English county cricket, the biggest domestic season, players Ireland fit right into the Test arena. But as all teams you have to think of batting cautiously, for you can bat for 2 days in best cases. The bowling, however, needs more players like Tim Murtagh. Serious pace isn’t always a necessity but maintaining the lines and lengths to trouble the batsmen is key for prolonged success. Hopefully grounds in Malahide and Dublin will get more action in the longer format. One might ask, if you have lost the first three Tests, why do you belong to the Test arena? The answer is simple: The Irish side are strong nonetheless. They have a centurion, and they have a bowler who can bowl out any Test team. Three matches don't present us with the bigger picture. Bowling a generally potent side like England for a sub-100 score was absolutely unbelievable. Ireland waited for so long, and finally got the well-deserved reward. But the volume of games in this format - or dare we say the lack thereof - is a concerning sign, since the Irish haven’t played even one Test match since 2019. Let’s segue to the Afghanistan team. They have one of the world’s best wrist-spinners across all formats of the game - and that’s none other than Rashid Khan. He picked 11 wickets (5-55 and 6-49) against a Bangladesh team led by their decorated all-rounder Shakib al Hasan. Rashid tours any team with a purpose of drifting a team below par. He has taken 2 10-wicket hauls for 2 matches, against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Now why do Afghanistan earn Test cricket for every year, be it India or further abroad? Just look at their Test record: 3 wins, 3 losses. And all these results were influenced dearly by spin. On any spin-conducive deck, Afghanistan are capable of winning a match. Enough said, Afghanistan certainly belongs at the top and finally they are there. And finally, the Netherlands - well, what a campaign they had in the T20WC. Yes, it’s a different format but only if they had the same attitude in first-class cricket. The Super 12 progression required 2 wins out of 3 for all teams and that's what they got. The Netherlands closed Zimbabwe's chances with a win and they absolutely shocked the world by beating South Africa just like they did against England some years ago. Now to FC cricket and a potential Test nominee: They have the likes of Bas de Leede and Paul van Meekeren ready to fire in medium-fast deliveries. The Netherlands don't have troubles with batting at least in T20s with Stephen Myburgh, Max O'Dowd, Tom Cooper and Colin Ackermann, who all played critical roles in knocking out the Proteas. Myburgh has rounded off his international career, but there is plenty of young talent waiting in the wings, like Vikramjit Singh. 160 was always going to be defendable with a disciplined bowling team on a helpful surface. The next question is how to get the Dutch up to speed with the Irish and the Afghans. The easy answer is more and more game time, which they’d accept delightfully. In the ICC ODI Super League, the Dutch finally opened their account against Ireland with a shy 1-run win and then won the home series at Utrecht by 2-1. If only the Netherlands continued their Super League saga. They desperately wanted there, now they're in it. That last milestone is still to be reached. It’s known that the T20 format can often be unpredictable, but if we analyze how well the Netherlands side has outperformed, it’s fair to say that they can well and truly give stronger a good run for their money and in some cases, defeat them. This was the same situation with Ireland and Afghanistan just before they were named the 11th and 12th Full Members of the ICC. Now comes the big question - are the Dutch in line for an eventual opportunity in the most prestigious format of the game?
Well, yes. A lot of the players in the current setup have plenty of experience in 4-day cricket. For instance, both Colin Ackermann and Roelof van der Merwe had the privilege of playing multiple seasons of domestic cricket in South Africa and in the county circuit for Leicestershire and Somerset, respectively. It’s a similar case with Tom Cooper, who has played for South Australia, as well as Logan van Beek in New Zealand. With a group of contenders with experience across a vast array of playing conditions, you’d think the sky’s the limit. Along with some of the younger players, they’d be a promising Test team in the making. The main objective of introducing new teams to Test cricket should be providing more exposure and room for improvement. Practice makes perfect, and so does frequent game time against noticeably stronger opponents. A game against the likes of Ireland, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, or maybe even Bangladesh could be a nice initiation for the Dutchmen to get their feet wet. To this day, there hasn’t been a concerted effort to make Test cricket inclusive enough for newcomers to express themselves.
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