The Netherlands' Australian-raised captain Scott Edwards has given the Dutch courage and belief that their best can beat anyone
Equal footing: What's driving the Dutch's Aussie skipper
Scott Edwards gives a quizzical look across the table when asked what the Netherlands' expectations were at this World Cup.
As the captain of the only Associate nation to qualify for the tournament, it was a question he'd no doubt been asked countless times over the preceding month.
He paused for a moment as the rain pelted down outside the team's hotel in Thiruvananthapuram where his side was due to play Australia in their first warm-up match the following day – Edwards' first time up against his boyhood country.
I'd spoken to Edwards over the phone several times as he rose through the ranks of Dutch cricket, but this was our first meeting face-to-face despite sharing mutual friends as he made his mark in Melbourne local cricket for Blackburn South and then for Victorian Premier side Richmond.
As former Dutch-Australian player Dirk Nannes walked past in the foyer of the Vivanta hotel, Edwards' answer would reveal how far his side's mentality had shifted since the left-armer had pulled on the bright Oranje.
"It's the same as asking that question to anyone here, or if West Indies or anyone else was in our place," Edwards replied. "It basically all leads to trying to qualify for the semis."
With an ODI world ranking of 14 – the lowest of the 10 teams at this year's World Cup – it's an ambition that might appear lofty from the outside. But inside the Dutch camp it signifies a mindset that to beat the bigger nations, they must think of themselves as equals.
No longer do they believe that their best is only good enough if one of the top teams has an off day, but rather the Netherlands – under the leadership of their Tongan-born but Australian-raised skipper Edwards – firmly believe their best can beat anyone.
"We're well aware it's going to be a pretty strong tournament, but we feel if we play good enough cricket in enough games, we can give ourselves a chance to play in that next round," says Edwards.
The Netherlands earnt their spot at this year's World Cup by knocking off the once-powerful West Indies in a Super Over and then chasing down Scotland's 9-277 inside 43 overs at a mid-year qualifying event in Zimbabwe.
They were also the only side at that qualifying tournament to test 1996 champions Sri Lanka, a side they now sit above in the tournament standings, and who they face tonight in Lucknow.
The Dutch have already secured a spot at next year's T20 World Cup, by virtue of beating South Africa in Adelaide last November, the same team they beat at this year's 50-over World Cup after the Proteas had demolished Sri Lanka and Australia in their opening two games.
South Africa have only lost twice in men's internationals to an Associate team, once in ODIs and once in T20Is, and both of those were to the Netherlands in the past year.
It's a nice notch on the belt but it carries little significance for Edwards' side who are focussed on adding more wins, with Australia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, England and India all still to come.
It's a mentality that Edwards he's driven off the field as much as on it.
While he's the highest run-scoring wicketkeeper in ODIs since the start 2022 at this World Cup (1165 at 46.60), and was pivotal in those two defeats of South Africa in the past year, it's the work he's done away from match days that's been just as important for the Netherlands psyche.
The 27-year-old admits he wasn't ready for the captaincy when it was thrust upon him ahead of the T20 World Cup qualifiers in July last year following Pieter Seelaar's sudden retirement due to injury. But after being encouraged by Dutch head coach Ryan Cook to work with renowned leadership and performance mentor Tom Dawson-Squibb, he now says most of his time is spend on off-field prep.
"He'd pose questions about mainly off-field and let me figure out the answers," explained Edwards, who qualifies to represent the Netherlands through his grandmother's heritage.
"I don't think it's going to be the same for every leader, but (it was) just getting an idea of what type of leader you want to be and trying to stay true to who you are and your values.
"There's no handbook for what a leader looks like, it's just adding little bits and pieces to who you are as a player and as a teammate and coming to terms with how you can help other guys.
"To start with, I was just focused on the on-field more often than not and then fast forward to now, quite a lot of the work goes on behind the scenes which I probably didn't realise at the time.
"Whether that's making sure everyone's in a good headspace or doing the media side of things, all those sorts of things is where most of your time as captain tends to go and I've got a lot more confidence in the on-field stuff just through captaining for quite a while now.
"The on-field stuff is more about being in the situation and learning through succeeding or failing."
Failing and learning from it is how the Dutch reached their first 50-over World Cup in 12 years after missing qualification for the 2015 and 2019 tournaments.
Having won the 2015-2017 World Cricket League Championship, they qualified for the now defunct ODI Super League that guaranteed 24 matches against the world's top sides over the following four years leading up to this year's World Cup.
To put that in perspective, without that Super League, the Netherlands don't have any international cricket scheduled following this tournament until Pakistan tour for three T20Is in May next year, a month prior to the T20 World Cup.
"Without the Super League, we're not standing here," says Edwards. "That was huge learnings for us, we played 24 games against the best countries in the world and through that, guys started having little bits of individual success, the team started having team success to a certain extent.
"Once we combined that, after the Super League into the T20 World Cup, then into the (ODI) qualifiers, the guys have got a lot of belief that what we do and our skillset can succeed at that level. I think previously, Associate teams would only have a one-off fixture against a full member every couple of years and it's pretty hard to build confidence from that."
So assured is the Netherlands' belief in their own game that having been in a strong position in their opening game against Pakistan (at 2-120 chasing 287), they feel had they put in a complete performance across the 100 overs they could well have started the tournament with a win.
"It's probably one that got away," Edwards lamented following their 81-run loss. "I thought we were in a pretty good position to win that game. They've got quality bowlers throughout and they just took some wickets through the middle there that held us back."
Eleven days later at 7-140 in Dharamsala against the Proteas, they would not be held back. Edwards' unbeaten 69-ball 78 digging them out of trouble helped by cameos from Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt before their bowlers stymied South Africa's powerful batting line up.
"During the Super League there were multiple games where we had teams on the ropes or we were in with a shot and then we just didn't have that last punch to win the game," says Edwards.
"We've always been able to get into those positions, it's just in those times when you get there, it's being able to win the game from there.
"Definitely, the T20 World Cup, we took a lot of confidence from that and the guys were in a pretty good headspace before the qualifiers.
"The West Indies game is a good example where at the halfway point (after they posted 6-374 from their 50 overs), you looked in everyone's eyes and they had the belief that we could chase that total down. (The Netherlands won that match in a Super Over.)
"Similar with the Scotland game as well (where Netherlands needed 278 runs in 44 overs to qualify for the World Cup), you're not overawed by the situation (because) we've been in those situations before."
If they beat Sri Lanka tonight, having got within 21 runs and then bowling them out for 233 in their two meetings at the qualifiers, the Netherlands will head into their clash with Australia in Delhi on Wednesday level with the Aussies in the World Cup standings.
While facing Australia – a country whose players Edwards grew up idolising and where he still resides for half the year – holds special significance for his family and friends (25 of which are making the trip to India to cheer him on), for the Dutch captain it's just another game his side needs to win en route to their semi-final goal.
"I don't know if I've thought into playing Australia as much as people have probably asked me," he says.
"I'm pretty focused on what we've got to do as a team for the overall tournament, so that's against nine different countries.
"I was born in Tonga, I grew up in Australia, and I've still got an Australian accent but spend a fair bit of my time in in the Netherlands, so I see myself as both to be honest, I don't know if I put one ahead of the other too much."
Having led the Netherlands to qualify for three consecutive World Cups, orchestrating five wins over full member teams along the way, teams that underestimate the Dutch will do so at their peril.
2023 men's ODI World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points