The New Indian Express ·
ETPL massive pathway to younger kids to enter cricket: Netherlands all-rounder Bas de Leede
CHENNAI: The inaugural edition of the European T20 Premier League is nearing its business end. The tourney, while moving from The Hague to Dublin, has seen some of the biggest stars from all over the world land in Netherlands and Ireland, share dressing rooms with local players and entertain the fans.
Still in its nascent stages, the tournament is only finding its feet, but seem to have gotten off to a good start. Ask Bas de Leede, the star Netherlands all-rounder, who has been playing alongside the likes of Steve Smith and Tim David for Amsterdam Flames. “It's been awesome to share the dressing room and bat together with players that we normally only play against maybe once every two or four years in a World Cup if we're lucky. To have them around at training, having them around in the dressing room, out on the pitch, even off the pitch, has been great,” he told this daily. “Just to get an understanding of why they do certain things, what their thinking is on the cricket field… for example, the chase we had against the Rotterdam Dockers in our last game batting together with Tim, the way he sees the game, the way he approaches that chase was amazing. I think that's how you learn the quickest on the pitch and to be on the pitch with players like that is going to hopefully help our games as European cricketers a lot,” he added.
Roelof van der Merwe, who plays for Rotterdam Dockers, echoed the sentiment. “I think that's probably the biggest impact this tournament will have. When we play against South Africa or India, you don't really rub shoulders with them, you don't really get to pick their brains. This is a great opportunity for Dutch, Irish, and Scottish cricketers to really tap into David's death hitting, Heinrich Klaasen, or Faf du Plessis, or R Ashwin, and all those guys,” said the veteran.
