Bas de Leede relishing Netherlands’ fight with England for Champions Trophy spot
The sides meet in Pune on Wednesday with qualification for the next global 50-over tournament potentially on the line.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Netherlands all-rounder Bas de Leede is eyeing a “massive opportunity” to edge England for a place in the Champions Trophy, insisting the pressure is all on Jos Buttler’s men.
While the 2019 champions have endured a miserable World Cup, sitting rock bottom in 10th place after seven games, the only associate nation at the competition have exceeded expectations with victory over Bangladesh and a famous upset of South Africa.
They meet in Pune on Wednesday with qualification for the next global 50-over tournament potentially on the line – something England would have taken for granted just weeks ago before their campaign crumbled.
Breaking into the Champions Trophy would be a striking achievement for the Dutch and one De Leede, who plays for Durham, believes is within their grasp if England succumb to the tension of their situation.
“As a title-defending team there is a huge pressure on you straight away, especially when you don’t get a great start, and I’m sure there is added pressure for them now on this game,” he told the PA news agency.
“For us it’s a privilege to be playing for a spot in the Champions Trophy, for them it’s an expectation to finish at least in the top eight.
“It’s a massive opportunity, 100 per cent. It’s in the back of our heads that if we do manage to win this game it would help enormously to qualify and that would be huge for Dutch cricket.
“Of course England are a dangerous side, they have such quality in the batting and bowling departments, but two wins in this campaign is pretty good for us and we feel as a group there is more out there for us.
“The proof is there in the South Africa game. To see what we have been practising come off against a team like that was great to see and gave us a lot of confidence as a team.”
Getting games against the bigger nations is very hard for us. It’s hard to get teams to play us so we’ve got to force them to, that’s the only way.
De Leede, who has taken more wickets than any English bowler with 11 so far, is also embracing the chance to strike a blow against a system that frequently cuts out those who do not have full member status as ICC level.
The abandonment of the World Cup Super League format means the Netherlands no longer have mandatory games against the biggest names and will instead slip back into a structure that pits them against the likes of Namibia, Nepal, Scotland and Canada.
“Getting games against the bigger nations is very hard for us. It’s hard to get teams to play us so we’ve got to force them to, that’s the only way,” he said.
“If we did qualify for the Champions Trophy it would secure another seven games against the best teams. That how we keep progressing as a national team and it’s in our hands.
“We kind of felt like we were gate-crashing here so to come through would be massive.”