Despite a growing interest in cricket among local-origin players, Test cricket remains a distant ambition for the Netherlands. The famous victory over South Africa at the ODI World Cup 2023 had sparked hopes of a rapid rise for Dutch cricket, but structural limitations mean red-ball cricket is not a realistic goal anytime soon.
While the Netherlands have continued to make strides in white-ball formats, a lack of infrastructure and limited funding has restricted their long-term ambitions. The focus, for now, remains firmly on consolidating their position in ODI cricket.
Speaking about the team’s development during the T20 World Cup 2026 in India, the Netherlands team manager John van Vilet admitted that financial constraints remain a major challenge. He stressed that earning consistent ODI status is the immediate priority before even considering the prospect of Test cricket.
“I don't feel so. I think we need to do a lot for Test cricket. We don't have a stadium, for example. We can build a temporary one as we did for the World League matches for England and everything, but I think.. no,” van Vilet told reporters after the Netherlands' pre-match press conference ahead of the Namibia clash in the T20 World Cup 2026.
“I don't think at the moment there's a clear Test ambition. ODI, definitely. ODI status, definitely. We need to be there first before we start thinking about that (Test cricket). Every cut in funding is hard for us,” he added.
Netherlands' T20 World Cup campaign
The Netherlands have suffered a heart-breaking defeat in their opening T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan in Colombo. They were marching towards a win, but a dropped catch from Max O'Dowd changed the game in the penultimate over as the Salman Ali Agha-led side cemented a narrow three-wicket win.
Meanwhile, soon after the defeat, the Netherlands had to leave Sri Lanka and travel to Delhi for their next game against Namibia on February 10. Ahead of that, the players had engaged in light training, as they are scheduled to play two World Cup games in a span of just four days.
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