Netherlands boosted by Klaassen and van Meekeren returns

Fred Klaassen and Paul van Meekeren will both be available for selection on Wednesday, having been released by their respective counties for the fixture

Nick Friend | 21/06/2022 at 16:42

The Netherlands will be boosted for the final ODI of the three-match series against England by the return of two of their county-based seamers.

Fred Klaassen and Paul van Meekeren will both be available for selection on Wednesday, having been released by their respective counties for the fixture.

Left-armer Klaassen has been Kent's leading wicket-taker through their disappointing T20 Blast campaign, picking up 11 wickets in 10 games. The reigning champions all but out of the tournament, having won just twice in the group stage so far.

Van Meekeren, meanwhile, has not played for Gloucestershire since the end of May due to an ankle injury but returns to the national squad, with Vivian Kingma's place in the Netherlands line-up looking particularly vulnerable.

Kingma bowled just two overs in the second ODI after replacing Philippe Boissevain, whose 10 overs cost 108 runs in the first match of the series.

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^{Van Meekeren hasn't played for Gloucestershire since the end of May (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)}

Former Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar spoke ahead of the series about the challenge of the ICC's 'mandatory release' protocols, which theoretically allow the Dutch governing body to compel counties to release their players for international fixtures but in reality have proven more complicated.

Former Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate described the policy to ESPNcricinfo as "a pretty worthless mandate". He said: "I know from my experience that if the Dutch had tried to enforce that, I'd have said: 'Okay, then I'll just retire from international cricket.'"

As well as Klaassen and van Meekeren, the Netherlands have been without key batter Colin Ackermann, left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe and seamers Brandon Glover and Timm van der Gugten, all of whom have county deals.