Campbell rings the changes for Afghan series

Dutch national coach Ryan Campbell has made a handful of changes to his squad for the Super League series against Afghanistan in Qatar, starting on 21 January.

In reducing the party from sixteen to fifteen Campbell has omitted five of those who were in Pretoria in November, bringing in uncapped paceman Ryan Klein, leg spinner Philippe Boissevain, batter and reserve wicketkeeper Asad Zulfiqar, and versatile young allrounder Aryan Dutt.

They replace seamers Timm van der Gugten and Shane Snater, openers Steph Myburgh and Musa Nadeem Ahmad and allrounder Roelof van der Merwe in the Dutch squad.

Announcing his side, Campbell said that he had made his selections with an eye to the future.

‘Asad Zulfiqar come into the team to give us an option in the top order and as back-up keeper for Scott Edwards.

‘Aryan Dutt and Boris Gorlee get another chance to prove themselves at this level and that they are ready for a special home summer. The same naturally applies to Philippe Boissevain. The development of these youngsters is crucial for the breadth and the future of the Dutch side.’

It is understood that Van der Gugten was unavailable because of the impending birth of his second child, but Campbell confirmed to Emerging Cricket that in general his selection was based on the need to give more experience to younger players who might need to assume key roles during the summer campaigns.

Eight of the team which actually played in the only match of the South Africa series before it fell victim to the emergence of the Omicron strain of the Covid pandemic will be in Qatar, with Myburgh, Van der Merwe and Van der Gugten absent.

It’s an open question who will open with Max O’Dowd: one option might be to turn to Edwards, O’Dowd’s usual partner for VOC Rotterdam in last season’s Topklasse, but otherwise it is likely that one of the side’s top order batters could be pressed into an opening role.

It is also noteworthy that in the absence of Myburgh, Ben Cooper and Musa Nadeem the Dutch top order will comprise entirely right-handed batters, probably the first time this has been the case for at least a decade.

The pace attack will again feature Klaassen, Kingma and Glover, only Van der Gugten missing from the quartet who played at Centurion; depending on the final balance of the side, Klein could replace him, or Campbell could opt for an additional spinner, with the choice of left-armer Clayton Floyd, leg-spinner Boissevain or the off-breaks of Dutt (who can also chip in with some useful medium pace).

The experienced Colin Ackermann is likely to be a key element in the batting line-up, with the Zulfiqar triplets Saqib and Asad vying with Boris Gorlee for a spot in the middle order; it will be interesting to see whether the young HCC captain gets his first international cap at some point in the series.

Former national captain Peter Borren will make a welcome addition to the coaching team, joining Campbell and assistant coach James Hilditch.

The full squad is:
Pieter Seelaar (VOC, captain), Colin Ackermann (Leicestershire), Philippe Boissevain, Aryan Dutt (both Voorburg), Scott Edwards (VOC), Clayton Floyd (HCC), Brandon Glover (Northamptonshire), Boris Gorlee (HCC), Viv Kingma (Voorburg), Fred Klaassen (Kent), Ryan Klein (HBS Craeyenhout), Bas de Leede (Voorburg), Max O’Dowd (VOC), Asad Zulfiqar and Saqib Zulfiqar (both Punjab).

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