Roelof van der Merwe back in Netherlands squad ahead of Zimbabwe, South Africa tour

Netherlands veteran all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe is all set to mark his return to the ODI set-up of the national side ahead of the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa. The KNCB (Royal Netherlands Cricket Board) announced the 17-member squad for the two ODI tours to Zimbabwe and South Africa on Monday, March 6.

Notably, van der Merwe makes his way back into the 50-over set-up since November 2021. He has featured in 16 ODIs which includes 13 for South Africa and three for Netherlands. The veteran all-rounder recently concluded the SA20 as the leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps to his name in 10 outings. 

Scott Edwards will lead the side which marks his first bilateral away tour since taking over the captaincy from Pieter Seelaar. Meanwhile, Tim Pringle and pace all-rounder Logan van Beek will not feature in the forthcoming tour.

Colin Ackermann, Brandon Glover, and Bas de Leede will miss the South Africa leg of the tour whereas head coach Ryan Cook will not be a part of the Dutch set-up owing to his commitments in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Netherlands, therefore, roped in Ryan van Niekerk as the temporary head coach and also announced that Russell Domingo will be part of the coaching set-up alongside former South Africa cricketer Heino Kuhn.

Netherlands gear up for crucial tour

The Dutch team will engage in a three-game ODI series against Zimbabwe from March 21-25 in Harare. Following the conclusion of the series, the side will travel down south where they play the Proteas in a two-match ODI series. Considering that all of the five ODIs account for the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, Netherlands will be raring to obtain results in their favour. 

Squad (vs ZIM): Scott Edwards (c & w), Max O'Dowd, Vikram Singh, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Roelof van der Merwe, Musa Nadeem Ahmad, Tom Cooper, Shariz Ahmad, Brandon Glover, Vivian Kingma, Fred Klaassen, Ryan Klein, Paul van Meekeren

Squad (vs SA): Scott Edwards (c & w), Max O'Dowd, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Tom Cooper, Roelof van der Merwe, Musa Nadeem Ahmad, Wesley Barresi, Aryan Dutt, Shariz Ahmad, Vivian Kingma, Fred Klaassen, Ryan Klein, Paul van Meekeren.