And the fact that he played club cricket in Australia alongside Dutch skipper Scott Edwards has helped his integration into the squad. “The great thing about Scott is he leads by example. He’s got a presence within this group but having played with him and grown up with him, he’s a very deep thinker, he thinks a lot about the game and he’s a very good tactician," he said.
“It’s great to play with him again. It would have been six or seven years ago that we were at Richmond, so now, training together, doing drills, it feels like we are back training at Richmond together. He’s grown a lot and is doing a really good job. He’s still Scott to me, he’s not the Dutch captain, it’s really good and he’s facilitated that. He keeps backing me and telling me to keep expressing myself so he’s given me a lot of confidence," he added.
While Croes grew up in Melbourne, he was born in Amsterdam to a Dutch father, who brought him up bilingual. His Australian accent while speaking Dutch has earned him a few light-hearted jabs from his teammates but the keeper-batter is relishing this opportunity in Zimbabwe – with Edwards to thank for it.
“I reached out to Scott and asked ‘What do you reckon? How is the environment? What do you think, is it worth coming over?’,” said Croes, who has been playing club cricket for Voorburg in The Hague.
“He said it was a no-brainer and told me to come over and it’s all happened pretty quickly since that chat. I’m back at the same club I was at in 2019, that feels really comfortable and I was able to play some good cricket at the start of the year and I got selected, which is awesome.
“It was very unexpected. If you’d have asked me three months ago if I was going to be in Zimbabwe, playing the qualifiers, I would have dreamt about it. It’s been a really cool experience so I’m just drinking it all in.”
Among those experiences has been a chance to take on Sri Lanka in a warm-up match on Tuesday – a special moment for the 23-year-old. Now the target is to hit the ground running against the hosts on June 20, with Croes confident the Netherlands have a team that can cause some surprises.
“The vibe within the group and the confidence we have, and the style we want to play, we definitely think will hold up at this tournament. The great thing about the squad is that we are so flexible and a lot of guys play different roles and complement each other. And we have a lot of guys in form. Tournaments like this are funny, if you get on a roll, stuff starts to happen so hopefully we can hit our straps come the 20th when we play Zimbabwe and keep the momentum running," he said. “We know it’s going to be tough, there are a lot of good cricket teams we are going to play against, but the feeling is really good."
Netherlands
How they qualified
Part of the 2020-2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, Netherlands won just three of their 24 matches in that period and must now navigate the Qualifier.
World Cup record
Netherlands qualified for their first ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 1996 and have gone on to feature in four overall.
They have not got past the group stages as yet and are now bidding to make a first appearance since 2011.
One to watch
Netherlands are missing several of their big guns due to county commitments in the UK but they will be pleased Bas de Leede is not among them.
He has been in impressive domestic form for Durham in the Vitality Blast and recently dismissed Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone in the same match against Lancashire.
When are they playing?
Netherlands begin against Zimbabwe on June 20 before playing USA (June 22), Nepal (June 24) and West Indies (June 26).
