Lord’s 2009 inspires UAE and minnows when men in orange strick gold in England

The bankers, baggage handlers and catering staff that make up the UAE team face a tall order when they begin their first World ­Twenty20 campaign on Monday.

If they need reason to be optimistic that minnows can beat Test-playing nations, though, they need look no further than their rivals.

The Netherlands had been pottering around world cricket, being seen but not heard, for years before they took on England in the opening game of the 2009 event at Lord's. It was supposed to be an easy start for the host nation, a simple one-off-the-mark, to use a cricket adage.

It proved to be anything but.

The Dutch side, which included a few teachers, students and a Burger King manager, somehow produced a final-ball, four-wicket victory.

In the stands, a floodlit Lord’s was bathed in brilliant orange. Cricket’s ancient headquarters had never seen anything like it.

As Michael Atherton, the former England captain turned cricket correspondent, wrote in The Times: “It wasn’t quite the butcher, baker and candlestick-maker. But it was the repo man, the restaurateur and the insurance broker who embarrassed England in an astonishing start to the World Twenty20.”

≥≥≥

Tom de Grooth, a part-time cricketer who earns his living coaching the game at schools, clubs and businesses in the Netherlands, was told he was playing the evening before. He was down on the initial list to bat at No 7.

The Dutch lost early wickets in their pursuit of England’s total of 162 so he was sent up the order to save their leading batsman, Ryan ten Doeschate, for the closing overs. He ended up with a quick-fire 49 and the man-of-the-match award.

De Grooth: “Playing at Lords is always special and being the opening game of the WCT20 against England made it even more so.

“To then come out and play the way we did was just amazing and, personally, to play such a part in it was great. That day was like a boy’s book.

“We put in a lot of our spare time to prepare for this tournament and after the first game a few boys were on the phone to their bosses to ask for extra time off.”

≥≥≥

Someone else who had to work overtime as a result was De Grooth’s father, Geerhard. He is a hockey commentator for Dutch radio who also reports on cricket, not that he was technically on duty that evening.

Geerhard de Grooth: “I was not working there officially. I never do when my son is playing, so I had no difficulty devoting my feelings to the team and to Tom.

“After that memorable game my station called me in London to comment on the match, though, on the result but mainly on the bonanza the win created.

“All newspapers, TV, radio, internet, all were full of it. Especially after the Dutch media saw the typical cynical, critical approach by the English press. Everybody suddenly realised something special had happened.”

≥≥≥

It may have been opening night in one of the sport’s biggest tournaments, but it was not an entirely alien occasion for all the Dutch players.

Daan van Bunge had spent his early apprenticeship in the sport as an MCC Young Cricketer at Lord’s and briefly played limited-overs county cricket there for Middlesex. So he was used to the feel of a major match day.

Van Bunge: “Being at Lord’s is like being at home. Seeing so many international games, the excitement around those games, and now being part of it myself – I had waited for that moment for a long time.

“I embraced every moment of it and it felt very special. We also felt that the English team was very cocky towards us during warm ups and that fired us up even more.”

Tom de Grooth: “The warm ups were great. Seeing familiar people that had come over from the Netherlands. Having a talk with them.

“Children asking you for an autograph. This was what the life off an international sportsman must be like.”

≥≥≥

National cricketing pride and a cocky opposition were not the only force driving the Dutch players onto great things.

During the national anthems, Peter Borren, the hard-hitting batsman, who is now the captain of the side, held up a photograph of their late teammate, Mauritz van Nierop. Nine months before, Van Nierop had passed away in Cape Town at age 25.

Borren said: “There was a pretty good chance he would have been there that night. I played a lot of international cricket and club cricket with him and he was a good mate of mine.

“It wasn’t planned. I don’t think I thought about it heaps but I just thought it was appropriate given that was such a big night for Dutch cricket, whatever happened. It was a little tribute to a guy who was a tragic loss and someone we all enjoyed being around immensely, and who loved playing cricket for Holland.”

≥≥≥

Famously conservative and the last major venue to embrace coloured clothing in cricket, the sight of stands full of luminous orange at Lord’s was striking.

It was more like the sort of following Robin van Persie or Arjen Robben get, not Bas Zuiderant and Jeroen Smits.

Borren: “The Dutch cricket community is not very big and we often play – even in Holland – without many people there.

“With it being a Friday night match and it being quite easy to jump on a plane in Schiphol and it takes 45 minutes, lots of people were out. It was really cool to see that much orange in the stands.”

Van Bunge: “The crowd was amazing, but I didn’t notice too much – only afterwards. Even now I speak to so many people who tell me that they were there, it feels like the whole Dutch cricket community was there.

“I believe England supporters also loved the game, a nail-biter. It became a football crowd.

“It was one of the first international day-night games at Lord’s, the people loved it and it wasn’t the sort of crowd you would get at a Test match.”

Tom de Grooth: “After the game we stayed at Lord’s well past midnight. For one day we were the cricket team everyone talked about. Hopefully the boys can do this again in Bangladesh the next few weeks.”

Geerhard de Grooth: “Tom’s mum Susanne and I were guests of David Collier [the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive] in their box at Lord’s.

“David used to be a hockey umpire and I know him very well from there. We had invited the president of the International Hockey Federation, the Spaniard Leandro Negre as well.

“He didn’t know a lot about cricket but he had the evening of his life. He also celebrated the Dutch victory with us in London.”

pradley@thenational.ae

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE

The UAE may be up against it if they want to cause a stir at the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh this month. That said, stranger things have happened:

Ireland beat West Indies by nine wickets, Tour match 1969

The original shock win and still probably the greatest, when Clive Lloyd’s champion West Indies side were beaten by a bunch of amateurs in Belfast. The Irish side of the day were a world away from the professional outfit they are now, yet they bowled out a side containing many of cricket’s greatest names for just 25. To give it some context, it would be a little like Darjeeling CC giving Australia a hiding if they played today.

Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 62 runs, World Cup 1999

The County Ground in Northampton was the nondescript stage for one of the World Cup’s biggest upsets – and a fixture that had a significant knock-on effect on cricket politics. Victory put the wheels in motion for Bangladesh to be granted full Test status the following year. Thus, the Asian bloc’s contingent of Full Members in the ICC was increased by one and Pakistan still reached the final.

Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by 32 runs, Asia Cup 2014

Even after 14 years, Bangladesh still find top-tier cricket a struggle. They are being caught up rapidly by a nation who were still three years off even having an organised national team when Bangladesh were granted Test status in 2000. Admittedly, Afghanistan’s rise from the ravages of war has been extraordinary. They have reached the point where their 32-run win in the Asia Cup at the start of this month really was more a mild surprise than a shock, for all but the Bangladesh fans.

Follow us on Twitter at SprtNationalUAE