On a balmy night at Lord’s, the bubbling tensions on the field seemed to have a nail-gnawing effect on not just the players taking part in the game but also the fans. The Netherlands were playing England in the World T20 and they needed just two runs off one ball to secure a famous win. The Dutch side did cross over the finish line, with the duo of Edgar Schiferli and Ryan ten Doeschate running like their lives depended on it to steal a double.
The iconic photo of a stunned Stuart Broad with his hand on his mouth and Ten Doeschate jumping for joy would echo in the minds of those who witnessed it. Tim de Leede, who played in Netherlands’ first-ever cricket World Cup in 1996, was one among them. Bas de Leede, his son, however, missed out on watching the thrilling moments at the back-end of the game.
“I actually did not watch the whole game,” Bas told RevSportz. “My parents went over to Lord’s and we had someone over to babysit. As the game went past my bedtime, I unfortunately was told to go to bed and could not watch the end of it. My dad did take me to the Pakistan versus Netherlands game a couple days later, which was a really cool experience.”
As de Leede’s father also played cricket, he had the inclination to take up the game at a young age. Otherwise, in a country of just 6500 registered cricketers, he might have chosen a different career path. But as someone from an associate nation, de Leede’s journey was never going to be easy.
He made the most of his chances. In just his third match in the European Under-15 Championships, de Leede composed a fifty against fellow associates Scotland. A few years later, tours to England with the Netherlands A and Netherlands Development XI helped him to smooth over the rough edges in his game.
“I first started playing cricket in the living room with my dad, just about the same time as I started to walk (laughs),” said Bas. “When I got a bit better, we went outside in the backyard and from there it really started.
“The Netherlands youth always have tours to England during the summer holidays. To this day, I have some of the best memories made on these tours. For us to be playing cricket against good sides in England and other smaller cricketing countries in Europe was an amazing experience, and something that made me want to keep playing the game.”
Fast-forward to 2023 and de Leede had a chance to emulate his father by playing in a 50-over World Cup. For that to happen, Netherlands needed to not just defeat Scotland in the World Cup Qualifiers, but also do it within a stipulated number of overs. de Leede stepped up on the big occasion with a stellar performance – a 92-ball 123 and a five-for. Ultimately, the Netherlands won by four wickets to successfully chisel out a path to the World Cup.
What does de Leede make out of Netherlands’ incredible run, which included a nerve-wracking win against the West Indies? “It was a pretty amazing tournament all round,” he said. “We got a lot of belief in ourselves as a group during the game against West Indies, and it was great to then go on to win the game against Scotland to qualify. It was obviously a special game for me in the end, and I was very happy that we pulled through.”
Incidentally, de Leede has already played in a World Cup – The T20 event held in Australia last year. It turned out to be an unforgettable experience for Netherlands as they didn’t just make it to the main round of the tournament, but the gatecrashers to the party went on to cause a major upset by beating South Africa at the Adelaide Oval.
de Leede credited the current head coach for the turnaround. “I think what Ryan Cook has brought to us is a lot of structure and a template with which we try and approach every game, whether that be against Namibia or South Africa,” said de Leede. “During that tournament, I felt we got close to playing the way we wanted but we never nailed it all in one game.
“Against South Africa, we did do that, and it was awesome to see it work out the way we had planned. It was also a very special farewell for Stephan Myburgh. He retired after the World Cup, which we celebrated after the game.”
de Leede’s steady climb through the ranks hasn’t gone unnoticed. In February this year, he ended up signing a two-year contract with the English county, Durham. The experience was an enriching one for de Leede: He compiled a quick-fire 103 against Sussex and also took 17 scalps in Division 2 of the County Championship. In the T20 Blast, he averaged 40 with the bat and had six scalps.
“I feel very privileged to play county cricket,” he said. “It’s most cricketers’ dream to play county cricket, I believe. Playing red-ball [cricket] is hopefully going to help me in my career and I’m trying to learn as quickly as I can. The T20 Blast is a very high standard competition, which was a great eye-opener. I feel that there’s so much I can learn from my first T20 Blast. I can hopefully put it to good use in this World Cup and the T20 World Cup next year.”
De Leede made his international debut in 2018. “I don’t think I was really ready for international cricket yet,” he said, looking back. But five years on, he comes across as a confident cricketer who can walk the talk. Maybe, just maybe, he will do something special in the upcoming World Cup. And unlike Bas in 2009, hopefully his father would get the chance to witness his son’s heroics in India.