Any history of Netherlands cricket would have to document the 30-run over off Jason Holder – an over that Logan van Beek will never ever forget. Two crucial points that helped propel the Netherlands into the World Cup on Indian soil, while pushing West Indies, two-times champions, off the biggest stage. In this episode of Backstage With Boria, van Beek speaks about that over, what it meant for the team and their readiness for the final campaign in October.
Excerpts from the conversation:
Boria: 30 runs off Jason Holder. He has all the experience in the world.. and then those two wickets. You seemed a man possessed on that day in Harare.
Logan van Beek: Yes it does seem surreal because you don’t normally do that sort of thing. When I was asked to go in and Max picked up a single, I just said to myself: here you go, this is your chance. You are warm, you have the confidence, so just go for it. But as I said, at no point did I think it could be a 30-run over. It just happened, and I was on some kind of a roll.
Boria: And it did not stop there. You then picked up the two wickets and sealed the deal.
van Beek: When Scott asked me to bowl that one over, I was like yes I am ready. When you have a 30-run cushion, anyone would be. When the first ball of the over went for six and I was walking back to my mark, I was saying to myself that he has to hit all of the next five balls for six. Surely, that can’t happen. It is impossible. And I managed to land two good balls and picked up the two wickets. It was a very important win and now when we think back to what we did in the qualifiers, I have to say I look back at that game with a lot of satisfaction.
Boria: When we look back at the journey, did you actually believe you could do it? The word ‘believe’ in your change room. It was quite a fairytale.
van Beek: Let me take you back some weeks, to what our fantastic coach Ryan Cook had said to us. He gave us a theme for this tournament, and that was “Row the Boat”. He said to each of us to get to the canals in Amsterdam, and row our boats. We did as we were told, and each one was rowing a boat. At that time we had no idea why we were asked to do it. But Ryan had asked us to do so in unison because it was his way of building a team culture and help in team bonding. Once the exercise was done, we were all told to bring our oars to our change room with a word written on one side. And then when 23 oars had all assembled together we were individually asked to read out our words and why we thought that word was important for the team and how it could help the team. It was just the most fantastic way of coming together as a team. And in all my years in the sport, I have never encountered a better change room. We were all playing for each other, living a collective dream together and determined to leave a mark together. While a couple of guys who have been regulars in the Dutch team were missing, we were at no point any less confident. It was evidence what team culture can do to a team if done well. We were actually silently confident of doing it. While from the outside, it might appear a kind of underdog story, within the team we knew that we were capable of doing it and making it to India.
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Boria: Now that the first job is done and you are well and truly coming to India, have you started to visualise? Big grounds, packed crowds, millions watching on television. It is the ultimate cricketing stage.
van Beek: Yes, it is. It is the ultimate cricketing experience that I as a player can ever dream of. I always wanted to play a 50-over World Cup, and there can be nothing better than playing in India in front of passionate Indian fans. I was born in New Zealand and felt I could play the 2015 World Cup, which was held in New Zealand. But it wasn’t to be. Then I felt I could play the 2019 World Cup. But that too rolled on. And now here I am, part of the 2023 World Cup in India. We are all excited. We will do everything possible to do our best. It is time we take our oars to India, to now boat around India. As a team, as a collective, we will back each other to the fullest to ensure that our boats are at their best in India during the World Cup.
Boria: As far as you are concerned, is this the highest point in your career?
van Beek: It clearly is. I have never played better. Also, I have never felt more confident. This is the highest point. And I will soak in everything in India. I played the 2016 world T20 in India, and toured with New Zealand A last year. You will never get anything close to Indian cricket fans. I managed to play some street cricket with the fans and record it for my Instagram, and I can tell you it was fantastic. The love you receive in India when you are wearing a New Zealand jersey or a Dutch jersey is so very different. In Amsterdam where no one knows me from a bar of soap, to being in India where I am kind of loved and wanted, it is a very different experience. Even if for a short time, you feel like you are famous!!
Boria: And who knows, a good World Cup could open the doors for you to IPL 2024. As an all-rounder, you could well be a sought-after player!
van Beek: Playing the IPL is a dream. But after a point, when you grow older, you tend to think it is going away from you. But who knows? When in India, I will do my absolute best to make the opportunity count. And to do that, I need to do the little things right. Train hard, keep physically fit, and give myself the best chance.
Boria: What is also interesting is how consistently you all have punched above your weight. Without much infrastructure, to be able to do this is fantastic.
van Beek: In Holland, there are three contracted cricketers. And two turf wickets. Some of the boys have full-time jobs. Half of them don’t have contracts, and two players have just finished school. Most of the facilities are artificial matting wickets. Only in Amsterdam and Rotterdam do we have turf wickets which we trained on. But then with Ryan Cook, there was a sense of purpose. A kind of discipline we have never seen before. He uses all he has learnt from Gary Kirsten and the other coaches, and has moulded us into a very good unit. There is clear communication between captain and coach, and captain and players, and each one of us know what we need to do. Every meeting is purposeful, and that’s why we have been able to do what we have.
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