da winzada777： The Dutch have now won two World Cup matches in three tournaments and the success of players with county experience shows what they can achieve
Andrew Miller in St Kitts22-Mar-2007
Craig Wright: ‘Most of the guys had been looking at this match as a real opportunity to make statements. Unfortunately, nobody has’ © Getty Images
It ought to have been Dutch cricket’s proudest moment on the worldstage. Their victory over Namibia in the 2003 World Cup wascomprehensive but hardly unexpected; today’s trouncing of Scotland, onthe other hand – a side that had beaten them in their last threeencounters – came as a mild shock to the pundits and players who hadtried to read the remnants of their thumping defeats earlier in thiscompetition.Unfortunately the moment was somewhat overshadowed by the magnanimousgesture of their captain, Luuk van Troost, who stepped down on themorning of the game after a tournament in which he had made scores of5 and 0, and whose final three deliveries against South Africa had allbeen carted for six. A natural leader and a likeable man, it was agesture that left his deputy, Jeroem Smits, downcast in his moment ofglory.”He thought it was best for the team not to play,” said Smits. “He wasvery depressed, he’s still depressed and I’m a bit depressed as well. He’s a good friend of mine. The decision has been in the air, but he was planning to make this his last tournament, and it’s sad he can’t finish off in the right way.”Luuk is very straightforward and honest,” added Smits. “He is a verydangerous player, and one of the best Dutch players around. He candestroy any side in the world, but he decided himself it was best forthe team not to play today. That shows how much character he has got.He deserves all the credit for this win today, and I’m sure it wouldhave been the same if he had played.”It was a real important toss to win,” said Smits, who hit back atGraeme Smith’s suggestion that his team would be underdogs for thismatch. “I saw some comments yesterday,” he added. “I don’t think they[South Africa] know what goes on at Associate level. I think we arequite even and on our day we are a good unit. Today we were the betterside by far.”Scotland’s captain, Craig Wright, couldn’t disagree with thatsentiment, and admitted he was “embarrassed” by how the day had pannedout. “We came into this part of our winter having played a month ofreally good cricket,” he said. “Most of the guys had been looking atthis match as a real opportunity to make statements about themselvesas players. And unfortunately, nobody has.”Had his team perhaps taken their minds off the job, having playedtheir biggest two games of the tournament against South Africa andAustralia? Wright bridled at the suggestion: “It’s a World Cupfixture, it’s a one-day international, which is something we’ve onlyrecently got the privilege of playing,” he said. “If any of the guysswitched off after the last game I’d be very, very surprised. Everygame we play for Scotland, every time we pull on the saltire andthistle, it means as much as the other game.”There were too many soft dismissals,” he continued. “We just got out.The guys have proved before against this type of opposition that theyare big players, and I can’t explain why it’s gone so wrong today. Wepride ourselves on being a squad, so everyone will be taking a look atthemselves and asking some questions. We’ve shown we’re far betterthan that in the past.”The day was a particular disappointment for the vocal legions ofScottish fans who had made the trip to St Kitts, and continued singing”Flower of Scotland” long after the result was a foregone conclusion.”If I was a rich man I’d be going round the ground handing back theentrance fee,” said Wright, “because they deserve far more than we’vebeen able to give them.”