Through heartbreak, decline and hope: Netherlands' long road back

On January 28 this year, Helmien Rambaldo, a 45-year-old university professor, nervously pressed refresh on her computer screen. Far from Kirtipur in Nepal, she tracked the DLS numbers in the game between USA and Netherlands, which had halted due to rain. Netherlands needed 39 runs off the last eight overs with eight wickets in hand. Victory should have been a cruise. But it was a must-win.

With Netherlands set to face Ireland and Bangladesh next, this was their best shot at securing their maiden T20 World Cup place.

Rambaldo had coached several players in the squad since their early teens. But there were more reasons for her nerves: she had repeatedly experienced the national team falling short of the finish line, Netherlands women's cricket sliding from being one of the world's better teams, often coming second-best against teams that were nowhere on the international scene. Rambaldo lived through that journey, now serving as assistant coach at the 2026 T20 World Cup.

As a 20-year-old, Rambaldo was part of the last Netherlands side to participate in a World Cup – the 2000 edition – having qualified as one of the top eight teams. It was their fourth successive world event, having featured in 1988, 1993 and 1997. Then, as Rambaldo entered top-flight cricket, Netherlands kept dropping off.

Through those years, Rambaldo carved a prolific career, playing 57 internationals including a Test. The medal for the best woman cricketer in the Netherlands is named after her.

However, one memory haunts her: "Where were those three runs?"

That question originates from the 2014 World Cup qualifier, when Netherlands fell two runs short of Ireland's total. Rambaldo batted through all 20 overs in the 137-run chase. She connects the dots to a full delivery from Ireland's Isobel Joyce in the 17th over, to which she offered no shot. "When the fuse goes off in the socket – I felt like that in my mind."

Rambaldo made up for it by cutting and pulling Joyce for boundaries in her next over. But by the end, it wasn't in her hands. "With four runs needed, I was at the non-striking end off the last ball. That is one game I still replay. We were literally playing for a World Cup ticket."

Netherlands missed a World Cup berth by a whisker in 2013, but it wasn't the first time. In 2003, they finished third in the first World Cup qualifiers – only the top two made it. Eight years later, everything came apart in 2011. They finished sixth in qualifiers for the 2013 50-over World Cup.

"I had been to a World Cup before. In terms of quality or fitness, it was the best Netherlands women's team I was ever part of. We were the best prepared ever. And we lost our ODI status. The rest of the world had gotten so much better and invested so much more. We got better, but the rest overtook us. Bangladesh came out of nowhere. They invested, not just money, but time in their players.

"In 2000, there were eight teams in the World Cup, we were one. West Indies weren't there, Pakistan weren't there, Bangladesh weren't there. The other countries overtook us after 2000.

"That was the most difficult moment. We were top of what we could be. Then suddenly, we lost everything. We were punished at home for losing ODI status. We lost funding. It didn't match our feeling – because we felt we were a better team than in years when we had more opportunities."

While several teams benefited from larger funds following the merger of men's and women's boards, for Netherlands that move proved counter-productive. Matches against higher-ranked teams were reduced, while Full Members got more opportunities against each other. The growth gap between ICC member boards and associates was drastic, especially in the decade after the mid-2000s merger.

While Netherlands' return to World Cups despite such disparity is a reason for celebration, it's interesting how a team with such rich legacy fell so behind.

Ingrid van der Elst has crossed into her 70s. She gave up her career in hockey – she represented the national team as a goalkeeper – and decades later, retired as a sports writer. But she continues to play cricket with the Still Going Strong club (for 'older people', where she is the only woman) and for Kampong Cricket Club in Utrecht. "Playing alongside younger players makes me feel younger," she laughs.

Ingrid has been part of Netherlands' cricket community for 59 years, since the 1960s, when women's cricket was witnessing an unusual dip. For all these decades, the sport's popularity has sustained within a limited circle, largely in cities like Hague and Amsterdam. It involved someone moving abroad – to the UK, Australia or New Zealand – and bringing the sport back. Outside that circle, whether it was Ingrid in the 1960s or Babette de Leede in 2026, they are stuck explaining why 'cricket' is neither a board game nor a sport involving horses.

Cricket has had a rich legacy in the Netherlands. The swell in clubs began in the late 19th century. Many clubs in Hague and Rotterdam now serving as football clubs were formed as cricket and football clubs, with football season till April and cricket in summer. In the book Skirting the Boundary, Isabelle Duncan claims 'a number of exclusive clubs existed with restricted membership, adopting quirky rules – for example, one club felt it unfair to score runs behind the wicket.'

Women started playing in the 1930s, hosting a touring Australian side in 1937. Several tours with English teams followed post-War, and Netherlands became one of the earliest members of the International Women's Cricket Council. After a brief lull, it rose again from the mid-1970s. Ingrid featured in the 1982 World Cup as part of International XI, featuring the world's best players.

When international exposure felt limited, European boards formed their own tournament. In 1983, the European Championships started as The Golden Tulip tournament, involving Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland in Utrecht.

They imported heroes – some through BBC cricket matches, some through stories. Many coaches through the 1980s and 1990s were West Indian and South African cricketers, sharing stories of their national heroes.

By 1990, there were about 40 women's teams with four divisions in the league. For Rambaldo's generation, they trained in school halls once every Saturday, rolling out mats on gym floors with shared cricket kits.

"My hands are still sore from playing that 2000 World Cup," Rambaldo says. "Everyone was hitting so much harder. And bowling… Fitzpatrick!"

Elise Reynolds, who featured in two World Cups (1997 and 2000), adds: "The biggest shock was that in Holland I was a feared bowler. In the World Cup I wasn't. I had speed and swing, but experienced players had no trouble.

"I'm part of the non-trained generation. I had no idea what I was doing. I'd just try to bowl fast and knock over stumps. Other teams strategically intimidated batters with field positions. I was powerful but never strategic. We didn't have that knowledge."

Both Reynolds and Rambaldo have scrapbooks of their tours. "My kids love it – they tell their English friends their mother played for Netherlands. We didn't achieve a great deal, but whatever we did was special," Reynolds says, sharing a photo from a 1997 World Cup game against India, where a massive crowd broke past the boundary in celebration.

And through the mid-2000s, it all went down.

For Reynolds, watching fast bowlers on television enamoured her – not for what they did with the ball, but the beauty of their motion. She is currently painting Cathryn Fitzpatrick. "She had a beautiful bowling action. Like a cheetah. So fast and elegant. She made it look effortless."

She remembers cricketers through their actions. If the action isn't appealing, their feats don't matter – she neither recalls Debbie Hockley nor knows Jasprit Bumrah. "Waqar Younis was my hero."

But away from her paintings and work as a translator, she has little time for matches. She retired in 2002, and looking back, it feels like a different lifetime. One memory stands out: getting a nick off Belinda Clark's bat in the first over, though the catch was dropped. "I'm sure I got a nick off her first ball. That's the lasting memory because I was disappointed."

More than a decade after retirement, her services were requested by the national board. She was keen until she learned the state of women's cricket. "There were only 8 teams in the whole country. When I started, there were so many girls playing – even though my club (VRA Amsterdam) said no girls could play before opening it up in 1983."

She has a possible reason for the decline. "I know why I stopped. I had children. Cricket takes time. People have less time now. They want to play padel for 30 minutes and be done. You ask if they want to play an entire Saturday on the field, and they say 'no'."

With less time, sports became more professional than recreational. "That's why my children aren't playing. It was pressure, not fun. When I played, it was about throwing balls at each other all day."

Rambaldo points to another factor. "Back then, BBC aired cricket matches and everyone could access them. When Sky Sports took over, we couldn't access cricket. Now you have to actively search for it."

Reynolds offers a counter perspective. "The World Cup had 11 teams in 1997, shrunk to eight for 2005. We couldn't compete if we weren't among the top teams. It's 12 teams now and we're in again."

Rambaldo adds: "In 2008, we played a tournament with teams like Pakistan and South Africa in Potchefstroom. Those tournaments were so beneficial. Now you play qualifiers and you're always at the bottom."

The challenge is that numbers at home are decreasing, but the community keeps it alive. "Even though it's a small world of cricket in Netherlands, it's a passionate world," Reynolds says.

Legends like Caroline Salamons and Sandra Kottman still play in the league. Unable to juggle coaching and professorship, Rambaldo gave up playing last year.

"Cricket is not on television – totally not," Ingrid says. "We sometimes get cricket in newspapers. One writer writes stories twice a season."

Facilities have changed drastically. Players now access training in smaller batches on different days, across two cities, with a full-time coach and strength and conditioning trainer. All three admit the current generation's quality is far superior – worlds apart.

But who is the star figure? "The league is so small, everyone knows each other. They aren't star-struck. But now that they're at the World Cup, maybe they'll be seen as stars differently," Rambaldo says.

Rambaldo has joined the squad in England as assistant coach. She is nervous again, but also proud. "It's very strange. I'm excited to go to the World Cup, but I don't know what to expect. This group has been together for a while. I've seen many since they were 13 or 14. It always felt like we were so close but never crossed the finish line. This World Cup will be tough. But to give themselves this opportunity – they deserve it."