From 1996 to 2023, a lot has changed, but unfortunately for Netherlands, plenty still remains the same
Shashank Kishore04-Oct-2023India is special for Tim de Leede. In 1996, he was part of the Dutch contingent travelling to the Asian subcontinent for their first-ever cricket World Cup. Twenty-seven years later, he will be returning to the country watch his son Bas play in one.”It was a different era: no contracts, no money, but loads of happiness and joy,” says Tim, who also played for Netherlands in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, from Rotterdam. “We all needed leave from jobs, but we had the time of our lives.”When the 2023 World Cup begins, the de Leedes will probably become the seventh father-son pair after Don and Derek Pringle, Lance and Chris Cairns, Chris and Stuart Broad; Geoff, Mitchell and Shaun Marsh, Rod and Tom Latham and Kevin and Sam Curran (if he’s picked in England’s XI in Ahmedabad), to play in a World Cup.I ask 23-year-old Bas about joining this club. “It’s very special, but I never set out to replicate what my dad did,” he says when we meet in Bangalore at the Netherlands training camp. “But it means a lot to me to represent my country at a World Cup. It’s also pretty cool that my dad did the same thing. To be able to listen to stories about his time is amazing.”Among those stories is one Bas has heard many times over, and Tim’s smile gets bigger even before I ask him about it.”Oh mate, it’s my 15 minutes of fame,” de Leede Sr laughs as he reminisces about his four wickets against India in the 2003 World Cup. His Player-of-the-Match performance included the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. “I also dismissed another great batter, Rahul Dravid,” he says.Related
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“Umpire Peter Willey gave the ball to me as a memento. I wanted Sachin to sign it but by the time I’d done media duties, India had left. [In 2004] when Tendulkar was in Netherlands getting some treatment for his elbow injury, a physio friend tipped me off. Sachin was gracious, remembered the game and kindly signed it for me.”Today, Tim lives a semi-retired life, spending his time coaching, consulting and running a sports shop. “I also do a lot of cooking too – it’s fun!”Does he follow his son’s performances closely, and give him tips on his game?”Only sometimes,” he says. “Like when Netherlands were in New Zealand [in early 2022], I noticed Bas wasn’t picking Ish Sodhi at all. I told him: when you’re not picking a spinner, just try and get outside the line and keep sweeping. That’s a better option than playing off the back foot.”I’d like to think it worked and he did a lot better in the next game. But to answer your question: we don’t have lengthy chats; we talk about other things. If he’s had a not-so-good day, he won’t let it chew him.”The rest of the de Leede family also keeps track of Bas’ progress.”Bas is one of six kids at home – two sons and four daughters.” Tim says. “They follow him but don’t follow the whole match. They’ll hear it afterwards. Whenever he does well, we go, ‘Well done’ and that’s it. Our emotions don’t go very high, but we don’t go low either. He’s still our kid at home, he still does stupid things, but…” there’s a long pause “….he also does very good things.”Tim de Leede took 4 for 35 against India in the 2003 World Cup, including the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid•Michael Steele/Getty ImagesThe lead-up to one of those “very good things” had Tim unusually anxious this June when Netherlands were facing a must-win match against Scotland at the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.Needing to get 278 inside 44 overs to qualify, Netherlands were at 72 for 2 in the 15th over when Bas, who had taken a five-for earlier in the day, walked in. He made 123, putting on a century stand with Saqib Zulfiqar, to see Netherlands home.Tim was glued to his phone, following the game from Utrecht.”Our Under-16s were playing an Australian touring side from Melbourne and I was watching [the World Cup Qualifier] on my phone,” Tim says. “At one stage, it was tricky with us losing wickets, but they kept going for the runs. With some 20 or so overs left [Netherlands needed 170 more], my phone ran out of battery.”I told the guys, ‘Sorry boys, I cannot not watch this [U-16 game], please excuse me’, and went into the clubhouse to charge my phone. And as my phone was charging, I could see us beating both the Australian team and also Bas and Saqib [Zulfiqar] in that amazing partnership. All the Aussie guys were cheering for us, it was a great atmosphere.”Bas remembers getting a call from his dad after the game. “Literally five minutes after we shook hands [with Scotland] and got back in the change room, I was on the phone with him. He doesn’t like blowing smoke up my a***, but he was proud.”Did de Leede Sr shed any tears of joy? “No, but I think my mom in the background did,” Bas says with a chuckle.
“It was a different era. We all needed leave from jobs, but we had the time of our lives”Tim de Leede on the 1996 World Cup
That innings helped Netherlands seal a spot in the ten-team World Cup and it banished any doubts Bas may have had about cricket as a career. There was a time that Tim remembers his son being nervous about what he was doing with his life, especially after he finished high school in 2017.That winter, Bas spent three months in South Africa looking to improve his game and get some “life experiences”.”It was tough to decide, but I went straight out of high school a bit into the unknown to see what I could do with cricket,” Bas says. “I kind of escaped studying for a bit, but there isn’t much money in Dutch cricket. It was pretty clear that I needed to be doing something alongside cricket to set me up for life after, because we’re never going to make enough money off cricket.”My dad was pretty happy for me to go and have those one or two years where I didn’t study. But then I spoke to my parents and told them, ‘What if I get injured, I can’t play for the rest of my life? I need to have a back-up.'”Trust me, it’s tough to combine things. We have to find ways to make money while also continuing to play cricket.”Bas played for Police Cricket Club in Pretoria, where he was fortunate to have six others from the Netherlands, including former captain Pieter Seelaar, for company. “If I ever felt like I needed to speak Dutch, there was always someone around the corner.”Bas de Leede: “I realised I want to play cricket for as long as I can because the memories you make in sport are invaluable”•Matthew Lewis/ICC/Getty ImagesAround the time he turned 18, Bas went to Perth to get more exposure. “The culture is different, the people are different, the level of cricket was different,” he says of his time in Australia. “For me, it was just to find out more about myself, not as a cricket player but as a person, because you have to start making decisions.”It’s about your money. You have to buy your own groceries, which is expensive in Australia. KNCB sponsored €500 a month, and the club I played for made me live with a family. I knew if I was ever in trouble, there was always food in the fridge, but I didn’t want to just live there for free.”It was a great time. Looking back, I realised I want to play cricket for as long as I can because the memories you make in sport are invaluable.”Bas came home a changed player.”He matured quickly in that time,” Tim says. “He was clear of his priorities. At one point, his studies [Bas enrolled for a Bachelor’s in business administration] weren’t going as expected and he seemed uncertain. Like a lot of young people who are at the crossroads, he was pondering his future. But it’s all a part of growing up.”We’ve all had those periods. It teaches you to do things you like and think are best for you. A part of growing up is dealing with the bad times, and I thought he eventually came out of it well.”
“It means a lot to me to represent my country at a World Cup. It’s also pretty cool that my dad did the same thing. To be able to listen to stories about his time is amazing”Bas de Leede
Since Bas returned, Netherlands have made it to three straight global events – the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, and now the 50-over World Cup in India. By virtue of finishing in the top eight last year, they have also secured their spot at next year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA.The trajectory of his career has been very different to his father’s.”When I started in 1989, I remember, we were training once a week for a tour to UAE,” Tim says. “I played in three World Cups, but barely any games in between those. Compared to that, I hope the guys now realise they’re in a better position. But still, they are way behind all other teams in the World Cup because half the side is still amateur.”If Netherlands play a 50-over World Cup, they need funding for the next four years so that we can tell the players, ‘Here’s a contract for the next four years, now concentrate on cricket’. Then you’re really helping develop players in Netherlands, and not doing this one-off bonus and ‘see you later’ kind of a thing.”Bas comes into the World Cup on the back of a prolific maiden county stint with Durham. He also was part of the MI Emirates in the inaugural ILT20 in the UAE. Now, at the World Cup, he’s looking forward to the prospect of playing in front of packed grounds. He believes while the format of the World Cup isn’t quite make or break, being wired to the ways of the Associate world where “there’s something on the line every game” has made Netherlands’ players mentally tougher and “grow up faster”.”It’s massively exciting,” he says. “We’ve worked so hard to be here and can only do what is in our power. We’ll play our best cricket. If it’s enough on our day, we’re going to win a couple of games. It’s exciting for us to compete against the world’s best and show our qualities. We’re playing nine teams. It can’t get better.”