Dutch courage: the players behind the World Cup's newest team

The Netherlands' return to a Women's World Cup has been 26 years in the making, and they'll pose a largely unknown prospect when they face Australia in Southampton on Saturday.

Babette de Leede's squad captured the attention of the cricket world in January with their unique celebrations upon securing their place at the T20 World Cup, sliding across rain-soaked covers in Nepal when a washed-out win over the USA secured their ticket to the United Kingdom.

With a squad made up almost entirely of part-time players who combine cricket with work or study – including a doctor who quit her job to focus on the tournament – the Dutch are going toe-to-toe with the strongest teams in the women's game for the first time in T20Is – and lapping up the challenge.

"It was their dream collectively to qualify for a World Cup," Netherlands coach Neil MacRae said this week.

"I think in that sense, just by being here, they're an inspiration to every female cricketer on the planet that anything can happen, then you can follow your dreams, and it can come true.

"But now that we're here, we actually want to put on some performances.

"It's an incredible experience for our players in terms of growth and learning."

Journey to the World Cup

Crucially, the 2026 tournament has expanded to 12 teams, up from 10, giving more sides the chance to compete.

The Netherlands' journey to this T20 World Cup started with the Division One Europe Qualifier in 2025, where they finished second behind Ireland. That secured their berth at the Global Qualifier in Nepal earlier this year, where they topped Group B, winning all four of their round-stage matches.

Those did not come easily however, as they saw off Scotland by seven runs and Nepal by two runs to advance to the Super 6 phase, where a 21-run DLS win over the USA officially secured their ticket to the United Kingdom.

"We basically had the dream start to our World Cup qualifier campaign, winning our first five games, so we automatically qualified after five games with two left to play, which was quite special," de Leede said ahead of the tournament.

"It meant a lot to us, there were a lot of tears, a lot of smiles, a lot of emotions, and a lot of celebration.

"It's been really cool, and we're super happy to be here ... we worked really hard, and it's great it's been paying off."

History at ODI World Cups

While this is the first time the Netherlands women have qualified for a T20 World Cup, they have history when it comes to the 50-over version.

The Netherlands featured in four consecutive ODI World Cups in 1988, 1993, 1997 and 2000. Their best result came in India in 1997, where they finished third in their group before losing to Australia in the quarter-finals.

Decades before that, the Netherlands women hosted Australia on their way to an Ashes series in England in the 1930s, and the first Dutch side to play an ODI took the field in 1984.

The skipper & a family affair

Babette de Leede does not have to look far when looking for advice on competing in World Cups. The Netherlands captain is part of a cricketing dynasty: her grandfather, Frans de Leede, played club cricket before becoming an umpire, where his resume included officiating three women's one-day internationals between 2002-03.

Her uncle, Tim de Leede, played 29 ODIs for the Netherlands, travelling to the 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cups, while her cousin, Bas, is currently one of the country's leading players and featured in the 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2026 T20 World Cups.

Now, thanks to the expanded women's tournament, Babette, who debuted for the Netherlands in 2018, gets her opportunity to represent her country on the biggest stage.

The doctor who quit her job

When the Netherlands qualified for the World Cup, leg-spinner Caroline de Lange had a life-changing decision.

The 27-year-old had graduated from medical school in early 2025, taking on a job at her local hospital in The Hague.

But juggling her demanding career with international cricket was difficult and after helping the Netherlands navigate their way through the European and Global World Cup qualifiers, she had exhausted her annual leave.

With that in mind, and wanting to give her all to preparing for the tournament, de Lange decided that if the Netherlands did successfully qualify for this tournament, she would quit her job.

De Lange will return to medicine following the World Cup, but she is far from the only Netherlands player forced to juggle work and study alongside sport, with only one of their squad members playing cricket full-time.

"They've made so many sacrifices, and it's one of the traits of an associate cricket team – it's not like a full member," MacRae said.

"They've had to make sacrifices in terms of time, money, they've had to find ways to train outside of their daily schedules, commit huge amounts of time, sacrifice time with friends and family, and ultimately they've had to find a way to put in enough training hours and get enough time off work to be able to come and play cricket to get themselves to this level.

"They've got to take huge credit for that." 

The full-time pro

The Netherlands have only one fully professional cricketer in their squad, Sterre Kalis.

The top-order batter has years of experience playing domestic cricket in England, where she is currently contracted to Yorkshire, while she has also played for Northern Superchargers and Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred.

In 2019, she broke the record for highest individual score in a women's T20 International, scoring 126 not out against Germany.

It was a record that stood for 30 days, before Meg Lanning set a new high water mark when she smashed an unbeaten 133 against England in Chelmsford.

On Saturday, she'll go toe-to-toe with familiar faces including her Birmingham captain Ellyse Perry, and one-time teammates Megan Schutt and Georgia Voll.

The Aussie connections

Kalis also has close ties to Australian cricket, having spent time playing club cricket in Tasmania, NSW, Queensland and Victoria, while she trained with the Sydney Thunder has part of the ICC's WBBL rookie program early in her career.

Iris Zwilling, her country's leading wicket-taker, is another Netherlands squad member who has recently spent time in Australia, playing club cricket for Glenelg across the last two summers, alongside pace bowler Hannah Landheer who played for Prahan in 2025-26.

In all, at least nine members of the Netherlands' World Cup squad have plied their trade for Australian clubs.

What the future holds

Coming into the World Cup, de Leede set a target of two wins, which would be enough to guarantee the Netherlands a spot at the next T20 World Cup in Pakistan in 2028.

Even if they fall short of that goal, their appearance at the tournament is set to have an impact back home, with de Leede hoping it will boost viewership and participation numbers.

She also hopes the ability to showcase their talents on the biggest stage will create further opportunities for her players.

"The World Cup is an amazing opportunity for us as a team to show the world the talent we have got," de Leede said ahead of the tournament.

"We can't play cricket full-time in the Netherlands, so everyone needs to combine cricket with their study or job ... it would be great if some of us could get a chance in franchise cricket and could potentially live off a cricket salary.

"By playing at our first ever World Cup, we also hope to grow women’s cricket in the Netherlands, to raise awareness about a sport that is not very well-known in the country, and to inspire young boys and girls showing them the possibilities of being a cricket player in the Netherlands."

ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026

Australia squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham. Travelling reserve: Tahlia Wilson

Australia's Group 1 fixtures

June 13: beat South Africa by 65 runs

June 17: beat Bangladesh by nine wickets

June 20: v Netherlands, Rose Bowl, Hampshire, 7:30pm AEST

June 24: v Pakistan, Headingley, Leeds, 3:30am AEST

June 28: v India, Lord's, London, 11:30pm AEST

Semi-final 1: The Oval, London, June 30, 11:30pm AEST

Semi-final 2: The Oval, London, July 2 (3:30am July 3 AEST)

Final: Lord's, London, July 5, 11:30pm AEST

Click here for the full tournament schedule

All matches will be broadcast on Amazon's Prime Video