Netherlands to host Ireland, Scotland in T20 tri-series

ROTTERDAM: A triangular Twenty20 International series between the Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland will be held in the Dutch cities of Rotterdam, Deventer and Amstelveen from 12-20 June this year, the Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB) have announced.

“This tournament will become an annual event between the three strongest European cricket countries,” said KNCB in a statement.

All three countries were in with a shot at qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, but failed to make the cut at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, held in March in Zimbabwe.

NEWS: T20i Tri- series between Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands.

The tournament will take place from the 12- 20 of June in the Netherlands. @CricketScotland @Irelandcricket @icc_europe @ICC @cambo_19

Press release: https://t.co/D5mnrSZWVS

— Cricket🏏Netherlands (@KNCBcricket) April 3, 2018

Scotland and Ireland did qualify for the Super Sixes stage but finished fourth and fifth respectively, while the Netherlands failed to get past the group stage but then defeated Hong Kong and Nepal to finish seventh.

“I am so excited about the announcement of this annual tri-series T20 event with Ireland and Scotland,” said Ryan Campbell, the Netherlands coach.

Read More: Ireland, Netherlands see World T20 hopes washed away

“I believe the three teams are evenly matched and the opportunity to play against our neighbours more often is something that we’ve been trying to put together for some time now. The matches will be action packed and this will be our first steps in preparation for the 2019 World T20 Qualifiers.”

The coaches of the Scotland and Ireland teams also voiced their excitement.

“It will be great to continue a busy year of cricket on the back of a Dubai tri-series, the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe and our own three summer internationals against England and Pakistan,” said Grant Bradburn, the Scotland coach.

“We always have hard-fought games against both Ireland and Netherlands and we are grateful to our Dutch neighbours for hosting this exciting event in this format.”

Graham Ford, the Ireland coach, said, “The announcement of the international T20 tri-series is great news. We already have a busy and very exciting summer of cricket ahead of us. T20 cricket is such an enjoyable, intriguing and unpredictable product, and a series between these three very evenly matched teams promises to be extremely exciting. It is also an ideal opportunity for the Irish lads to sharpen their T20 skills ahead of the two International T20s against India in late June.”