The Cricket Bulletin: Major Talking Points

Netherlands name squad for their maiden Women’s T20 World Cup

Netherlands have named their squad for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup in England. Babette de Leede will lead the side in their maiden Women’s T20 World Cup and carry forward her family legacy. Her uncle Tim de Leede and cousin Bas de Leede represented the Netherlands men’s team in the World Cups. Speaking of the same, Babette said, “It will be a great opportunity to compete with the best teams in the world, and to show the talent that we have in the Netherlands on the big stage. We hope to make the Dutch cricket community proud and to inspire young girls in the Netherlands.”

Netherlands squad: Babette de Leede (c), Caroline de Lange, Frederique Overdijk, Hannah Landheer, Heather Siegers, Iris Zwilling, Isabel van der Woning, Lara Leemhuis, Myrthe van den Raad, Phebe Molkenboer, Robine Rijke, Rosalie Lawrence, Sanya Khurana, Silver Siegers, Sterre Kalis

India Women to host Zimbabwe for the first time in October

On Wednesday, the BCCI announced the first-ever women’s bilateral contest between India and Zimbabwe. The two teams have never played an international fixture against each other. India women will host Zimbabwe in October, which will see the teams play three T20Is in Raipur on October 16, 18, and 20, and the ODIs are on October 23, 25 and 28 in Baroda. This will mark Zimbabwe Women’s first visit to India.

On the other hand, India A Women will host Australia A Women in September before taking on England A Women later in the season at home. The India U19 Women’s team will also have two home assignments as they are set to start a six-match white-ball series against Sri Lanka Women U19 in June and July, before hosting England U19 Women for a five-match T20 series in November and December.

New Zealand recall quicks for Tests against Ireland and England

New Zealand have recalled Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke as part of their 19-man squad for the upcoming one-off Test against Ireland and the three-match series in England, beginning later this month. Jamieson has returned to the Test squad for the first time since February 2024 after dealing with a back stress fracture. On the other hand, the 24-year-old O’Rourke has returned after recovering from a similar injury that kept him out for eight months. New Zealand’s tour will begin with a four-day Test against Ireland in Belfast from May 27, before moving to England for the Crowe-Thorpe series, which has Test matches scheduled at Lord’s, The Oval and Trent Bridge.

New Zealand Test Squad (Ireland & England): Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Kristian Clarke (IRE only), Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Dean Foxcroft, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae (IRE only), Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears (IRE only & 16th travelling reserve for ENG), Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Kane Williamson, Will Young (IRE only)