Dutch champions VRA Amsterdam will kick off their 2006 season with a two-match visit to Copenhagen on 22-23 April, where they will take on the Danish national side.

The visit will reciprocate one made by the Danes at the start of last season, as part of the warm-up programme for their first-ever participation in the C&G; Trophy. Then they played two matches at VRA, losing the first by just 3 runs and the second by 3 wickets.

The Copenhagen trip will be a very useful opportunity for the Amsterdam club, whose ground will probably be only fully usable again in May. Both square and outfield were extended at the end of the 2005 campaign, and while unseasonably mild weather in September and October ensured that there was a good covering of grass by the time winter set in, groundsman Paul Polak will want as long a preparation period as possible before the Hoofdklasse programme begins.

With six or seven current and former Dutch internationals in the side, plus former New Zealand Test batsman Darrin Murray and last year�s coach, the Australian Mike Smith (see photo, who will be living in The Netherlands from next year), VRA should again prove a solid challenge for the Danes.

�We�re greatly looking forward to the trip,� said VRA first-team manager Ed van Nierop. �It will be great experience for the guys, and it will give us the best possible start to our defence of the title.�