No-one can deny that the Orange Lions have made a poor start to their Calypso Cup Twenty20 campaign, losing to a below-strength Sussex side last Tuesday before being overwhelmed by Barbados on Thursday night.

The batsmen in particular have found life difficult: they could manage only 93 chasing a fairly modest Sussex total of 125 for nine, and were then dismissed for 73 by an extremely effective Barbadian attack.

Only two players, debutant fast bowler Timm van der Gugten and captain Peter Borren, have so far made a serious impression. The Australian Van der Gugten claimed five for 21 in his first match for the Netherlands, while Borren contributed a typically defiant 40-ball 45, including three fours and two sixes, in that game against Sussex, having come to the crease with the Dutch tottering on 22 for four.

Coach Peter Drinnen is quick to acknowledge that his side�s performance has been disappointing.

�Regardless of the opposition or the conditions we have played well below what we are capable of,� he said at the weekend, �and that is something we need to address.

�We are in a preparation phase for the World Twenty20 qualifier in March, and the next two games will be very important for us. Everything we do here is geared to making sure that we are successful in the UAE.�

Drinnen is pleased with the way his squad is using the opportunity for intensive training in both fitness and skills, and is very satisfied with the performances of Van der Gugten and Borren in the first match.

�Pete had just stepped off the plane [from New Zealand],� he observes, �and he had no gear of his own, which made his effort on the night even more remarkable. But more generally the bowling and the fielding went OK, although the bowlers know they have to be more disciplined with extras � in these low-scoring games every run is vital.�

If the purpose of the trip was to expose the Dutch squad to high-quality opposition in advance of the World Twenty20 qualifier it has certainly achieved it: the Barbados side which won so convincingly on Thursday night contained six West Indies internationals with a total of 62 Tests, 137 ODIs and 29 Twenty20 internationals between them, and enjoyed the luxury of being able to leave fast man Fidel Edwards on the bench.

The Orange Lions flew to Barbados on Saturday for their remaining two group games, with their next opponents the Combined Campuses and Colleges on Wednesday, followed by Jamaica on Friday.

The students beat Sussex on Saturday evening, and it would be a big mistake to take them lightly. Captained by 29-year-old Leeward Islands allrounder Romel Currency � who made 48 with the bat against sussex and then took four for 8 with his off-breaks � they also have West Indies international wicketkeeper-batsman Chadwick Walton and former skipper Floyd Reifer in their squad, along with four other youth internationals: lefthander Kyle Mayers, fast bowler Jason Holder, off-spinner Ryan Austin (who has also played in two Tests for the West Indies), and slow left-armer Yannick Ottley.

�The pitches in Antigua weren�t easy for batting,� Drinnen says, �but we anticipate that those in Barbados will be different.

�We�re looking forward to a couple more training sessions there, and then putting in the performance on Wednesday that we know this side is capable of.�