‘Dad, what was your best score in the Hoofdklasse?’ ‘When did I get that five-wicket haul against … ?‘ ‘How many runs did our pro get that season?’ 'Who was the bowler who got me out most often?' ‘When was that match when I gave five LBWs?’

Those are the sorts of questions which it will be easier for many current and former Dutch cricketers and umpires to answer from now on, as another fifteen seasons are added to CricketEurope’s cumulative StatsZone of Hoofdklasse and Topklasse matches.

Covering the period 1988-2012 and extending the StatsZone’s scope to a total of 25 years, the additions amount to more than 1500 games, and complete the top-flight careers of dozens of leading players and the seasons in the Netherlands of a host of overseas professionals.

Among those whose complete records are now included are such long-serving players as Hermes-DVS batsmen Nick Statham and Jasper Beijer and seamer Erik Hartong, VRA’s former professional – who later returned as an amateur and who served as a time as chairman of the national selectors – Darrin Murray, and one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation: VOC’s Bas Zuiderent.

The outstanding coaches of the period include New Zealand international Nathan Astle, whose aggregate of 1257 runs for VOC in 1994 is unlikely ever to be surpassed, but was only seven more than his successor, South African Brad White, achieved two years later.

Others who figure prominently include Rood en Wit’s Australian international Colin Miller, who took 81 wickets in two seasons at an average of 9.90, and New Zealand Test seamer Chris Pringle, who took 264 wickets at 11.27 for HCC and VRA between 1996 and 2001, claiming nine for 25 for the former against Hermes-DVS in 1999 and conceding just 2.67 runs per over across his Hoofdklasse career.

The only other bowler to take nine wickets in an innings during the period was Hermes’ Ruud Nijman, who claimed nine for 30 against VOC in 2004, including – as Hermes scorer Marik Bijl has recently pointed out to me – a hat-trick.

But the tables also demonstrate conclusively that Voorburg’s Tim de Leede was the finest Dutch-produced allrounder of the past quarter-century: he tops both batting and bowling aggregates, the only man to have made 10,000 runs with 11,939 at 39.40, and taking 476 wickets at 19.24.

Luuk van Troost (Excelsior ’20) and Robin ter Plegt (Hermes-DVS) are the only other bowlers to have claimed more than 400 wickets during the period.

The additional matches include many other notable personal performances, quite a few of them by the remarkable Nolan Clarke. One example is his innings for Kon. UD Deventer against Hermes-DVS in 1992, when he made 127 out of 169 and nevertheless saw his side lose.

A curious feature of the same game was the fortunes of the brothers Michiel and Steven Lubbers, who played on opposing sides: Michiel, bowling for Kon. UD, had Steven caught behind for a duck, but the latter had his revenge when Kon. UD batted, not only dismissing his brother for 8 but taking five for 40 as Hermes won by 48 runs.

Clarke was also involved in several outstanding partnerships, including the all-time record opening stand of 428 with Dick Vierling for Quick Haag against Bloemendaal on 27 May 1990; Clarke made an unbeaten 265 as the pair batted through the 60 overs, Vierling contributing 117 not out.

Another of Clarke’s achievements brings disappointment for Hermes fans: the unbroken second-wicket stand of 278 by Harro Seelaar and Greg Todd against HCC in 2011 may have been a club record, but it was not the highest for that wicket in the competition.

Clarke and his son Tyrone Stuart put on 296 for the second wicket for Sparta 1888 against Rood en Wit at the Spanjaardslaan on 6 May 1995 – which may well be the highest-ever partnership by a father and son combination in any competitive cricket anywhere in the world.

Nor did the batsmen have it all their own way: in those days of a twelve-team top flight and 60-over matches, four bowlers claimed 50 or more wickets in a remarkable 1994 season, with Excelsior ‘20’s Australian player-coach Sean Cary leading the way with 63 wickets, one more than Sparta 1888’s Aaron Barnes.

Dean Askew of Kon UD Deventer took 57, while Marc Nota (Voorburg) was the leading Dutch-born bowler with exactly 50. Cary also took 57 the following season.

As always the scorecards and the statistics derived from them are based on the score summary sheets submitted by the clubs. There are a few discrepancies and omissions which remain to be ironed out, but overall the new tables give a clear picture of the highest level of Dutch domestic cricket over the past two-and-a-half decades.

The structure of the database requires players’ career records to be associated with a single club, and for those players who transferred one or more times within the period the following rule is employed: current players are listed for their present club, while those who have retired are shown with the side with which they are most commonly associated.

The fact that in most cases the primary source is the summary sheet means that some of the capabilities of the database, mostly relating to batsmen’s strike rates and the scoring of boundaries, cannot be used, or are seriously incomplete. These omissions can only be rectified by consulting the original scorebooks.

Thanks are again due to the KNCB Archive and Library Committee for its assistance in making the summary sheets available, and to the scorers, club administrators and captains who filled them in in the first place.

It is intended that a further update during the winter will take the StatsZone back to the introduction of limited-overs cricket in 1981, adding a further 750 matches and completing the career records of many other leading Dutch players.