After years of stagnation and decline, things are now definitely moving forward in the women’s game in The Netherlands.

Both KNCB Board member Huub Jansen, who holds the portfolio for women’s cricket, and newly-named national coach Ed de Moura Correia are extremely positive about developments on and off the field. De Moura succeeds Job van Bunge, the first permanent coach of the national women’s squad, who moved to Australia at the end of the summer.

One important piece of good news is that the Dutch have been promoted to Division 4 of the ECB county championship, and are certain to take part. They won their section of Division 5 at a canter, but their scheduled play-off against Cumbria, winners of the other section, was cancelled because of bad weather. The ECB have now ruled that The Netherlands go up by virtue of a superior points average.

2010 will be a busy year for the national side, with a European Championship which will also be a World Cup qualifier, and a major international tournament in Dubai in October.

‘We see participating in the Dubai Cricket Month as an absolute must,’ Jansen said at the weekend. ‘It’s a great opportunity to gain even more experience at peer level, and for the development of the top players we simply cannot afford to squander such opportunities.

‘The Netherlands are ranked tenth among the ODI countries at present, and it would be great if we could move up a couple of places by creating an upset against Ireland, West Indies, Pakistan or South Africa, although the latter two will admittedly prove a particularly tough challenge.’

Ed de Moura also sees doing well in Dubai as very important, although he is in no doubt that qualifying for the 2013 World Cup must be the highest priority.

‘That’s absolutely key,’ he says. ‘We will be keen to gain promotion from Division 4, and improving our ranking in Dubai will also be an ambition – but it’s World Cup qualification which must be our primary target.’

Having been briefly involved in coaching the national team during the tour by the West Indies in 2008, De Moura sees clear signs of improvement in the squad since they have been working with Job van Bunge.

‘They’re more aware of the strengths and weaknesses in their own game,’ he says, ‘and they clearly know what’s needed to go on improving.’

He will be focusing strongly on fitness and mental approach in the coming months, and the women will be doing many of the same fitness tests as Peter Drinnen’s men’s squad. But there will also be plenty of attention to skills, aiming to build greater power in a wider range of shots, greater control and variation in bowling, and sharper fielding.

De Moura says that he is delighted that Jansen has been working on creating a firm structure for the development of women’s cricket, providing a platform for players to develop their game and graduate into the national side; and while believing that there is still more to be done, Jansen himself defends the Bond’s commitment to the women’s game.

‘This year the KNCB’s net contribution to women’s cricket – the difference between the income for women’s cricket and our actual expenditure on it – will be €30,000. That’s an increase of 50 per cent,’ he points out.

‘One of the consequences of this is that we have been able to do away with the dreaded contributions which have been required from national team players in the past. This was a hot item for the players, and I’m glad we’ve been able to reduce the burden upon them.’

Jansen would like to see expenditure on the Under-17 and the newly-formed Under-13 squads brought into the youth budget, rather than being charged to women’s cricket.

‘This would free up more money for developing the game,’ he says, ‘spreading the sport in schools through coaches and ambassadors of the women’s game – national team players – making the game attractive for a wider audience and gaining an even more extensive programme for our age group selections.’

The introduction of an Under-13 girls’ training squad, soon to be followed by an Under-15 squad, is part of a concerted drive to reverse the long, slow decline in women’s cricket. Ten years ago there were 22 teams from 17 clubs; last season there were 12 from 11. But Jansen denies that this constitutes a real crisis.

‘There is still a good influx of women taking up the game,’ he says, ‘but that is balanced by those who stop, mainly because of the time-demanding nature of cricket.

‘Last season we introduced the option of 30-over matches in the Eerste Klasse, by mutual agreement of the captains, specifically to counter that problem. We also experimented with the introduction of the Twenty20 format, and we shall extend that in 2010.

‘We’re planning to run a club Twenty20 tournament on Saturdays this season, and to introduce a regional competition on Friday evenings, parallel to the men’s Twenty20 Cup. The new format is gaining popularity in women’s cricket round the world, and we believe it suits our game.’

Jansen is also intent on tackling the problem of young players failing to graduate from youth cricket, where they initially play in mixed teams, to the senior ranks.

‘We have decided to make a conscious effort to invest in the younger generation,’ he says. ‘The numbers are certainly there: in the youth competitions approximately 50 girls under age 14 are playing in either their own girls’ teams or in mixed teams.

‘This generation we clearly cannot afford to ignore. In this age group we have to identify the potential players for the Dutch team in eight to ten years’ time. Combined with the girls of our Under-17 selection, we have around 65 young players who will be key to the future of Dutch womens cricket.’

In the shorter term, however, most attention will be upon the performances of the current national team.

‘We will be missing Cheraldine Oudolf, who has retired, and Lotte Egging, who is in South Africa,’ acknowledges coach Ed de Moura. ‘But the return of Carolien Salomons to the national squad is a bonus, and we’re hopeful that despite the fact that she’s training as a pilot, Jolet Hartenhof will still be available much of the time to open the bowling.

‘My immediate horizon is the next eighteen months, and I’m convinced that we have the ability to do well and achieve our goals.’