The Netherlands’ hopes of competing effectively in this season’s Clydesdale Bank 40 League have, it seems, been considerably enhanced by the acquisition of two young batsmen with Dutch passports and first-class experience in Australia and New Zealand.

Dutch interest in South Australia’s former Under-19 international Tom Cooper, now 23, has been known unofficially for some time, and he will now be joined in The Netherlands squad by 24-year-old Otago wicketkeeper-batsman Derek de Boorder.

Given that the Dutch will be without key stars Ryan ten Doeschate and Alexei Kervezee, contracted to Essex and Worcestershire respectively, the likely presence of Cooper and De Boorder in the line-up will give the side’s batting a much stronger basis.

And thanks to a recent ECB ruling, the fact that these players have Dutch passports will mean they can play in addition to any official overseas player the KNCB wishes to bring into the side. They will also be eligible to play in any ODIs, including all the matches in the World Cricket League Division 1 tournament, but not in the first-class Intercontinental Cup.

It is understood that all Topklasse clubs were offered the chance to pick up one of the pair to play in domestic cricket at times when the national squad is not in action, and that Cooper will appear for last year’s finalists VRA Amsterdam, while De Boorder will turn out for Hermes-DVS Schiedam.

VRA have not yet announced who their regular player-coach for 2010 will be, while at Hermes-DVS De Boorder will join fellow-Kiwi Shanan Stewart, who returns to the Schiedam club after a successful initial season there last year.

De Boorder, who began his career with Auckland, moved to Otago in 2007, and has now become a regular member of their side in all forms of the game. He averages 33.76 with the bat in first-class matches, and in one-day games, where he bats at No. 3, he has an average of 20.58.

Indications are that, barring injuries, De Boorder’s role in The Netherlands will be as a specialist batsman: with Atse Buurman having only recently become a regular in the Dutch side, it would be a retrograde step for him to be displaced by a rival from overseas, while Hermes’ regular keeper, Bart Schilperoord, who made his international debut last sseason, would also be unfortunate to lose out to the New Zealander.

It is interesting that De Boorder’s younger brother Andrew (21) is still with Auckland, where he averages 39.30 in first-class cricket and 43.00 in one-day matches. He, however, would not be eligible to play for The Netherlands until February 2011, having last appeared for New Zealand’s Under-19s in 2007.

Cooper made his debut for South Australia in 2008-09, and quickly made his mark with 101 at nearly a run a ball against a NSW attack in Sydney which included Nathan Bracken, Doug Bollinger and Nathan Hauritz. This season, batting at three, he has averaged 30.00 in ten one-day matches, hitting three fifties.

KNCB High Performance Advisor Jeroen Smits confirmed over the weekend that negotiations with both players were close to complete.

‘There are still a few formalities to be finalised,’ Smits said, ‘but we are confident that both players will be available for our first Clydesdale Bank 40 matches on 15 and 16 May.

‘With Ten Doeschate and Kervezee unavailable for that competition, I’m delighted that the selectors, who make the final decisions, will have the possibility of including these players in our squad and, looking further forward, I see them as potentially playing a significant role in our plans for next year’s World Cup.’

‘I am also very grateful to Hermes and VRA,’ Smits added, ‘since they have made it possible for us to bring the two players to The Netherlands.’

The acquisition of Cooper and De Boorder will unquestionably strengthen the Dutch batting line-up, but with bowling spearhead Edgar Schiferli reportedly out for four to six months with the knee injury he sustained in Dubai, it is the attack which now gives rise to some concern.

Ten Doeschate’s seamers will also be missing from the 40 League campaign, and with Mudassar Bukhari manifestly out of form during last month’s tour, the selectors will no doubt be hoping that Mark Jonkman and Berend Westdijk return from the ICC European Academy in Pune in good nick and raring to go.

It would be ideal for the balance of the side if the KNCB could find a pace bowler as their overseas player, but as things stand there doesn’t appear to be one on the horizon.