It was entirely predictable that the news that the KNCB had secured the availability of Tom Cooper and Derek de Boorder for this season’s Clydesdale Bank 40 campaign and the Dutch side’s ODIs would provoke strong reactions.

The ICC’s rules on player eligibility have often given rise to lively discussions in the past, whether it be on England’s frequent reliance on players produced elsewhere, or the selection policies of Associates ranging from Canada and the USA to Scotland and even, on occasion, Ireland.

The Netherlands has a long history of fielding foreign-produced players: the squad which took part in the 1996 World Cup included Flavian Aponso (Sri Lanka), Peter Cantrell (Australia) and Nolan Clarke (Barbados), and those who have appeared in orange since include Asim Khan and Zulfiqar Ahmed, Roger Bradley and Billy Stelling, Darron Reekers and current skipper Peter Borren.

But all these players had an established relationship with Dutch cricket, and even Ryan ten Doeschate had played for Bloemendaal for a season before he turned out for The Netherlands. The only real exception was Dirk Nannes, about whose involvement there was, interestingly, no outcry when he took part in The Netherlands’ historic victory over England at Lord’s last year.

What is new is the inclusion of two players who have hitherto, like Nannes, had no link with Dutch cricket, but who are eligible under ICC rules because they have Dutch passports. Those who oppose such a move argue that to include them would restrict the opportunities of Dutch-produced players, thereby devaluing the youth development programmes of the KNCB and the clubs.

KNCB sources are insistent that the initial approach in both cases came from the players themselves, and are keen to deny any suggestion that emissaries from the Bond have been trawling the world looking for potential additions to the squad. There has certainly been speculation about Cooper’s availability for two or three years, but until now he was barred by the four-year restriction in the ICC regulations.

There can be little doubt that it is the stimulus of the ECB 40-over competition which has given new urgency to the efforts of Jeroen Smits and his High Performance Steering Group. It is certain that The Netherlands will go into this campaign without the services of Ten Doeschate and, almost certainly, Kervezee, and that is A considerable handicap.

They will, moreover, be taking on county sides which are able to field a world-class overseas player, often alongside current or recent England internationals and a sprinkling of foreign-produced players of their own.

It is nobody’s interests, and certainly not of Dutch-born cricketers, to take part in a series of ritual humiliations against teams which are simply from another cricketing planet. We must hope for more 5 Junes; the last thing we need is more 9 Junes, when The Netherlands – at full strength – were given a comprehensive cricket lesson by Pakistan.

So if it needs a Tom Cooper and/or a Derek de Boorder – both of whom will have to prove themselves in a few domestic games before they play for their new country – to replace what is lost through the non-availability of Ten Doeschate and Kervezee and give the Dutch a chance to upset a county or two, then there are many who will say it’s a step worth taking.

The argument in favour of fielding the strongest possible side, moreover, applies equally to this season’s ODIs.

As I observed recently in my blog, victory over Bangladesh in Glasgow on 20 July would elevate The Netherlands to the ICC’s main Reliance ODI rankings table – but only if they also have at that point a winning record of 60% or better in ODIs against their fellow-Associates and Affiliates.

They currently stand at 64%, but there are at least six ODIs to be played before that encounter with Bangladesh, and the Dutch would have to win three of them to stay above that magic 60% figure.

Of those six, one is a one-off match against Scotland on 15 June, and the others are part of the World Cricket League Division 1 tournament scheduled to take place in The Netherlands between 1 and 10 July. Those matches – against Ireland, Afghanistan, Canada, Kenya and Scotland – aren’t going to be easy, and there’s every reason to expect that the opposition will be at full strength.

An examination of the ECB’s county fixture lists suggests that there are grounds for optimism that both Ten Doeschate and Kervezee might be available for the one-off match against Scotland, but both Essex and Worcestershire have busy schedules of county championship and Friends Provident Twenty20 matches during the ten days of the WCL Division 1 tournament. How realistic is it to expect that the KNCB will be able to secure the release of either Ten Doeschate or Kervezee for the whole of that period? And will they be available to play against Bangladesh?

Under ICC rules, of course, they have to be released, but past experience suggests that English counties play by their own rules rather than the ICC’s. We should not forget Ten Doeschate’s decision to rejoin his county before the end of last year’s World Cup qualifier, or Kervezee’s unavailability for the Under-19 qualifying tournament in Toronto. The climate for the players’ release is no doubt much better now than it was last year, but even so, there are bound to be limits to the counties’ willingness to act against their own interests.

Experience also teaches us that Dutch sides at less than full strength tend to struggle against their peers. The record in the Intercontinental Cup is proof enough of that. So would we prefer to send Peter Borren and his men into the WCL with one arm tied behind their backs, or work within the ICC’s eligibility regulations to put out the best side we can?

That leaves the question of the implications of Smits’ initiative for Dutch youth development.

Even if Cooper, Eric Szwarczynski, De Boorder, Borren and a registered overseas player take the field against Yorkshire at Headingley on 15 May – and there are a couple of if’s there – that would still mean that the majority of the side would be Dutch-produced. And they would be playing in a side which had a reasonable chance of being competitive.

With twelve Clydesdale Bank 40 games, at least nine ODIs, three Intercontinental Cup matches and a European Championship in which The Netherlands will be represented by an A side – that’s 38 days of cricket! – talented young Dutch players are not going to be short of opportunities to prove their mettle on the international stage this season.

There are reports of a much-needed shake-up currently afoot in the KNCB’s youth system –for more on that watch this space – but such things do not bear fruit overnight, and it does not take much analysis of the recent record of Dutch youth teams, and of the domestic club scene, to understand why people like Smits see arguments for looking abroad. And the clubs need to do much more to bring on their young players than they have in the past; it’s not just the responsibility of the KNCB.

In the end, it’s a question of balance. Of course anyone with a genuine commitment to Dutch cricket would like to see home-produced players dominating on the international stage in the way Ten Doeschate has done, and there are strong grounds for hoping that Kervezee, and after him Tim Gruijters, and then others like them, will make the grade.

But it all demands time and money, and that money will not come if the national side doesn’t continue at least its present level of success. And would that be possible without looking abroad as well as at what can be produced under the Netherlands’ cricket’s own roof?