The Dutch selectors have been forced to make five changes in the squad for this week’s Intercontinental Cup match against Scotland, which was originally announced less than a week ago.

Tim Gruijters has withdrawn as a consequence of a persistent back injury, while four others – Mudassar Bukhari, Maurits Jonkman, Muhammad Kashif and Bart Schilperoord – have pulled out because of work commitments.

The revised squad contains thirteen names, one more than in the original list. The replacements are VRA Amsterdam off-spinner Adeel Raja, ACC wicketkeeper Steven de Bruin, HBS seamer Berend Westdijk, and the batsmen Rifaiz Bakas (Excelsior ’20), Wilfried Diepeveen and Floris Kingma (both Voorburg).

Raja also replaces Kashif in the side for next Tuesday’s ODI against the Scots in Rotterdam.

The selectors’ difficulties again point up the problems of fielding genuinely representative teams in the four-day, first-class Intercontinental Cup. Scotland, too, will be without several leading players, although their squad has been much less disrupted than the Dutch one.

Raja, however, is an experienced international, and Westdijk and the left-hander Bakas have both played in the Intercontinental Cup in the past. The debutants will be De Bruin, who appeared for The Netherlands in the European A championship two seasons ago but has never played in the full international side, and perhaps either Diepeveen, who played in last year’s A championship, or Kingma, who was a member of last season’s Under-19 side.

The squad now comprises:
Peter Borren (VRA, captain), Rifaiz Bakas (Excelsior), Wesley Barresi (VRA), Steven de Bruin (ACC), Wilfried Diepeveen (Voorburg), Tom de Grooth, Mark Jonkman (both HCC), Floris Kingma (Voorburg), Ruud Nijman (Hermes-DVS), Adeel Raja (VRA), Pieter Seelaar (Hermes-DVS), Eric Szwarczynski (VRA), and Berend Westdijk (HBS Den Haag).