A 13-man squad departed Lord’s at the weekend for Amsterdam, where MCC are playing a series of fixtures against strong opposition.
The squad is made of MCC Playing Members who play across the country in various ECB Premier Divisions, the highest standard of club cricket in England and Wales.
Oliver Haley, who plays for East Molesey in the Surrey Premier League and has previously played in the Home Counties and Birmingham Premier Leagues, will captain the side.
Tour Manager is Phil Nicholson, of Washington in the North East Premier League and formerly of Northumberland CCC.
The Club will face CTC De Flamingos in three separate T20 matches across the week. De Flamingos are one of the oldest clubs in the Netherlands, having been formed back in 1921.
They have faced MCC at several venues over the years and played the Club at Lord’s in 2022, losing by 90 runs.
Netherlands ‘A’ are MCC’s opponents in two 50-over matches, and with the country currently sitting 14th in the ICC One-Day International rankings, the ‘A’ squad will provide a stern test.
There will be two venues used for the tour. The VRA Ground in Amstelveen is the most famous ground in the Netherlands, having hosted a match in the 1999 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and it was the venue for three ODIs against England in 2022.
"A tour of the Netherlands is always a special and popular one for our Members"
Voorburg Cricket Club, situated in The Hague, will also play host to MCC and is another ground in the Netherlands which has hosted ODI cricket.
James Overy, Head Cricket Projects, said: “A tour of the Netherlands is always a special and popular one for our Members. With the Netherlands preparing for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, this trip provides their next generation of cricketer the opportunity to play competitive cricket against a strong MCC squad.
“The trip also gives MCC the chance to renew its relationship with De Flamingos, who we recently hosted at Lord’s in 2022.”
There are further men’s tours planned in 2024 to Estonia and Canada, as well as a women’s tour to Malta. The first tour of the year took place in February when a squad visited Rwanda.
The squad for this tour is: Phil Nicholson (Tour Manager), James Brown, Jack Bruce, Richard Grant, Benjamin Cochrane-Price, Thomas Hafil, Oliver Haley (c), Peter Lambert, Alexander Money, Carlos Nunes, Sam Perry, Samuel Rattle, Andrew Reid Dick, Matthew Wareing, Michael Bradshaw (Umpire).
Monday 27 May
CTC De Flamingos v MCC
Voorburg Cricket Club – 2x T20s - CTC De Flamingos won the first game by five wickets, MCC won by six wickets in the second match.
Tuesday 28 May
Netherlands ‘A’ v MCC
VRA Ground, Amstelveen – 50 overs - Netherlands 'A' won by DLS method.
Thursday 30 May
Netherlands ‘A’ v MCC
Voorburg Cricket Club – 50 overs
Friday 31 May
CTC De Flamingos v MCC
VRA Ground, Amstelveen – T20