Netherlands' Logan Van Beek previews their ICC T20 Cricket World Cup clash with Bangladesh
Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent, West Indies
Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent, West Indies
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00:00Great to have you here in St. Vincent, an excellent game against South Africa, you almost did it three times in a row across formats.
00:08What are the preparations like? Of course a very big game for both teams, both teams very much in the hunt for a Super 8 spot.
00:14Yes, this is the biggest match that we're probably going to play for this tournament.
00:20And so, you know, the preparations have been very nice, we've stayed at a very nice hotel in Sandals,
00:27the boys have been relaxed, we've been by the beach, we've been in the waters, we've done some sunset cruises.
00:33We had a great training yesterday, today is our first time at the ground and it looks like it's in wonderful shape.
00:41The practice wickets have been great and I think tomorrow's match is going to be one that the island has waited a long time for,
00:50but it's great to have cricket back in St. Vincent.
00:53Since you bring it back, it's about 10 years or so, if not more, for top flight cricket to have returned here, there's a real buzz,
00:59everyone wants to be there at cricket, any message at all for the fans, the local fans as well as the ones supporting your team?
01:06I think for the local fans, it's been a long time since cricket has been at the island,
01:11so there's no better time to come down and watch a cricket match, a high level cricket match, a very competitive cricket match.
01:21We've been trying to give tickets to as many people as possible to come down and support us
01:26and hopefully we can have some somewhat hometown support, which would be fantastic.
01:32I know I've got a big fan over here in the white t-shirt, she loves the Netherlands cricket,
01:37and so she's going to be here tomorrow in her orange supporting the Dutch.
01:42Excellent. About your Caribbean connection, we've heard that you've, of course,
01:47tell us a bit about it, what is it all about, and you've already said that you're looking forward to this,
01:52so maybe that extra connection perhaps will motivate you further?
01:56Yes, so my grandfather's from Trinidad and Tobago, he played for the West Indies in 1951-52,
02:04then he travelled to New Zealand and played for New Zealand in 1956.
02:09My father's Dutch, so this is where the Dutch connection comes in.
02:13Growing up, my grandfather from Trinidad introduced me to cricket, he taught me cricket,
02:20so a lot of my rhythm, a lot of my athleticism, a lot of my passion,
02:27a lot of everything that I do on the cricket field comes from him,
02:30so it comes from my Trinidad roots, my West Indian roots.
02:34I might be a Dutchman looking, but inside there's a lot of West Indian flair and rhythm that I like to play with,
02:41so that's how I go about my cricket.
02:44Can you have the name of your grandfather, please?
02:46My grandfather's Simpson-Clemont-Gillen.
02:51Hi, I would like to know that Bangladesh, in the last ODI World Cup,
02:55the Netherlands beat Bangladesh convincingly, so do you think they can repeat that this time,
03:00it's a shorter format, and the margin of error is very small here in T20 format,
03:07and how the wicket should behave here, have you watched the wicket or your team management?
03:12So, today was the first time I saw the wicket, literally about two minutes ago,
03:18it looked hard, it looked flat, looking at the practice, Bangladesh just practiced here,
03:23there was no indents, there was nothing, they said the wickets were good,
03:27so I'm expecting a really good wicket, conditions here are windy,
03:31there's going to be a big breeze that's going to travel across the ground,
03:34that's going to play a huge factor for both teams,
03:37so I think the ground, although there's still a lot of unknowns around how it's going to be played,
03:42it's been ten years since the game's been played here, or international game,
03:46so there's still a lot of unknowns, I think going back to that cricket World Cup,
03:51we took a lot of confidence beating Bangladesh at that World Cup,
03:55and so that confidence is fast forwarded to tomorrow,
04:00and we know on our best day that we can beat Bangladesh,
04:04and that's the mindset that we are going into.
04:08Hi, I think you and all the Netherlands teams watched the Bangladesh-South Africa match,
04:14and Bangladesh bowled against South Africa really well, they won 113 rounds,
04:21so do you think that Bangladesh bowlers are a threat for you,
04:25and what's your preparation to face them?
04:30Bangladesh have world-class players, you know, the Fizz had a very successful IPL this year,
04:36Shaqib is the number one all-rounder in T20 cricket,
04:40not anymore? Number five, well he's had the spot for a long time over the years,
04:46so he's world-class, and they've got a number of other world-class players on their side,
04:50so, you know, we don't underestimate Bangladesh at all,
04:54we feel like, you know, we prepare this game just like we prepared against Nepal,
04:59just like we prepared against South Africa, we go through the same processes,
05:03same scouting meetings, we try and find little ways that we can have little advantages into those games,
05:11so today's important getting the feel for the conditions, the ground,
05:16and then tomorrow it's all about competition,
05:19and just like South Africa, you know, the ball comes from the same spot,
05:24and here we go, a little bit of cliche for you, but again, it's on the day,
05:28we've faced them before, so there's no novelty around, you know, what we're about to face,
05:33but it's a game of cricket at the end of the day, and where both teams need to play to win,
05:39very important game, and I'm excited to get it started.
05:44Netherlands are going to play here for the first time, in St. Vincent, if I'm not wrong,
05:51but Bangladesh played here some matches, although they came here after 10 years,
05:56do you think that statistics, I mean, the Bangladesh played here some matches 10 years ago,
06:02back, or 14 years back, that will help them?
06:06How many of the Bangladesh players played the match?
06:11Only two or three.
06:13Okay, alright, so I guess they have some advantage in terms of the experience of being here,
06:18but again, it's been such a long time, the cricket, the wicket's been relayed,
06:23it's a World Cup as well, so there's a lot of different factors,
06:28the confidence that we've got over the last few years of beating big teams at big competitions,
06:35and in do-or-die matches we've stood up at right times, and that's how the Dutch play,
06:41we kind of find ourselves in these do-or-die matches all year round,
06:45and so we're used to that pressure and excited to do it again tomorrow.
06:52You mentioned that tomorrow's match is both teams very important and very crucial match for that,
06:58who will be the favourite for tomorrow's match, do you think that?
07:02Oh, who will be the favourites, well I'm sitting right now that the Dutch are the favourites,
07:07that's just how you've got to be as a Dutch player,
07:10it would be remiss of me to think that Bangladesh are favourites,
07:14I think it's going to be a very even match-up,
07:16I think that the last few years both teams have had some great wins and some poor losses,
07:24and so I feel like it's a very even match-up,
07:27it's a great opportunity to kind of test where we're at as a team over the last few years,
07:34and I'm just excited, it's been a wonderful few days here in St Vincent,
07:39and again playing at a new ground, new venue,
07:44and it's something that you, as a professional cricketer,
07:50the beauty of it is we play all around the world at new places,
07:54and I think it's more of an excitement just to see what it's like to play a game in the West Indies.
08:02Thank you so much, we do have time for one burning question, anybody?
08:10What input did your team get from Ryan Cook,
08:13he used to coach Bangladesh and also Russell Domingo,
08:17he's also the coach of the Bangladesh cricket team.
08:21I think that's a big advantage for us,
08:23both Russell and Ryan know the players very well,
08:27they've coached them for a long period of time,
08:30so that's something that we're putting into our back pocket as a key advantage for us,
08:36and so in the last few days we've had a number of meetings
08:40and they've gone into depth around their players and ways that we can get players out,
08:45ways that we can hit players in terms of options that we can take as batsmen,
08:50so that's something that definitely is in our advantage,
08:54and so we're going to try and maximise that and use that,
08:58you never know, they might have a couple of secret plans tomorrow that will be maybe unexpected,
09:04but it's something that we're confident because they know the players so well.
09:11Thank you very much Logan, thank you very much for attending,
09:14we hope to see you tomorrow, you're more than happy to join or watch the training, thank you.