Netherlands Name Women's Emerging Nations Trophy Squad, Babette de Leede Retains Captaincy

The Netherlands women's national cricket team has announced its squad for the ICC Women's Emerging Nations Trophy 2026, which begins on 12 November in the United Arab Emirates. Babette de Leede will continue to lead the side. According to the official announcement, the group is largely the same one that gave the Netherlands its first appearance at a Women's T20 World Cup in England and Wales earlier this year, with only two names differing.

On the surface this is a clean, low-risk announcement. There is no controversy, no major surprise and no selection shock. But precisely for that reason, the release raises more questions than the information it supplies. Setting out clearly what is available, and what is not, is part of this report.

Same captain, same structure

The retention of Babette de Leede as captain is the clearest signal in the announcement. No change in leadership, no interim arrangement, no new experiment. The Dutch board (KNCB) has placed its trust in the same leadership that took the team through its global tournament debut. It is a message of continuity, and certainly of stability.

Yet aside from the captain, the announcement names no player's role, age, domestic side or experience. Nor does it state how large the squad is, or how many batters, bowlers and wicketkeepers it contains. For a squad-announcement story that is unusual, because the full list is the primary product of such a story.

Form against Scotland is the only evidence

On performance, only one basis is offered: a recent series against Scotland women, which ended level at 1-1. That is a solid, balanced result and there is no reason to hide it. But the quality of that evidence is thin. No series name, no dates, no venues and no confirmation of how many matches the series contained.

More significantly, that series was played in the 50-over format, while the format of the tournament the squad has been picked for is never stated. In other words, the form being presented in the team's favour comes from a different format, and the format the team will actually play is left unclear. From a reporting standpoint this is a real gap, and the reader deserves to be told so.

The World Cup legacy

The strongest introduction the team has is that it made the Netherlands' first appearance at a Women's T20 World Cup in England and Wales earlier this year. A global tournament debut is no small achievement for any associate nation. It is evidence not only of the standard of play but of the fact that Dutch women's cricket is now being selected for the kind of events once reserved for full members.

That pedigree is the foundation on which the confidence of the entire announcement rests. Current form, recent big-stage experience and squad stability together build a framework that says this is a settled, credible side. Notably, this claim is never written down explicitly; it assembles itself from three separate facts placed in sequence.

Two names, and one ambiguity

According to the announcement, the two names not carried over from the T20 World Cup squad are Carlijn van Koolwijk and Hannah Landheer. This is precisely where a serious ambiguity arises. The original text does not make clear whether these two players are new additions relative to the World Cup group, or whether they were left out of it. Both readings are possible, and the two mean exactly the opposite of each other.

It would be wrong to resolve that difference by guesswork. Until the two official squad lists are cross-checked, it must be treated as an open question. What can be said is that both players are named in the announcement, so at the very least they are part of this squad's conversation and at the centre of the selection process.

It is a description, not a fact

The announcement describes the squad as a full-strength one. The phrase reads like a fact, but it is not. To claim full strength one would have to show that no eligible player was available and left out. The announcement carries no injury list, names no absent player, and does not state that every eligible player was available.

What is actually demonstrated is continuity, meaning the bulk of the squad comes from the World Cup group. Continuity and full strength are not the same thing. A team can be entirely stable and still be missing its two best players to injury. The phrase should therefore be read as the language of an official release rather than a selection fact.

An Emerging Nations side that has played a World Cup?

The announcement leaves one large question unanswered. Why is a team that played a global event like the T20 World Cup this very year competing in an Emerging Nations Trophy? What is the eligibility basis for this tournament, ranking, development status, or invitation?

This matters because it determines how the tournament's standing and level are understood. If a team has already reached World Cup level, is this event the next step in development or a level below? The announcement is silent. That silence should not be filled by inference, but it should be flagged, because it is the first question a reader will ask.

What is not yet public

Several basics expected in a squad-announcement report are missing. There is no full player list, no squad size, no player roles, and no mention of coaching staff or a selection committee. There are no quotes either, neither from the captain nor from the head coach. Announcements at this level usually carry a captain's or coach's statement, and its absence most likely means such a statement exists but was not included in this version.

Information about the tournament is also incomplete. The host nation is given as the United Arab Emirates, but no cities. The start date is 12 November, but no end date. No groups, opponents or fixture list are provided either. Without those, no firm assessment of the team's prospects is possible.

What it adds up to

What is on offer is a trustworthy framework: captain settled, recent form present, big-tournament experience present, and a squad largely unchanged. What is absent matters just as much: the full list, the format, the schedule and the quotes. The announcement has preserved its narrative but lost its payload.

For the Netherlands, the real test begins on 12 November, when the first match is played in the UAE. By then the open questions, the direction of the van Koolwijk and Landheer changes, the format, and the team's true strength, ought to be settled.