Twenty20 World Cup / Ryan ten doeschate / 10 June 2009 /

One of Holland's star performers in the T20 World Cup tells us about mixed feelings towards the tournament, facing Shahid Afridi and returning to County duties with Essex.

Yesterday morning I was sitting in my hotel room before leaving for our massive game with Pakistan at Lord's and I allowed my mind to wander.

If we could do something magic and reach the Super 8s we'd end up in the same group as Ireland, a fellow Associate member. If we could beat them early on and then get a game rained off we'd probably be in the Semi-Finals.

It was fanciful stuff but the format of the competition in the latter stages means one win and one rained off game could just be enough to put you through. Of course that is now the pipe-dream for Ireland. They now have a very tough group but at the same time they will be buzzing. For the departing Dutch squad, the emotions are much more mixed after the defeat to Pakistan. Our spirits were on a massive high going into yesterday's game but, three hours later, we were out of the World Cup on the back of a pretty poor performance.

With the pressure of going through to the next round we did not quite play with the freedom we'd had against England on Friday. Our pursuit of their score and even a total of 151, which was the magic qualifying total for us, started quite slowly. Once I got to the wicket, we needed more than 10 an over. I could feel the dream slipping away but Pakistan bowled well, especially Shahid Afridi who basically took the game away from us with a spell of 4-11.

I have watched him on television and have thought about how he manages to get so many wickets. There is certainly an aura about him; he is both a big player for Pakistan and a big match player. You know he does not really turn the ball but he manages to consistently bowl a length that is so hard to get away. His bowling also has a nice loop to it and it rushes on to you so you can't feel confident hitting him down the ground.

When I went out, I said to my batting partner that it wasn't a day for knocking it around and getting 125. We needed to go for every ball because there was a real desire to get through. At least we fell short really going for it rather than just settling for a respectable score, which is what I've seen associate members do in the past.

After having been dangled the carrot of an extra week in this great competition, going out now leaves almost a bitter taste in the mouth. But the other guys missed out on even more of an adventure than I have in some ways. They fly back to Holland this afternoon whereas I head back to Essex where I start training on Friday.

Most of them are going back to their regular jobs. One of the guys summed it up by saying to me: "At least you are playing at Hampshire next week, I am back at Voorburg CC". But we are getting better and if even there was ever a chance for Dutch cricket to go forward, it is now.

We will always have Friday night and there is a good vibe in the camp right now. The funny thing about sport is that when you get a taste of something it becomes like a drug to you. And our next opportunity is coming very soon. The Associate members' qualification tournament for the next T20 World Cup takes place in Dubai in just four months time. It will be a tough task as only two teams go through.

So we have put aside our battles with the full members for now and go back to the drawing board to take on the Associates members once again.

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