5 Top Associate Cricketing Nations Of All Time

#3 The Netherlands

Players like Ryan ten Doeschate led to the rise of Netherlands

Cricket has been played in the Netherlands since at least the 19th century and in the 1860s, cricket was considered a major sport in the nation. Netherlands achieved the Associate Membership of the ICC in 1996. They have participated in the 1996, 2003, 2007 and 2011 Cricket World Cups.

The Netherlands have also been one of the impactful teams in cricket and have enjoyed the rivalry with Ireland. In the 2009 World Twenty20, they prevailed in a close shave against England by four wickets. They secured their first win against a full-member nation in 2010, beating Bangladesh convincingly by six wickets.

In the 2011 World Cup, Netherlands posted their highest total against a full member nation, scoring 292 against England while batting first. Ryan Ten Doeschate top scored with 119 off 110. Nevertheless, they failed to do the unthinkable and were unable to defend the score. England eventually won it by 6 wickets with a couple of overs to spare.

In the 2014 World Twenty20, for the Netherlands to go through to the super 10s, they had to chase Ireland's score in 14.2 overs or less. Ireland, batting first had piled on 189 which seemed less likely to be chased successfully. However, some explosive power hitting helped them to eclipse the score in 13.5 overs itself.

In the dead rubber against England in their last match in 2014 World Twenty20, Netherlands created yet another upset beating them by 45 runs. In reply to Netherlands's 133, England crashed to 88 all out with no batsman crossing even 20. Medium pacer Mudassar Bukhari and fast bowler Logan Verjues Van Been were the stars with three wickets each.