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Holland will be a big test
It will be important for all teams to adapt to the conditions in Holland. The pitch, I believe, will be on a much slower said, writes Woolmer.
Sitting with Sanjay Manjrekar at breakfast at the plush Hilton, I was reminded how lucky we were — getting to travel so much. We were discussing his travel arrangements.
He was fortunate to reach Amsterdam from Mumbai in seven hours, while the Pakistan team had to travel on four different planes and it all took 23 hours and 45 minutes!
The journey from Lahore to Amsterdam was via Islamabad, Dubai, London Gatwick.
Of course, this is due to Emirates sponsoring the world cricket, and they do not have a direct flight to Amsterdam.
Coming to cricket, it will be important for all teams to adapt to the conditions in Holland. The pitch, I believe, will be much slower than anywhere else.
Holland have a proud cricketing tradition and the presence of expatriate Indians and Pakistanis meant that we were thronged when we reached the airport!
Holland too, are part of the ICC's High Performance programme and are trying to make the grade to the next level. Recently they laid their fourth grass pitch with the intention of having four inter provincial teams that will play two-day cricket.
I have worked with Dutch board for three years and it is desperate to take cricket forward. They probably have one of the most innovative and vibrant junior cricket programmes in world cricket.
Of course for Pakistan, India and Australia this tournament will reflect a chance to get ready for the ICC Champions Trophy and to get match fit for that tournament. The current success of the Australian side in world cricket is reflected in the fact that county cricket is employing a lot of Australians.
I still believe county cricket is an excellent format for learning the game. I believe that no domestic system prepares you for the rigours of the Test game.
From Pakistan’s point of view, we’ll be looking forward to testing ourselves against India and Australia here. (Gameplan)
