Bas de Leede clinches 2023 ICC Men’s Associate Cricketers of the Year title

• Bas de Leede led the Netherlands to the Cricket World Cup.
• He has 31 ODI wickets at 26.41 & 424 ODI runs to his name.
• He took 8 in the World Cup and starred with the bat as well.

An incredible Dutch cricket player from the World Cup has been awarded the 2023 ICC Men’s Associate Cricketers of the Year.

Because of his performance at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier and the actual tournament in India, Bas de Leede was named the ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year.

De Leede is the second Dutch recipient of the award, after Ryan ten Doeschate, who won twice.

Additional details about his adventures in 2023.

Bas de Leede (Netherlands)

31 ODI wickets at 26.41, economy 6.51

An incredible year

It was a historic year for Dutch one-day cricket, coming back from a challenging Super League season to defeat the likes of Scotland, Zimbabwe, and the West Indies to secure a position in the Cricket World Cup. In October and November, the team defeated South Africa and Bangladesh in the main tournament.

De Leede, who remained an important member of their bowling lineup, elevated his batting game and delivered big blows all season long. The most notable of these came when he crushed Scotland in the de facto championship match to secure a spot in the World Cup at the Qualifier.

De Leede took eight wickets in his eight bowling attempts throughout the World Cup, starting with four against Pakistan. Throughout the campaign, he only lost wicket once, taking four two-wicket totals and one three-wicket total against England. Against Pakistan, he scored fifty-nine runs with the bat, adding another 139 runs.

De Leede conceded that there was probably competition for the honor among a few other players wearing orange Dutch shirts.

“I’m accepting the award, but I think most of the Dutch boys would have been in contention for it. So it’s a cool way to finish off a great year for The Netherlands.

“Looking at my performances, it’s probably the best I’ve played for Holland, which I’m very thankful for. I’m happy to have put in some performances to make that happen there.”

Performance to be remembered

Before July 6, 2023, only four players had ever scored a century and claimed five wickets in a One Day International. De Leede joined the ranks of Viv Richards, Amelia Kerr, Paul Collingwood, and Rohan Mustafa following his performance in a pivotal Cricket World Cup Qualifier against Scotland.

De Leede bowled first and took important wickets of Chris McBride, George Munsey, and Richie Berrington before coming back to take wickets of all-rounders Chris Greaves and Mark Watt in consecutive deliveries toward the end of the innings.

De Leede was pushed to the limit with the bat as he had to surpass Scotland in net run-rate in just 44 overs. De Leede picked up speed at one point, hitting 19 off 30 balls, and finished with an incredible 123 from 92 deliveries. Though his work insured his teammates would have little trouble scoring the remaining two runs in time, he was run out before reaching the objective.

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