Amstelveen Cricket Stadium pitch report: VRA Cricket Ground pitch report NED vs ENG 1st ODI

Amstelveen Cricket Stadium pitch report: England’s historic tour of Netherlands would begin with a three-match ODI series starting tomorrow.

The England men’s Cricket team is all set with a nearly full-strength squad to take on Netherlands in the first of the three-match ODI series on Friday, in what is their historic first tour to the Netherlands.

While the Eoin Morgan-led side would play an ODI match after at least a year gap, Netherlands lost the three-match ODI series 0-3 against the West Indies a couple of weeks ago at the same venue – the VRA Cricket Ground for tomorrow’s ODI.

As for the hosts, the Pieter Seelaar-led side would take the field without the presence of quite a few of their first-choice players including Colin Ackermann, Fred Klaassen, Roelof van der Merwe et al, who are due to play for their respective county sides in the ongoing T20 Blast.

England, on the other hand, would go in with a strong as ever batting line-up and an experienced spin bowling attack, along with a couple of potential debut pacers in Luke Wood and David Payne.

Amstelveen Cricket Stadium pitch report

Of all the Cricket Grounds in this Western European nation, the VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen is the most batting-friendly of all in the Netherlands. Of the top-5 highest ODI totals at this venue, a couple of them had been posted during the recently concluded series between the hosts and the Windies.

The surface would be a challenging one for the fast bowlers, with the ball likely to come on to the bat at ease and in line with the anticipated bounce.

The spinners, however, are likely to get significant purchase off the wicket as the match progresses. The likes of the experienced Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali perhaps have a great series on the cards with the ball in hand.

All in all, score in excess of the 300-run mark is very much on the cards for the team batting first.