The Netherlands women's national cricket team, nicknamed the ''Lionesses'', represents the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in international

women's cricket Women's cricket is the team sport of cricket when played by woman, women. Its Laws of cricket, rules are almost identical to those in the game played by men, the main change being the use of a smaller cricket ball, ball. Women's cricket is b ...

. The team is organised by the

Royal Dutch Cricket Association The Royal Dutch Cricket Association (Dutch language, Dutch: Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond; KNCB) is the governing body of cricket in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was formed in 1890 and received a Royal charter in 1958. The KNCB is r ...

, which has been an associate member of the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) since 1966. A Dutch women's team first played an international match in 1937, when

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

toured on its way to play a series in England. The team regularly played fixtures against English club sides over the following decades, but it was not until the early 1980s that regular international competition commenced. The Netherlands made its

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) debut in 1984, against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and made its

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

debut at the 1988 edition of the tournament, in Australia. Considered a top-level team from the late 1980s through to the early 2000s, the Netherlands participated in four consecutive World Cups between 1988 and 2000, and made the quarter-finals of the 1997 event. The Dutch side retained its ODI status until the 2011 World Cup Qualifier. In 2007, the team played a one-off

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

match against South Africa, joining

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

as the only associate member of the ICC to play at that level. In April 2018, the ICC granted full Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

matches played between the Netherlands women and another international side since 1 July 2018 have the full WT20I status. In May 2022, the ICC announced the Netherlands as one of five women's sides to gain ODI status.

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

were the other four teams.

History

Early years

The Netherlands took part in women's international cricket from its earliest years. As early as 1937 they hosted the Australians on the first leg of their first ever Women's Ashes tour, before visiting England late the same year.

1980s

The Dutch team played their first ODI in 1984 against

. This was 12 years before the Dutch men's team played their first ODI. They lost that game by 67 runs, and were next seen in international cricket in 1988, playing in their first

, in which they finished in last place. They finished third in the first European Championship in 1989.

1990s

They again finished third in the European Championship in 1990, and finished fourth the following year. The 1993 World Cup was again a disappointment, with another last place finish. 1995 saw them again finish third in the European Championship. 1997 was a busy year for the Dutch team, travelling to the Mikkelberg-Kunst-und-Cricket Center in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to play two ODIs against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, a trip they repeated in 1998. They also visited

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

for a three match ODI series against the hosts, which they won 2–1. That remains the sole ODI series victory for the Dutch team. This was followed by the World Cup, in which they reached the quarter-finals. 1999 was a year with a steep learning curve when another tour to Sri Lanka, where they suffered a 5–0 defeat in the five-match ODI series. After the European Championship in Denmark the Dutch rebuilt their squad and structure.

2000s

2000 saw the Dutch team's fourth World Cup appearance, where they finished last. This was followed in 2001 by a tour to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. the hosts took a 4–0 lead in the seven match ODI series but the Netherlands bounced back admirably winning the final three games. Later in the year saw a third-place finish in the European Championship. Their cricket in 2002 was a three match ODI series against New Zealand, which the Dutch were unable to win. The following year they hosted the 2003 IWCC Trophy, the inaugural edition of what is now the World Cup Qualifier. The Dutch finished third, but only the two finalists qualified for the 2005 World Cup. Their next international engagement was the European Championship in 2005, finishing in fourth place. 2006 saw a two match ODI series against

which was lost. Good news came from the ICC which announced that the top ten women's teams would have Test and ODI status. Their third-place finish in the IWCC Trophy in 2003 meant that the Dutch were included in this top ten. In February 2008 the Dutch women retained their test status for another four years by reaching the semi-final of the Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

2020s

In December 2020, the ICC announced the qualification pathway for the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup. The Netherlands were named in the 2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier regional group, alongside five other teams. In May 2022 the ICC gave the Netherlands women ODI status together with PNG, Thailand, Scotland and the USA. After a Netherlands women's cricket team bilateral series in Thailand, in November 2022, the team were given their first ever WODI Ranking. An ODI win over higher-ranked Thailand gave the Netherlands their best global ranking ever (12th). In April and May the Netherlands played in the ICC T20 World Cup Global Qualifier in Abu Dhabi, missing the semi finals on net run rate.

Sponsorship

SISAR B.V. became the official sponsor of the Dutch women's cricket team in December 2022. SISAR B.V. signed a sponsorship contract for three years with the KNCB.

Squad

This lists all the players who have played for Netherlands for the past 12 months. Updated as of 1 July 2022.

Tournament history

ICC Cricket World Cup

ICC Women's World T20

ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier

ICC Women's World Twenty20 Europe Qualifier

Women's European Cricket Championship/European Championship

Records and statistics

International Match Summary — Netherlands Women ''Last updated 13 June 2025''

Women's Test cricket

*Highest team total: 108 v

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, 28 July 2007 at Hazelaarweg Stadion,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. *Highest individual score: 49, Violet Wattenberg v

, 28 July 2007 at Hazelaarweg Stadion,

. *Best innings bowling: 4/62, Jolet Hartenhof v

, 28 July 2007 at Hazelaarweg Stadion,

. Women's Test record versus other nations ''Records complete to Women's Test #130. Last updated 31 July 2007.''

Women's One-Day International

*Highest team total: 375/5 v

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on 23 July 2003 at Sportpark Thurlede,

Schiedam Schiedam () is a large town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of the city Rotterdam, east of the town Vlaardingen and south of the city Delft. In the south, Schi ...

. *Highest individual score: 142, Pauline te Beest v

on 23 July 2003 at Sportpark Thurlede,

. *Best innings bowling: 5/20, Cheraldine Oudolf v

on 30 November 1997 at Asgiriya Stadium,

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

. Most ODI runs for Netherlands Women Most ODI wickets for Netherlands Women WODI record versus other nations ''Records complete to WODI #1401. Last updated 12 August 2024.''

Women's Twenty20 International cricket

*Highest team total: 196/3, v.

on 27 June 2019 at La Manga Club Ground, Cartagena. *Highest individual innings: 126 *, Sterre Kalis v.

on 27 June 2019 at La Manga Club Ground, Cartagena. *Best innings bowling: 7/3, Frederique Overdijk v.

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 26 August 2021 at La Manga Club Ground, Cartagena. Most WT20I runs for Netherlands Women Most WT20I wickets for Netherlands Women WT20I record versus other nations ''Records complete to WT20I #2371. Last updated 13 June 2025.''

References

{{National sports teams of the Netherlands Women's national cricket teams

Women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

Women's cricket in the Netherlands 1937 establishments in the Netherlands

History

Early years

1980s

1990s

2000s

2020s

Sponsorship

Squad

Tournament history

ICC Cricket World Cup

ICC Women's World T20

ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier

ICC Women's World Twenty20 Europe Qualifier

Women's European Cricket Championship/European Championship

Records and statistics

Women's Test cricket

Women's One-Day International

Women's Twenty20 International cricket

See also

References