The Dutch cricket team and Pakistan are meeting in the Dutch first match of the T20 World Cup on Saturday. Bowler Kyle Klein spoke to Dutch News ahead of the game.

There is a boisterous energy to everything Kyle Klein brings to the cricket field and even off it. You notice it straight away as white balls ping out of the training nets in Colombo, the venue for the Netherlands’ T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan on Saturday.

On the pitch, he takes it into another gear. He digs them into the pitch at high speeds, gets them to skid off it faster and has batters contorting into awkward positions. He bounces them out, nicks them off and clean bowls them often with a game-changing spell.

Then there’s the one-handed screamers at short midwicket.

“He reminds me of Marnus Labuschagne (Australian top-order batter),” Max O’Dowd laughs when asked about the 24-year-old HBS quick. “He knows everything about cricket and he’s one of the biggest cricket nuffies I’ve met.”

Why’s that? “I love cricket, to be honest. And I do know lots of stats and lots of weird things about cricket,” Klein explains in a chat with Dutch News.

“I really looked up to Marnus when I was finishing high school and he was doing well, but the nuffy-ness level has gone down a bit.”

Ryan van Niekerk, the team’s bowling coach, offers a different perspective: “Because he’s a nuffy, it wasn’t too difficult to get a guy like him to buy into certain things to improve on.”

Van Niekerk would know. He has coached Klein since he was playing school cricket for Rondebosch High School in Cape Town, where the Gary Kirsten Academy is now situated.

Having never seriously considered playing professionally, Klein only picked up the game seven years ago, when he moved to the Netherlands, where both his grandparents grew up. His brother – Ryan – has already won 22 caps for the Dutch.

Klein spends the summers in the Netherlands playing for HBS Craeyenhout in the Hague, and flies back home during the winter to play for the Western Province Cricket Club in Cape Town. It helps that the Gary Kirsten Academy is only around the corner which allows him access to the nets and a gym.

Since his maiden ODI call-up for the South Africa tour in 2023, Klein has been a part of every touring party – even going to India for the ODI World Cup as a development player on the KNCB’s tab. As a result, he became au fait with the language in the dressing room and two years in, he has fitted seamlessly into the team’s plans.

Since his debut in Nepal two years ago, he has exclusively sat in the fast lane, being the leading wicket-taker for the side across ODIs and T20Is and has quickly become Scott Edwards’ go-to with the ball.

“Scotty’s got this thing where he’ll give us the ball personally, between overs, and he’ll ask me to get a wicket,” Klein says.

Model

“My evolution came when he said we need a guy in the team that can take wickets throughout the innings and I try to model my game off of that. I’ve bowled to him a lot, so he just gives me constant feedback on what feels difficult to face and off the field, he has got a great balance between being a friend, a captain, and someone you can be vulnerable with.”

Klein cuts a relaxed figure ahead of his World Cup debut, having just finished a game of Catan with his teammates before jumping on the call. It helps to have a clarity in where his strengths lie: bowling in the powerplay and keeping the stumps in play. He is currently working on how to construct a perfect over, pushing the speed gun higher and being a consistent threat for the batters.

“He has really invested in himself and it’s phenomenal when a young player decides to take ownership saying, ‘listen, I need to change my lifestyle’ so he doesn’t drink alcohol, and he eats extremely healthily,” Van Niekerk adds.

“He understands his body and what it needs. That combined with an ability to really study technical nuances, and sit with me on the laptop and look at thousands of videos.”

Bowling attack

Klein has had a taste of the biggest stage but none would come close to the challenge of leading a bowling attack against the likes of Pakistan in Colombo, Namibia in Delhi, the USA in Chennai, and India in Ahmedabad at the biggest stadium in the world.

“This is kind of what you train all year for. The nerves will be there, but trying to not get too fixated on it. Whatever happens, happens.

“I think this is the best the Netherlands team has ever been. We have got 15 guys who can all fit into the team epitomise Ryan Cook’s Total cricket. We will try to make it to the semis but we really want to enjoy it.”

All of the Netherlands’ matches will be live streamed on NOS.

Schedule:

February 7 – Pakistan vs Netherlands – SSC Colombo (11am local time/6:30am CEST)

February 10 – Netherlands vs Namibia – Delhi (11am local time/6:30am CEST)

February 13 – Netherlands vs USA – Chennai (7pm local time/2:30pm CEST)

February 18 – India vs Netherlands – Ahmedabad (7pm local time/2:30pm CEST)