Simon Kuper gives the inside dope on Netherlands cricket. Its origins, characters and the life of a minnow cricketer.

Cricket only ever penetrated a few pockets of Dutch society. In The Hague, it’s played by posh types who regard it as a sort of magical rite with the power to transform them into English gentlemen. The game somehow also took root in Schiedam, a tough town just outside Rotterdam, known as the only place in the Netherlands where boys play cricket on the street. Schiedam once even produced a rare case of Dutch cricket hooliganism, when thousands of fans watched two local teams contest the national title. Van Troost, Holland’s captain, is from Schiedam. And increasingly since about 1990, Dutch cricket has been played by poor Asian immigrants. When these dockworkers and cleaners meet Hague bankers, both sides presume (often correctly) that the other is cheating.