Netherlands fielded an ineligible player during their T20I against Italy in Women's cricket on May 28 (Tuesday). International Cricket Council (ICC) informed the Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB) of the same and the board accepted the responsibility. However, the identity of the player has not been revealed by any of the parties but ICC might sanction the board and the player both according to the rules.
The firdst T20I of the four-match series between Netherlands and Italy women took place on May 28. The Dutch girls won the game comfortably by 94 runs as they defended the total of 178 runs successfully. But they fielded a player in their playing XI who wasn't qualified under the ICC's regulations. KNCB confirmed the mistake on their part in the press release on Wednesday (May 29) morning while assuring that they will make changes to their line-up accordingly for the second T20I.
"The ICC has informed the Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB) regarding an irregularity in the line-up of the Dutch Women's Cricket Team in the match between the Netherlands and Italy on Tuesday, May 28. Although no additional details have been communicated yet, the KNCB acknowledges that it was correctly identified for this error and will make the necessary adjustments in the next match to comply with the regulations," KNCB said in the release.
The board also stated that it is willing to develop the women's cricket team across both T20I and ODI formats. "The KNCB is committed to developing the Netherlands Women's Cricket team and is ambitious for the team to continue to progress in ICC T20I and ICC 50-over World Cup pathway competitions," the board further said.
Meanwhile, ICC is yet to publicly make a comment on the matter but there are quite a few sanctions for breaching the player eligibility rules. The player in question might get suspended while the result of the Netherlands vs Italy T20I might also get amended or overturned. Notably, the Netherlands had fielded two debutants - Madison Landsman and Sanya Khurana - in their playing XI in the first T20I. The second and third T20I were scheduled to take place on May 29 but were abandoned due to rain. The fourth and final match of the series will be played on May 30 at 2:30 PM IST.
