The tourists from Amsterdam arrived for their first visit to the Cradle of Cricket deprived of tour matches thanks to the wind and weather; door wind en weer gaan.
VRA batted first and were greeted by the youngest Brigands side of the year (average age under 35) and openers Lee Gray and Ed Walker who made use of the conditions to get early inroads. Neil Wood then got two in two balls and fourteen-year-old Jemima Bowman playing her first match at Broadhalfpenny Down in 2023 bowled beautifully picking up two wickets as well.
It was 45-6 and the tourists looked beaten. But the Dutch, known for their resilience ever since Peter stuck his finger in the dike, waited for the slow bowlers before counter-attacking; the last four batters added a hundred to reach 148-9 off 38 overs.
"Het regent pijpenstelen"; it's raining pipes they said, so the covers went on, and the declaration followed.
After a long tea interval, a break in the wet weather meant the Dutch had their chance to bowl on a mijnenveld.
In the first over Gerry Northwood was caught in the slips, then shortly afterward Adam Jay and Ed Walker both had their middle stumps removed from ones that kept low, and then Zeb Jay was caught behind for a golden duck.
Dave Henderson showed some resistance, including a six out of the ground into the Bat and Ball pub, before a pea-roller hit the base of his off stump was hit.
Unlike England's Test XI, Brigands are not a chasing team and were behind the run rate from the first over; they couldn't accelerate and inevitably fell 28 runs short in an innings that featured five ducks.
Tour bucket hat prizes were awarded to the player of the match, Jemima Bowman, and a Brigands mini bat was presented to the friendly Dutch team as they made their way to their end-of-tour dinner.
VRA 148-9 declared beat Brigands 120 all out by 28 runs
