Used an offcutter to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar: Tim de Leede on 2003 World Cup and Dutch cricket

To be a veteran of three ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments and having the pleasure of snaring Sachin Tendulkar for just 52 in an edition when the Indian batting maestro racked up 673 runs, the highest in a single World Cup edition until Virat Kohli overtook it last year with 765, is a feat that can be matched by a rare few.

Tim de Leede, the man we are talking about, isn’t celebrated as much as he should be largely because he hails from Netherlands, an Associate cricket nation. But that he should be, of that there is no doubt. Playing cricket in Netherlands requires love as it doesn’t pay to play, and to persist with playing cricket demands something more than love i.e. passion.

The fruits of his labour in cricket are paying off, however, in the form of his son, Bas de Leede, who was recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the Associate Player of the Year in 2023. Bas is playing for Durham in County cricket this season.

Even today, despite Netherlands having played many ICC tournaments and having got a sponsor until the 2024 T20 World Cup, making a career out of cricket isn’t easy. Things have improved from Tim’s time and there are contracts for some but the money isn’t much.  

There are three grades of contract in Netherlands now.

Bas doesn’t have a contract because he is playing for Durham and therefore can’t be available all the time for national duty.

While Bas had someone or at least a World Cup veteran father to look up to, Tim had no such precedent to follow although his father and mother were into cricket just like his two older brothers. That set the path for him while in Voorburg, a city with some cricket presence.  

“Funnily enough, my two older brothers got involved in cricket because my father and my mother were involved in cricket. When my dad got a job in Voorburg, where we grew up, we were lucky to find a cricket club there,” adds Tim on phone from Netherlands where he trains young cricketers nowadays.

“Cricket is a very tiny sport in Netherlands. We were lucky to have a club in our city and get on our bikes and play cricket.”

Both of Tim’s brothers, who were six and four years older to him, would play cricket and their team would always be short of players. So, they would draft in the six-year-old Tim.

“I started playing with the under-12s when I was 6,” recalls Tim. “I loved it. My dad wasn't happy, but he couldn't stop me.”

His dad probably had every reason to be worried about his son devoting so much in cricket, since there was hardly any future in it. Netherlands have a rich sporting culture with football being the primary sport.

But Tim, like many of his teammates, weren’t really that concerned or didn’t bother comparing themselves to cricketers from other nations.

“Well, if you don't know a different or better situation, you accept what you have. We just enjoyed playing cricket. And we did it outside our jobs, outside our studies,” he says.

“When we did get some compensation money from either the Dutch Olympic Committee or from ICC, it was like a bonus. We just loved playing cricket so much that we didn't care [about financial returns].”

Picture Caption: Tim de Leede (left) during a commentary stint in a game in Netherlands 

Tim says that they took those cricket tours as holidays.

“We didn't have to pay for the trips, which for us was great. Great holidays.”

But there was also a flipside.  

“We did alright, I think. We never trained in winter, for instance. We didn't have a coach in winter. So, that's why we remained at a certain level, which was a pity.”

Although Tim says that he is “happy to see all the chances the Dutch players get now, and it is fantastic what has happened”, things are far from perfect in his country as the clubs that are “part of the domestic structure don’t have any money”.

“Now, they have a few players on contract, but very minimal contracts. Most of them can't even pay the rent with that. So, we're still developing in that area.”

Tim didn’t experience the joy of seeing his team beat a top nation but he remembers the high points of his career with fondness.

“I was never in a team that beat a Test nation, like the guys now that beat South Africa and Bangladesh. I never had that pleasure.

However, that wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, his first in international cricket remains etched in his mind. That 2003 World Cup game at Paarl against India earned him his best bowling figures (4/35) in international cricket.   

“India had got off to a decent start. We did get one or two early wickets, of Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. But Tendulkar looked like he was getting a 100 again. Or maybe 200,” Tim recalled.

The Indian maestro had raced to 52 off 72 balls with seven boundaries, taking India to 81/2.

“Then I decided to bowl a slower off-cutter. And that just popped out of the wicket. It hit him on the top of the handle. And I had my keeper standing up. So he could take an easy catch,” reminisces Tim fondly with a laugh.

“The fun thing was, it was my first-ever international wicket. It was a nice one.”

He calls it the biggest moment of his life as a player.

“For me personally, it was taking Tendulkar’s wicket. But for me as a team player, it was probably qualifying for the World Cup every time. Because that was something very special, obviously,” he says further.

“For us amateur players to come across the big guys in the world, I always really loved those challenges. Although we were not as good, obviously, because we didn't train in winter and all that sort of stuff. But we just loved playing cricket.”

Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Bas de Leede, Tim de Leede