Heather Siegers had to choose between cricket and her career.
The Dutch opener missed the final two matches of the European qualifier because her 9-to-5 traineeship wouldn’t give her time off. Meanwhile, her teammates were securing their country’s first-ever shot at a World Cup.
This is what cricket development looks like in 2024.
The Reality Check
Ireland and Netherlands just qualified for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 Global Qualifier. But these aren’t your typical international cricket teams.
The Dutch squad perfectly illustrates modern cricket’s contradiction. Only two players make a living from cricket by playing domestic leagues abroad. The rest juggle corporate jobs, university studies, and coaching roles.
Siegers isn’t alone. Across both teams, players are teachers, students, marketing executives, and part-time coaches. They train after work, compete on weekends, and use vacation days for international tournaments.
Yet they just secured a 65-run victory over Germany and dominated a competitive European qualifier.
When Talent Trumps Infrastructure
The performance numbers tell the real story.
Ireland’s 19-year-old Amy Hunter topped the tournament with 241 runs at an 80.33 average and 133.88 strike rate. That includes a century and half-century – numbers that would turn heads in any professional league.
The Netherlands’ Phebe Molkenboer finished second with 226 runs at an average of 45.20, highlighted by an unbeaten 91 off 66 balls in their decisive win over Germany.
Both teams dominated with the ball too. Ireland’s Arlene Kelly and Netherlands’ Iris Zwilling were joint-highest wicket-takers with 10 wickets each – Kelly at a 7.10 average, Zwilling at 10.70.
These aren’t fluky performances. They’re systematic excellence from players who train around day jobs.
Breaking the Professional Sports Playbook
This success challenges everything we think we know about elite sports development.
Traditional sports follow a predictable path: grassroots to academies to professional leagues to international competition. Each step demands massive infrastructure investment and full-time athlete commitment.
Cricket’s European expansion is writing different rules. These teams prove talent identification and development can happen outside traditional professional structures.
The stakes are real. For the Netherlands, reaching the T20 World Cup would mark their first-ever World Cup appearance. Success would trigger increased funding and potentially full-time contracts – transforming these part-time players into professionals overnight.
The Global Qualifier pathway creates opportunities for players who might never access full-time cricket programs. It’s talent-first development instead of infrastructure-first.
What This Changes
Three trends are reshaping cricket, with real examples from this qualifier.
Access over infrastructure. The ICC’s regional pathway system means teams no longer need decades of development to compete internationally. The US qualified through the Americas route, Nepal and Thailand through Asia. Compare this to football, where World Cup qualification requires years of professional league development.
Individual talent over systemic advantages. Hunter’s dominance proves exceptional players can emerge from any environment. She’s outperforming players from countries with established women’s cricket programs and professional structures.
Amateur-professional gap narrowing. These part-time players are posting numbers that rival full-time professionals. Molkenboer’s 91 not out would be impressive in the Women’s Big Bash League. Kelly’s bowling average of 7.10 matches elite professional standards.
The Nepal Test
Everything gets tested in Nepal from January 12 to February 2, 2026.
Ten teams will compete for four World Cup spots in cricket’s most diverse qualification tournament ever. Ireland and Netherlands join the US, Nepal, Thailand, and five others from upcoming African and East-Asia Pacific qualifiers.
The format is brutal. Only 40% of teams advance. These part-time players will face teams with different development models, funding levels, and professional structures.
For Siegers and her Dutch teammates, success means transformation. World Cup qualification would bring full-time contracts and end the choice between cricket and career.
For cricket, it’s a test of whether talent-first development can compete with traditional professional pathways on the sport’s biggest stage.
We’ll know in Nepal if part-time players can rewrite professional sports development – or if there are limits to what passion and talent can achieve without infrastructure.