van Troost hits out at the ECB

Luuk vav Troost, the Holland captain, has criticised the ECB for not allowing his team to participate in the English county season. Holland lost to Scotland in their last group match of the ICC Trophy - a game they needed to win to stand a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals - and Troost suggested that Scotland had an unfair advantage over the other teams.

"They won't even let us play in the C&G Trophy any more," the BBC Sport website quoted van Troost as saying. "We didn't play very well against Scotland and if we don't improve we won't qualify at all. Scotland are a much stronger team than they used to be after playing in the English one-day league. I'm very jealous - I don't understand why we're not in it." Holland played in the C&G Trophy this year, losing to Warwickshire by 23 runs in the first round, but will not feature in the tournament from next year.

Holland can still make it to the 2007 World Cup as the fifth qualifier - a position for which UAE, Denmark and Namibia are also in contention. Holland play the first of those qualifying games against Denmark on Saturday.