There had been concern about safety issues in the Kenyan capital in the wake of the general election on 8 August, the violence which followed, the Supreme Court decision on 1 September to annul the result of the presidential election, and the scheduling of a new poll on 17 October.
A statement on the KNCB website indicates that in view of these circumstances the Dutch governing body had made strong representations to the ICC, who after ‘a thorough risk analysis’ decided to move the matches to East London.
The matches are crucial for both teams: the Netherlands currently lead the competition and are chasing the prospect of a place in the projected 13-team ODI League which is awaiting confirmation by the ICC, while Kenya have an outside chance of finishing in the top four and reaching next year’s World Cup qualifier without having to go through World Cricket League Division 2.
With the final round to be played in the UAE in December, with the Dutch taking on Namibia and Kenya meeting Scotland, who are at present third and who will play Papua New Guinea, one place above then at this stage, in Port Moresby on the same dates as the games in East London.
East London, in the Eastern Cape, is the home base of Border and the Warriors franchise, who play at Buffalo Park, the venue of the Netherlands’ match against England in the 2003 World Cup.
The Dutch squad leaves on Friday for a three-match visit to Zimbabwe in preparation for the games against Kenya.
The 15-man Dutch squad is:
Peter Borren (VRA, captain), Wesley Barresi (Quick Haag), Ben Cooper (VRA) Timm van der Gugten (Glamorgan), Quirijn Gunning (VRA), Vivian Kingma (Voorburg), Fred Klaassen (VRA), Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe (both Somerset), Stephan Myburgh (Hermes-DVS), Max O’Dowd (VOC), Michael Rippon (Otago), Pieter Seelaar (VOC), Tobias Visée (HBS), and Sikander Zulfiqar (ACC).