The ladies of VRA |
TMS: What is the purpose of the calendar?
NH & AVN: Cricket in the Netherlands, and especially ladies cricket, is quite a small sport. It is under pressure of bigger sports like hockey and football. Ladies cricket is almost on the edge of collapsing. People don’t know that you can play cricket in the Netherlands and how big the sport actually is in the world. Or they don’t have a clue about how it is played. We really want to convey our love for the sport and get people talking about it. We knew we had to come up with an accessible but grand idea, to really gain attention and to create a topic of conversation about cricket.
TMS: Who is the calendar for?
NH & AVN: The main goal of the calendar is to gain attention for the sport, and the female branch of it. People just don’t know how to find us, and how much fun it is. The general image of cricket is outdated. People just picture bearded old men, standing in the field all day and drinking tea. Cricket and sports in general are under financial struggle because of a lack of sponsorship, because of the economy. This also means that there is no money for promotional purposes, training equipment and investments in coaching for the ladies team.
A sneaky peek... |
TMS: Who does it feature?
NH & AVN: Unlike what you might think when seeing the photographs, these women are not models! This project is made by, and features only VRA ladies, ranging from the age of 21 to 51. We as a team are very tight, we all know each other so well, that so there was no problem with undressing outside the changing rooms in front of each other. You can really see that all the ladies felt comfortable. It was a very easygoing and fun shoot, we had a lot of laughs.
TMS: What is the highest standard that either of you two have played?
NH: Anne has been playing for three seasons now and I got introduced to the game about ten seasons ago. I was hooked on cricket. So next to trying to play every fixture possible, joining men's teams and practising a lot, I got selected for the Dutch team. Through the seasons I became captain of our club team and the Dutch Development side and had the opportunity to join the Dutch XI to the ECB competition in the UK. In the past two years I have decided to put my main focus on my freelance photography career, as it was challenging to combine the two at that level.
TMS: How strong is ladies cricket in the Netherlands?
NH & AVN: Currently there are around ten teams nationwide but only seven teams play 45 over matches. This is quite different to the stories we hear about women’s cricket a decade ago. Our club used to have 3 ladies teams. It’s not that we want to get back to this number, but we would really like to see more women playing and enjoying this sport. It’s always important to any sport to have new people joining to raise the level of quality.
TMS: How does it compare to England?
NH & AVN: Well, we have been lucky to tour to the UK a few times to play against English sides. To play cricket in the country where it originates from is very special to us, maybe to Dutch cricket players in general. We usually play three fixtures against local club teams and we feel like the level is comparable. But also knowing the level of cricket they play in the ECB divisions, we might struggle playing against higher teams. Our team does exist of former internationals mixed together with newbies and actually al levels in between, we do always have very thrilling matches. This showed when we were playing the Grey’s Inn men’s team last tour.
Anne on the left, Nathalie on the right |
TMS: How strong is men's cricket in the Netherlands in your opinion?
NH & AVN: There’s a lot more variety in men’s cricket, because there are so many men playing. For example, at our cricket club we have a high number of social sides and four men’s teams.There is a national league and a lot of fixtures get organised with touring teams that love to travel to Amsterdam. The national team is doing quite well. The last three T20’s they played against the English side they beat them.
TMS: Thanks for reminding me!
NH & AVN: Like the Dutch women’s side, the Dutch men are also enrolled in county cricket in the UK. Although the men managed to compete on a very high level, with the new World Cup legislation this might be in jeopardy.
TMS: Any famous players at VRA?
NH & AVN: Carolien Salomons and Maartje Koster, two team mates of ours, have played for the Dutch side for quite some years. Both are exceptional all rounders and have often been captain’s of club and the National side. In our men’s squad we have known a lot of recognised cricket players. Best known must be Peter Borren, captain of the Dutch men’s side.
TMS: Are the models cricketers?
NH & AVN: You’d think that, haha... but no, we are all cricket players from our team as mentioned above. We wanted to show the Dutch public the beauty and strength of a female cricketer. This by stripping off distractions like clothing and working with the shapes of the muscles and giving respect to the female body in all it’s glory.
Away swinger? |
TMS: What do you love about cricket?
NH & AVN: Strategics, the excitement, hitting runs, bowling wickets, taking catches, having fun on the field with the team, the challenges and being out all day as long as it’s not raining or drizzling.
Also the whole atmosphere around and off the field is what makes it such a good way to spend your summer.
TMS: Who are your favourite current players?
NH & AVN: We’ve had the privilege to host the South African team at our club last season and we’ve spend some time with them. So we might be a bit biased ;). AB de Villiers, David Miller, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, but of course we think Stuart Broad, Collingwood and KP are hot as well. But if you’re asking about female players we admire we’d have to say Elyse Perry and Charlotte Edwards and Carolien Salomons.
TMS: Where can our readers buy one?
NH & AVN: You can order your Amsterdam Cricket Ladies Calendar through our website. http://cricketcalendar.wix.com/vraladiescricket
TMS: How do you think this calendar will go and who would buy it?
NH & AVN: We would love to think that the calendar in the way we created it will attract cricket lovers as well as photography enthusiasts and general public. It’s a very accessible way to integrate cricket into your home without it being too in your face. The fun part of the calendar, besides the whites less photographs, is that we decided the calendar with the first month of the Dutch cricket season, May.
The Middle Stump recommends this calendar to our readership. Not only will it give you a chance to admire the artistic form of Nathalie and Anne's work, but you will also be helping to fund grass roots cricket in the Netherlands. Good luck ladies, and we hope that the calendar goes well!
Nice post!! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteDermology anti aging Serum
dermology anti aging cream
Dermology
dermology hair removal cream
dermology hair removal cream
dermology hair removal cream
dermology cellulite cream
Xtreme No
Xtremeno
hgh energizer
off white hoodie
ReplyDeleteyeezy 380
nike sb
stephen curry shoes
yeezy 700
kyrie 6
kobe shoes
longchamp
yeezy boost 350
jordan shoes
Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! white linen dress
ReplyDelete