Apart from a surname that would open doors in any part of the world where they hurl a 5.5-ounce leather sphere in anger, Nick Statham has little to commend him (an overall one-day batting average of 11.83 and a top-score of 37). He is part of the Dutch squad for the Champions Trophy, but is nowhere near as well known as his roommate, Bas Zuiderent ("Everyone seems to have heard of Bas, but no one can pronounce his name"). Not that Nick cares particularly. He's just happy to be here, happy to get the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the game's biggest icons. He opened the batting in the warm-up match against Kenya at the appropriately named Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground, but four runs from 22 balls didn't exactly help his cause. His bat was as narrow as his grin was broad, and a snick behind the stumps ended an undistinguished afternoon's work. He thus missed out on an opportunity to take guard against Muttiah Muralitharan, which was very near the top of his wish-list when the tournament began.

"Shoaib Akhtar is the one guy I want to face the most," he told me, before adding with a wink, "And maybe Brett Lee once we make the semi-finals."

Nick will be 28 by the time the World Cup rolls around, and as is the case with many of his team-mates, this is a first opportunity to test himself against the best opposition.

"Some of the guys played in the World Cup in 1996, but that was a long time ago. You could say we've waited a while for this chance."

He plays his club cricket for Hermes DVS in the Dutch League, and apart from the odd game against opposition like Canada, Namibia and Ireland (hardly designed to set the pulse racing), that's as good as it gets: "Some of the guys like Bas and Roland Lefebvre have experience at county level, and some of us have played for county 2nd XI and league sides in England. But the majority play their cricket back in the Netherlands."

Does he realistically see a future for the sport in the land of windmills, clogs, Edam and tulips? "We need more exposure at this level. It's hard to get the youngsters playing. Football and hockey are far more popular team sports."

Nick was affable, good-humoured and a pleasure to talk to, which can't be said about several players we run into. More importantly, guys like him remind us of an aspect of sport that we sometimes forget. The minnows give us our greatest stories, and keep the romance alive. Once in a while, you need a Hereford to beat Newcastle, a Kenya to beat West Indies and dare we say it, Holland to beat Pakistan (ideally without the ACU getting involved).

It remains to be seen whether Nick will get his chance to square up to Shoaib, but we'll keep our fingers crossed. And we'll forgive him any knock-kneed excitement when it happens. Sometimes it takes ordinary people to make life less ordinary.

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