Netherlands fast bowler Logan van Beek on Tuesday said chasing Test status could backfire on the Dutch by hampering talent recruitment.
The Dutch have emerged as giant-killers in the white-ball format after they stunned South Africa for the second time in a year at the ongoing Cricket World Cup.
The Netherlands have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1966 and participated in the 1996 World Cup.
However Test status awaits the Dutch while Ireland and Afghanistan both played their first Tests in 2018.
"I love Test cricket. Test cricket is something that I grew up watching. I still play four-day cricket in New Zealand and in county cricket," the Christchurch-born Van Beek told reporters ahead of his team's match against Australia on Wednesday.
"I think in terms of for the Netherlands, I think chasing Test status could hamper getting more players involved in the Netherlands."
"I think the beauty is, for me personally - like if the Netherlands had Test status, then I wouldn't be able to go back and play in New Zealand or Colin Ackerman can't go play county cricket or anything like that."
Van Beek, who plays domestic cricket in his native New Zealand and for English county Derbyshire, feels ODI and T20 cricket remain ideal to grow the sport in the Netherlands.
"The more we can focus on the T20 and one-day cricket and give guys opportunity to play in other leagues and around the world," said Van Beek.
A host of overseas players have made Netherlands their adopted country to pursue the sport including Johannesburg-born Sybrand Engelbrecht and India-born Teja Nidamanuru.
Van Beek said inviting people to come to the Netherlands to play international cricket will be "more positive in the short term for us".
However, he added: "If we gain momentum and we've got a pool of players that can compete in Test match cricket in the future, then yeah, we'll definitely push for that."
AFP