One of the oldest traditional encounters in the Dutch cricket calendar will be continued this week with a three-match visit to Den Haag by a side representing the English touring club, the Free Foresters.

Founded in 1856 as a club for cricketers from the Midlands, the Free Foresters first visited the Netherlands in 1921, and they played the full Dutch side 36 times between that initial visit and 1983, when they played two matches at Quick Haag's Nieuw Hanenburg ground. During this period, matches between the national team and the Foresters, and against the MCC, were the highlights of the international programme.

The geographical restriction of members had disappeared by the end of the nineteenth century, and the club now welcomes club players from all over England, but particularly the south and Midlands. Many great cricketers have appeared in its crimson, green and white colours, and those who took part in matches against the Dutch between 1921 and 1983 included former England Test players Maurice Allom, Greville Stevens and Ian Peebles, along with long-standing Hampshire captain Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie and Charles Robins of Middlesex.

It was leg-spinner Robins who produced the finest individual bowling performance of the series, taking eight for 23 and seven for 91 at De Diepput in 1954 as the Foresters beat the Netherlands by a innings.

This year's side will return to De Diepput, where the first match was played in 1921, as part of the 90th anniversary celebrations of De Flamingo's, their Dutch equivalent which was established on the model of the English club.

Although games against the Foresters have disappeared from the Dutch international programme, the relationship with De Flamingo's has continued, and the clubs play each other in alternate years.

But this season's visit is obviously a special occasion, coinciding with a celebration dinner on Friday evening. And one of its highlights - weather permitting - will be a 50-over match against Netherlands A at De Diepput on Thursday.

The Foresters are scheduled to start with a Twenty20 game against HCC on Wednesday, while on Friday they will meet De Flamingo's.

The visitors are bringing an interesting combination of club cricketers, led by Cambridge Blue and Minor Counties player for Cumbria John Ratledge. The side also includes another former University player with Minor Counties experience, Oxfordshire's David Smith.

The global reach of English cricket is also reflected in the presence of two South African-born players, Jordan Leppan and Alex Ralston, and New Zealander Nathan Williamson.

Roland Lefebvre has put together a strong A squad to face the tourists, including several who are in contention for a place in the Dutch sides for the second half of this year's CB 40 campaign. Those named include the Netherlands' newest international, VRA's Vinoo Tewarie, and Bloemendaal's Matthijs Luten, who was also included in the Dutch party to Scotland earlier this month.

Tim Gruijters, who is again playing in England this season, has been included, along with his 17-year-old younger brother James, who shared a match-winning partnership with Scott Kuggeleijn for the South against the North in last Saturday's rescheduled Durant Series encounter.

Experience will be contributed to a generally young squad by Wesley Barresi, and by Geert Maarten Mol, a consistent performer for Quick Haag, who makes a welcome return to the international scene.

The squads are:
Netherlands A:
(From) Rahil Ahmed (Dosti), Dirk van Baren (VOC), Wesley Barresi (VRA), Sebastiaan Braat (Hermes-DVS), Dennis Coster (HBS), James Gruijters (Quick Haag), Tim Gruijters (Walmley), Scott Kuggeleijn (VOC), Matthijs Luten (Bloemendaal), Geert Maarten Mol (Quick Haag), Thijs van Schelven (both Quick Haag), Harro Seelaar (Hermes-DVS), and Vinoo Tewarie (VRA).

Free Foresters:
John Ratledge (captain, Chorley and Cumbria), Zulfiqar Azom, Ollie Dean, Darren Eckford (all North Middlesex), Jordan Leppan (Datchet), Jimmy Neesham (Upminster), Alex Ralston (Amersham), David Smith (Oxford and Oxfordshire), Alex Szepietowski (Esher), Nathan Williamson (Counties Manukau and Compton & Chandlers Ford), and George Wissett-Warner (Stalbridge).