ICC''s move to reduce teams has put pressure on us: Borren

New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) International Cricket Council''sdecision to reduce the number of teams to 10 in next World Cuphas put an extra pressure on associate nations like theNetherlands to perform, feels Dutch captain Peter Borren.

The ICC''s move has not gone down well with the Dutchteam, which believes such a move will deprive them of playingagainst Test nations on a frequent basis.

"We have played only one game (against England) and weknow we are going to be judged by ICC after this tournament.

Probably more harshly. They will take into account ourperformance," Borren told reporters ahead of his side''s WorldCup match against Netherlands at Feroze Shah Kotla tomorrow.

"The move by the ICC has put a bit of pressure on us toperform so as to able to remain there. Before the World Cup welast played a full member team just once in the last 3-4years. So we need to play them more. We need to perform herebecause some pressure is there," he said.

The ICC recently decided to cut down on the number ofparticipating teams from 14 to 10 in the 2015 50-over WorldCup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand and the movehas already attracted criticism from a number of associatednations, including the Netherlands.

But no sooner the ICC announced its decision, theNetherlands, riding on Ryan ten Doeschate''s all-round heroics,gave a scare to England in their tournament opener. If not foran inexperienced bowling attack, the Dutch would have createdthe first upset of the ongoing World Cup on Tuesday.

"We are one game down and there are few areas which weneed to work on. We were beaten by a good team but we gave ourbest and showed we can perform at this level. The Jamtha stripwas bit slower and there was little bounce. We need to work onour bowling with some tough matches ahead," Borren said.

The Netherlands will play West Indies in their next WorldCup fixture on Monday here and the skipper said they areexpecting some good all-round cricket.

"They are a very good team and we know they have got somegood all-rounders. We are expecting a good match and hope toturn the table on them," he said.

Praising Ryan ten Doeschate''s all-round heroics againstEngland, Borren said, "He is a great player and one of themost experienced members in the squad. He proved his worthagainst England. He is an inspirational player and we areexpecting a lot of such innings from him."

On injury to West Indies all-rounder and vice-captainDwayne Bravo who has been ruled out of the World Cup, Borrensaid, "He will be missed by the West Indies. But at the end ofthe day it''s an overall performance that counts. You need toperform with bat, ball and field well."

The Netherlands coach Peter Drinnen hoped that his sidecould cause a few problems for West Indies.

"West Indies are an experienced side and we hope tocreate few problems for them. Ryan''s form is crucial for us.

We hope to maintain same level of standard as we displayedagainst the English side," he said.