England and The Netherlands have named their men's squads for the upcoming Rabo 4 Nations tournament that takes place in Amsterdam this week alongside the Rabo FIH Champions Trophy.
The England side contains a number of notible names including Ben Hawes, who captained Great Britain at the 2008 Olympic Games, as well as 34 year old Mark Pearn and former South African international Ken Forbes, 33.
Pearn netted 48 times in 148 appearances for England and a further 21 times in 76 games for Great Britain. The double Olympian retired from international duty in 2005 following two Olympic Games, two World Cups, two European Championships, two Commonwealth Games and four Champions Trophy tournaments. Still playing at the top level in the England Hockey League and Euro Hockey League with East Grinstead, Pearn returned to training with the national team late last year, balancing the commitment with his job as a teacher at Wellington College and Eagle House Prep School.
Of his return, he said: “Things have moved on a bit since I was last involved. There’s a bigger squad of players and thanks to National Lottery funding we’re better supported. It’s easy to just keep doing the same thing in life but I like a challenge and I’m under no illusions as to how hard it’s going to be to compete for my place.”
Surbiton’s Ken Forbes earned his place in England’s squad for the Rabo Four Nations Cup on the back of his performances against Scotland, Spain and Germany in an uncapped tournament in Largs recently. Having competed in the England Hockey League Premier Division and Great Britain Super League this season, the former South Africa international, who holds dual nationality, will make his full England debut in Amsterdam.
The Netherlands line up is missing Teun de Nooijer, who is struggling with injury, but does include teenage sensation Seve van Ass, the son of team coach Paul van Ass who was recently a winner of the Euro Hockey League with his club side HGC. Both squads can be found below.
England
Richard Alexander
Alastair Brogdon
Nick Brothers
Nick Catlin
Jonty Clarke
James Fair
Ken Forbes
Ben Hawes
Glenn Kirkham
Iain Lewers
Iain Mackay
Richard Mantell
Simon Mantell
Barry Middleton (c)
Rob Moore
Mark Pearn
Richard Smith
Alastair Wilson
The Netherlands.
1 Klaas Veering (GK)
2 Jaap Stockmann (GK)
5 Marcel Balkestein
7 Wouter Jolie
9 Roderick Weusthof
10 Taeke Taekema
11 Jeroen Hertzberger
12 Robbert Kemperman
15 Sander Baart
16 Floris Evers (C)
20 Sander De Wijn
22 Rogier Hofman
24 Robert van der Horst
25 Seve van Ass
26 Valentin Verga
27 Quirijn Caspers
28 Billy Bakker
29 Tim Jenniskens
Rabo Four Nations Cup Fixtures
Local Time- BST- Fixture
Tuesday 28 June 2011
19:30 - 18:30 - Netherlands v Pakistan
21:00 - 20:00 - Germany v England
Wednesday 29 June 2011
17:30 - 16:30 - England v Pakistan
20:00 - 19:00 - Netherlands v Germany
Friday 1 July 2011
17:00 - 16:00 - Germany v Pakistan
19:30 - 18:30 - England v Netherlands
Saturday 2 July 2011
15:00 - 14:00 - Third v Fourth
17:30 - 16:30 - First v Second
