When Netherlands legspinner Caroline de Lange had to choose between her country's maiden Women's T20 World Cup appearance or her job as a doctor, it was no contest.
It's not that she doesn't love the profession she studied so hard for, but when offered a chance to make history, wouldn't you take it?
"I had already made the decision before the qualifier, 'If we qualify, I'm going to quit first of May' and we qualified," de Lange told ESPNcricinfo. "I love my job but I was really happy."
Having graduated from medical school in March 2025, the 27-year-old de Lange took herself outside her comfort zone to work in the neurology department of her local hospital in The Hague, complete with solo night shifts in the emergency room. Talk about throwing yourself in at the deep end.
Asked whether that was in keeping with her character, de Lange is emphatic: "No, no, no, not at all. When I did my internships, I was like, 'oh, no, the hospital's not for me, it's just a bit too much'.
"But I know what's good for me, so I know I had to do that because I usually need to get used to something, ease in a bit, and then I'm comfortable. It was a bit of a gamble, but it turned out very well, and I learned a lot about who I am as a person and as a doctor, so it was really useful."
Contesting the European Qualifier in August, the Emerging Nations Trophy in November and the World Cup Qualifier in January, where Netherlands sealed their place at the tournament, meant de Lange had used up all her holidays by the time the World Cup arrived, so she resigned from the hospital earlier than she originally planned.
With a taste of the global stage imminent as Netherlands prepare to face fellow qualifiers Bangladesh at Edgbaston on Sunday, de Lange has lined up a new job in a nursing home from mid-July which should make incorporating cricket into her schedule a little easier.
"The first job, it was a bit tough to combine," she said. "I had a lot of night shifts and a lot of evening shifts, but I did that because I also wanted to have a proper first job, do the night shifts alone, do those ER shifts alone and really become a doctor… to feel comfortable in the role. It was tough, but I really enjoyed it, and I I'm not the only one."
In fact, Netherlands only have one fully professional cricketer in their squad, top-order batter Sterre Kalis, who has played extensively in domestic cricket in England and appeared in the Hundred. The rest are either studying or working while pursuing their cricket careers. During their recent tri-series with Bangladesh and Scotland, some of the Dutch players were flying in and out of Edinburgh to take exams.
So is de Lange envious of the other nations at this World Cup who have fully professional squads?
"It's a bit of both, because I know I'm an okay cricketer, but I think also because I'm playing in the Netherlands, I got the chance to play internationally," de Lange. "Yes, I would love to play professionally, but I also think this is part of our story, and I'm proud of how everyone's doing."
Netherlands need to strike a balance between being happy just to be at the World Cup and competing. During that tri-series, they twice lost to Scotland who alongside Ireland are the other qualifiers at the tournament, and split their two games with Bangladesh 1-1.
"We've shown by beating Bangladesh, we can actually really compete on that level," de Lange said. "We want to show the world that we can play good cricket… you want to play your best cricket, and I think we can then achieve some good results.
"Obviously, we're very happy to be here, but everyone's also very competitive and we want to get wins and do well."
Babette de Leede, Netherlands captain, has set the bar high: "We want to finish in the top eight of the tournament so that we don't have to qualify again for the next World Cup. That means we have to win two games. So tomorrow will be a good start to get some momentum."
De Leede said the win against Bangladesh was "massive" given Netherlands had lost heavily to them during the Qualifier in Nepal and to Ireland, who lost to Scotland by 40 runs in their World Cup opener on Saturday.
When Netherlands qualified, Kalis told https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/powerplay-podcast-sterre-way-to-the-world-cup-1532050>ESPNcricinfo's Powerplay podcast of the importance of reaching the World Cup for raising the profile of the sport in her country. For the first time, national broadcaster NOS will live stream their matches and de Leede said that could help arrest a slide in the numbers of people playing club cricket in the Netherlands.
Despite the lofty ambitions for her team, de Leede admitted to still experiencing the odd pinch-me moment since taking part in last weekend's captain's call in London where, while batting in an exhibition on Waterloo Bridge, she smashed a tennis ball into the Thames.
"It feels like I'm in a dream sometimes," she said. "I have to pinch myself and say, 'Okay, this is real. I'm really standing next to Harmanpreet [Kaur]', for example.
"It's so cool to be here and especially that captain's carnival was so cool to meet some of my idols and people I have been watching on TV and now I'm standing next to them and also to pick their brain about a few things. They're all very kind to me.
"Before the press conference, I asked her (Harmanpreet): 'Does it ever feel normal to you?' Because I was quite nervous and she said, 'no, I'm always nervous, that's completely normal,' so she was very comforting and supporting."
Perhaps one of the more famous players has also told her, "it's okay to dream, we do it too".