Bertus de Jong 15/04/24
HBS Craeyenhout, 2018 T20 Cup Champions, had racked up an impressive record in the fial few seasons of the old competition, the final edition in 2022 being the first time in five years that they failed to reach finals day, and indeed only the second time that they were not featured in the final itself. Last season marked a new nadir for the Crows, finishing second from bottom in the new round-robin group stage and barely escaping relegation.
Skipper Wesley Barresi is admirably frank about last season’s shortcomings, “It wasn’t up to scratch, the approach we took last year isn’t a model for how we want to go about things.” Identifying inconsistent selection and premature promotion of youth players to the first team as issues last summer, Barresi takes his own share of responsibility, “It was way too early, even though I thought they were capable of stepping up, this season those younger players will mostly drop down to the twos. And the older guys that can only play one or two games, we need to rely on players, so we won’t be investing in guys that can’t make a commitment to play regularly.”
Filling the gaps left by youngsters and occasionals will be young South African signings Matthew de Villiers and Lehan Botha (top order bat who bowls occasional offspin and a seam all-rounder respectively) while Henrico Venter comes across from HCC, and former Dutch u19s keeper Lucas del Bianco also joins the Crows on his return from the UK. Tim Drummond will miss most if not all of the season owing to work commitments in South Africa, but prolific opening bat Tayo Walbrugh, looking to make a permanent move to the Netherlands, will be back at Craeyenhout again, as will seam all-rounder Kyle Klein.
Looking ahead at the coming season, HBS will be looking for consistency above all as they look to build back “Obviously I can say that we want to win the leagues, but that’s a bit of a cliché, but really we want to be more consistent. Looking at the balance of the squads that we have in the first and second XI I think we’re looking pretty decent, I know that we can do a lot better than last year, but as a captain I just want to see more consistency in our performances. What I will say is that in the T20 we do want to push to get back to the finals day again.
Young prospects: While HBS are taking a conscious step back from the youth-first selection policy of last season, Barresi’s keen to stress the younger players remain part of plans going forward; “Training-wise a lot of the younger guys will stay a part of the group as you want to nurture and mentor them, even though most will drop back to the twos to build experience. That said [among younger 1st team players], keep an eye on Kyle Klein, he’s really come a long way and I think he’s gonna do some damage this year in the Toklasse, and look out for Lucas del Bianco, he’s going to be our frontline keeper this year. In terms of really the young guys there’s a chance that Elmar Boendermaker and Azam Khan could make an appearance or two again, though they’ll likely be mostly bolstering the seconds this season. Finally Reece Mason, another local, also still a young guy and will be important for us this season.”
T20 Record: 2023 GS (9th) | ’22 QF | ’21 RU | ’20 SF | ’19 RU | ’18 TKC | ’17 RU | ’16 GS | ’15 GS | ’14 GS
Hermes DVS’ six-year exile from the 50-over top-flight has been matched with a dismal run in the shorter format in recent years, last reaching finals day almost a decade ago and rarely progressing beyond the group stage. The overhaul of the T20 competition last season consigned them to the second tier, but the Schiedammers matched their success in the one-day competition last year, an emphatic 64-run win over Quick Haag in the Hoofdklasse T20 final ensuring they’d be back with the big boys in both formats for 2024.
This season’s squad looks broadly similar to that which did the Hoofdklasse double last summer, again led by Netherlands A skipper Sebastiaan Braat alongside Sky Blue stalwarts Davey Verweij Olivier and Ralph Elenbaas, while even veteran Nick Statham has signed on again if needed. Spanish international Daniel Doyle-Calle, who topped the Hoofklasse batting averages last season, will also return to the Loopuyt Oval for another summer, as will promising South African youngster Ashley Ostling. Further bolstering the batting will be new signing Christoffel Klijnhans – a left-handed bat who turns out for Northern Cape.
The loss of Sahil Kothari, who made a last-minute switch back to ACC for reasons of personal logistics, will be more than balanced by the arrival of Netherlands offspinner Aryan Dutt from VRA – though international commitments may impact his availability at the back end of the T20 competiton. The appointment of Hermes coach Jake Needham to the top job in Belgium has also resulted in an influx of young talent from across the southern border, top-order bat Omid Malik Khel, left-arm spinner Murid Ekrami, and seamers Sajad Ahmadzai and Jabar Jabarkhel added to the rolls at Harga.
Braat is modest in his ambitions for Hermes first season back in the top tier, but bullish about their T20 potential; “After six years of hard work to get back to the Topklasse we’ll be satisfied the moment we secure survival, happy with a mid-table finish. That said I do think in the T20 format with this squad we have the potential to spring some ambushes, so fair to say we do have an eye on finals day.”
Young Prospects: For their first season back in the top flight Hermes will be looking to consolidate first rather than rushing to blood youngsters, though Braat does single out Dutch youth international Sam van Giezen as one for the future. “Given the depth of the squad he may not get called-up much this season, especially with the young Belgians also pushing for a first team spot, but he is a real stand out.”
T20 Record: 2023 HKC | ’22 GS | ’21 GS | ’20 GS | ’19 GS | ’18 QF | ’17 GS | ’16 QF | ’15 GS | ’14 TKC
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