Topklasse T20 | Round 1 Preview

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 18/04/2023

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With at least 20 players making their debut in the Dutch competition this weekend and a further dozen or so having changed clubs over the winter, making predictions for Saturday’s matches unusually problematic. Add in the vagaries of the early-season weather and the inherent randomness of the T20 format with which we are beginning this year, and it’s a real lottery.

RJL: Cup-holders VOC Rotterdam will make the short trip to Thurlede, where they will join their Rotterdam neighbours Punjab, now amalgamated with Ghausia Feyenoord to form Punjab-Ghausia, in taking on home side Excelsior ‘20. The first of the day’s three matches will pit Excelsior against Punjab, with VOC then playing Punjab before finishing off with their game against the hosts. Punjab had a pretty good campaign last year, reaching the semi-finals, while Excelsior will be hoping that new overseas players Derek Mitchell and Jason Ralston can slot in with the veteran Lorenzo Ingram to give them an improved campaign. With Joost Kroesen returning from a brief sojourn with Sparta and Victor Lubbers joining the squad from Salland, it will be a very different Excelsior side this year.

The Schiedammers were given a reminder of what VOC will be missing in their double-header warm-up against Kampong Utrecht last weekend, when Scott Edwards’ 56-ball 87 and Max O’Dowd’s unbeaten 27-ball 69 spearheaded the Hoofdklasse side to two comfortable victories. That bodes ill for Kampong’s Hoofdklasse rivals, but it also illustrates what a rebuilding task the Rotterdammers have had to undertake. They will be hoping that their Kiwi reinforcements Taylor Bettenheim, Jock McKenzie and Ryan Schierhout fill the gaps left by their Dutch international stars and by Max Hoornweg, who has returned to Sparta. All in all, this Thurlede triple-header should, weather permitting, provide cricket lovers in Schiedam and Rotterdam with some very entertaining T20 games.

BdJ: The list of Rumsfeldian known unknowns this season is indeed a lengthy one, compounded by the fact that at this point we don’t even know whether the fixtures at turf clubs will be played on natural or artificial wickets. Either way conditions are likely to be unfamiliar to newcomers, of which there are an outrageous number this summer. How well the new overseas adapt could well prove decisive all over this weekend, but especially at Thurlede where the defending champions will be looking to a their new Kiwi contingent to cover for the absence of Edwards and O’Dowd. The latter pair were hardly regulars for the Bloodhounds last season either of course, and skipper Tim de Kok was bullish about his side’s prospects of defending their title in our pre-season chat.

The hosts nonetheless will have the advantage of familiarity with the conditions, and their two new signings have already had a chance to get a sense of the situation at Thurlede, even if neither looks to have exactly enjoyed it. Conversely Punjab’s new acquisitions will all be more than familiar with the conditions, with Jonathan Vandiar and Musa Nadeem at the top of the order rarely phased by the vagaries of Dutch weather or wickets. How exactly Punjab-Ghausia will line up following the fusion and and influx of outside talent is one of the big questions of the weekend, along with the accuracy of rumours of a return for Stephan Myburgh. In the circumstances prediction looks a fool’s game, but it’s probably fair to say whoever has the best day at Thurlede on Saturday will have staked a claim to the title of League favourites.

RJL: In the other triple-header, at the Bermweg, Sparta 1888 will play host to Salland and Voorburg. For the home side, Aucklander Ryan Mudford has quickly adapted to Dutch conditions, albeit against Hoofdklasse side VVV Amsterdam, with knocks of 53 and 103 last weekend, both coming from 46 deliveries and the latter including no fewer than ten sixes. He could be crucial to his side’s chances, but it was interesting to see that rumours of Mudassar Bukhari’s departure from the scene may once again have been premature, while Sparta will have been encouraged by the success of their new spin pairing, Umar Baker having joined Manminder Singh in their ranks.

Sparta will begin their day by taking on Salland, who will be without last year’s skipper, Victor Lubbers, but will be reinforced by the arrival of Acelan Pruss and perhaps paceman Shahir Malikzai, as well as South African Conor Ruff. At full strength Salland are a match for anyone, and they will be hoping to take at least two points back to Deventer with them, either from this first game or from the following one, against 50-over champions Voorburg. Despite something of an exodus from Westvliet, brothers Musa and Shariz Ahmad having departed to Punjab and VRA respectively, the former in company with Kamal Sajjad, and Ali Ahmad Qasim having returned to HCC, Voorburg still have a formidable-looking squad, Michael Levitt having limbered up with a century and an unbeaten fifty in warm-up games last weekend, while one of the less-remarked transfers of the winter has been that of Usman Malik, who last played for the Westvliet club more than twenty years ago.

BdJ: Despite the winter departures Voorburg have looked arguably the most impressive side in pre-season, doubtless helped by the fact that much of their side has been in action for the Dutch national team recently. Levitt and Kingma especially look to have brought their form home from Nepal, while the VCC youth graduates look ready to step up too, though questions remain in the spin department, with much likely to ride on how Floris de Lange adapts to regular top tier competition should conditions turn spin-friendly later in the season.

Sparta likewise look like they could be a handful at full strength, with both Bukhari and Ahsan Malik seemingly resigned to one last(?) go around and Mudford a seemingly shrewd acquisition. As with Salland the question remains how regularly they will be at full strength of course, both sides relying on foreign internationals that could be called up to national duty mid season – a trio of Belgians in Sparta’s case and a hefty German contingent at Salland. All three sides will likely be able to field something close to their strongest sides on Saturday though, a round may well set a record for most international caps to take the field at Bermweg on one day.

RJL: Newly-promoted side Hermes-DVS Schiedam will be looking to find their feet in the Topklasse when they take on HCC at their home ground, Loopuyt Oval. HCC are another club who have being doing reconstruction work during the winter, and their three new overseas players will relish the chance to strut their stuff against a Hermes side which has been playing in the Hoofdklasse for the past few seasons. But Sebastiaan Braat’s team will benefit not only from the already-considerable experience of Dutch international off-spinner Aryan Dutt and an influx of Belgians, adding to Braat himself, the brothers Elenbaas and Hermes’ own three overseas players. You’d think last-year’s table-toppers HCC should have the edge here, but Hermes will be very keen to spring the surprise of the round.

BdJ: The exodus at HCC has got a little less attention than those at VOC or VCC, but the departure for Floyd, Doram and Venter has left the lions without three of their most economical bowlers from the 2023 season. The spin section looks especially threadbare for 2024, with Jed Wiggin’s offspin the only slow bowling to be had from the reinforcements. HCC’s prepartation has also been heavily impacted by the weather, getting just 30 overs in in total over the last couple of weeks. Likely to be reliant on seam and hitting power to blast past the opposition, HCC remain dangerous but look a rathe unbalanced outfit all told, even if conditions are unlikely to favour spin this weekend.

Hermes conversely have plugged some gaps over the winter, with Dutt’s arrival a particular coup. Spanish international Daniel Doyle-Calle also arrives back at Harga with some recent runs under his belt, having helped Spain to two historic wins over Jersey earlier this week. One might think that the lowest seed against last year’s table-toppers would be a straightforward call, but I’m inclined to tip an upset here.

RJL: In the day’s other single-header, HBS will welcome VRA Amsterdam back to Craeyenhout. Promoted to an opening role, Martijn Scholte started with an unbeaten half-century in last Sunday’s British Embassy tournament in Den Haag, as did allrounder Kyle Klein, and with their new overseas Matthew de Villiers and Lehan Botha, the vast experience of skipper Wesley Barresi and the explosive force of Tayo Walbrugh at the top of the order, the Crows should be set for a successful campaign this time round. But VRA have plenty of firepower as well, with new overseas players Demari Prince, Elijah Eales and Ben Fletcher, not to mention spinners Clayton Floyd and Shariz Ahmad establishing themselves at the Bos. Add in fellow-Dutch internationals Teja Nidamanuru and Vikram Singh, whose 71-ball 155 in the 50-over competition last season is no doubt still echoing around Crayenhout, opener Shirase Rasool, the power of Johan Smal, and left-arm speedster Ashir Abid, and this has the makings of turning out to be the Game of the Round.

BdJ: Both sides have indeed undergone pretty drastic overhauls over the winter, with a number of familiar faces in both squads either pushed down to the seconds or out altogether. Both probably look the stronger for it on paper, though it remains to be seen which if either will be able to get all the recruits pulling in the same direction in time. With so many changes to both sides this is a particularly tough game to call, though having seen a bit of what the newcomers can do I’d be willing to chance a forecast of heavy run-scoring, with another potentially pricey ball-bill attached.