Rod Lyall 24/05/2025
The start of the 50-over competition brings top-flight cricket back to Het Loopveld, the first month of the season having seen ACC playing in the Hoofdklasse T20 Cup following their relegation in that format at the end of last year.
They sprang something of a surprise in the longer form last year, winning as many games as they lost and finishing fifth, thanks in large part to Heino Kuhn’s 594 runs and the all-round efforts of Thomas Hobson.
Neither will be in the squad this year, but the Amsterdammers have recruited three new overseas players: leg-spinning allrounder Guy Sheena; wicketkeeper-batter Ben van der Merwe, both from South Africa; and pace bowler and former Indian under-19 player Izhaan Sayed.
All three have had significant roles in the side’s reaching the semi-finals of their T20 Cup, but they will find life tougher in a 50-over competition which is, for better or worse, brimming with imported talent.
But ACC will have been encouraged by the early-season batting form of Rahil Ahmed, their leading run-scorer in the T20 competition, who took some time to settle after his transfer from Dosti last year but who could form a valuable opening partnership with Van der Merwe.
The batting will also depend on Shreyas Potdar, who has taken over the captaincy from Anis Raza, the latter still a crucial figure in the middle order.
The attack has been strengthened by the return of Sahil Kothari, and with Sayed spearheading a seam unit which also includes Joseph Reddy, Aryan Kumar and perhaps Waqar Ahmad, backed up by the spin of Devanshu Arya, Raza, Mahesh Hans and Sheena, ACC look well qualified to hold their own against many of the more favoured teams.
Not the least of these is VOC Rotterdam, who failed to fire in the T20 Cup but who have the potential to be a real force in the longer format.
With four new overseas in opener Ryan Schierhout, middle-order batters Taylor Bettelheim and Jason van der Merwe and allrounder Jock McKenzie the Bloodhounds should be on the scent of a successful 50-over campaign despite the loss of international stars Scott Edwards and Max O’Dowd, and like ACC they are unlikely to be troubled by the international call-ups which will affect some of their rivals.
They have also been boosted by the arrival of teenage pace bowler Aaditt Jain, who joins his elder brother Arnav in the attack.
But they will also be looking to wicketkeeper-opener Francois Fourie to continue the batting form he displayed in the shorter format, not to mention the allround contribution of veteran Jelte Schoonheim and the batting of skipper Tim de Kok in the middle order.
VOC’s dependence on O’Dowd and Edwards for runs has limited their effectiveness as a team over the past few seasons, and however successful their quartet of overseas players may prove to be, they will need the rest of the squad to front up as well.
TKcricket 