Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong | 06-05-26
Still early days, but it’s already beginning to look as if there may be four serious contenders for this year’s title, while at the other end of the table VOC, HBS and to some extent HCC have confirmed their status as candidates for relegation. With five centuries and four Michelles there have been plenty of notable individual performances, several players doing their utmost to catch the eye of the national selectors. Half a dozen century partnerships in the first eight games is another encouraging sign, and this week’s programme promises some more crucial encounters.
RL: Not much doubt about the Match of the Day this week, as Rotterdam are at home to another of their main rivals in defending champions Kampong Utrecht. With totals of 338 and 331, Sikander Zulfiqar’s side has clearly established its credentials in the batting department, and Kampong’s attack will need to be at its sharpest if they are to contain Musa Ahmad and Co. Of the top six only Shoaib Minhas has gone cheaply twice, and it’s hard to believe that he will allow that run to continue for very long. The same applies to Kampong’s Max O’Dowd, who has so far managed 8 from two innings; someone is going to pay for that, one suspects, and despite Carl Mumba’s six for 47 against Hermes last week Rotterdam’s bowling unit could prove to his liking. Scott Edwards’ ominous form and Pierre Jacod’s fine support act have been the story of Kampong’s batting in the first two games, and they will need the rest of the top and middle order to chip in if they are to have any chance of halting the Rotterdammers’ impressive start.
BdJ: It’s early days to be labelling anyone frontrunners at this point of course, but the winner of this match will have as good a claim as any (bar perhaps Voorburg) by this time next week. Rotterdam’s batting card will certainly pose a sterner test for Kampong’s attack than any they’ve yet faced, though Kampong are a more balanced side this season than the batting heavy VRA or Hermes. They also have the batting to put Rotterdam under scoreboard pressure if they wind up chasing for the first time, and though O’Dowd’s ability to keep churning out runs in Orange despite rarely looking particularly fluent doesn’t seem to translate to club cricket, it’s worth noting Kampong managed to claim the title last time round despite his chipping in just 123 runs in his 8 games in blue. The defending champions will nonetheless want to bag as many wins as they can before the international season gets underway June, though given Musa Ahmad and Saqib Zulfiqar’s form Rotterdam may not escape the selectors’ attention either.
RL: Already one win behind the leaders, both VRA Amsterdam and Hermes-DVS Schiedam will be particularly keen to avoid making it two when they face off in the Bos on Saturday. As it happens, both have been on the wrong end of a 300-plus onslaught from the batting might of Rotterdam, and it’s fair to say that VRA made a much better fist of the subsequent chase than the Sky Blues were able to do last week. With 169 and a golden duck in his first two innings, David Rushmere has already run the gamut of Topklasse fortunes, but with Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle Calle not so far giving their side the sort of starts they found so valuable last year and with Aryan Dutt also going early, Rushmore’s contribution has become even more vital. Teja Nidamanuru, Vikram Singh and Johan Smal, by contrast, have produced four half-centuries between them in six collective innings, and the Hermes bowling unit will have to strike early if they are going to contain the home side’s line-up.
BdJ: So a first home game for VRA and a first look at the Bos for Topklasse-watchers. With both sides looking a tad batting-heavy this season, and arguably somewhat dependent on assistance from conditions for penetration with the ball, the toss and the state of the square may play an outsized role come Saturday. VRA seconds getting rolled for 91 against Excelsior last week is hardly encouraging on that front, but an insider assessment reassures us “nah it’s pretty flat we just batted like idiots.” VRA’s top order has consistent form on their side, but it’s fair to say both Ostling and Doyle-Calle are due. Hermes look less reliant on their opening pair than they did last season, but if they’re to mount a similar early challenge as they did in 2025 they will be looking for more runs at the top.
RL: Down at the wrong end of the table, HBS and HCC will both be fairly desperate to break their duck when they meet at Craeyenhout. The Lions’ two knocks so far have gone in fits and starts: Shirsak Banerjee and Teun Kloppenburg have managed fighting half-centuries, but there have been no really substantial partnerships, and there will need to be some improvement against a Crows’ attack in which Lehan Botha and the emerging Joris van Oosterom have looked sharp, Kyle Klein may be returning to fitness, and Julian de Mey and Kent Goedeke provide useful spin options. But HBS have plenty of batting worries of their own, only Lucas del Bianco having gone past fifty in the first two games. But then HCC’s bowlers, so often the kernel of a successful side, only managed ten wickets between them against Voorburg and VRA – admittedly two the stronger batting line-ups – and Boris Gorlee will be looking for improvement in that department as well.
BdJ: The two Hague sides both have a top order issue, with respective skippers Walbrugh and Gorlee both starting slow and overseas reinforcements yet to deliver runs in quantity for either side. Youngsters Banerjee and Kloppenburg have provided some middle order resilience for HCC, but the Crows have looked rather more brittle when the top order fails, twice rolled for 175 despite the efforts of del Bianco and Navjit Singh. The fact that the best performers for both clubs thus far have been younger or less celebrated players does suggest they each have a fairly high ceiling if the seniors rediscover their form, but as it stands this match-up does rather have the look of a stoppable force meeting a moveable object.
RL: Also in the early relegation zone are VOC Rotterdam, and they are at least at home for their encounter with championship contenders Voorburg at the Hazelaarweg. With back-to-back centuries and a Bradmanesque average of 212, Cedric de Lange has been one of the stars of the season so far, while Noah Croes’s fine allround effort ensured victory against HBS. The depth of Voorburg’s resources is illustrated by the presence of no fewer than nine players from the club across the three newly-announced Pro Series squads, three of whom have yet to appear in the first team (that includes, of course, Bas de Leede, still being nursed back to fitness), and it’s hard to see VOC, for all the gutsiness their bowlers have shown in their first two matches, competing with that. Ethan Price’s knock against Kampong last week was encouraging, but you get the feeling that the Bloodhounds will continue to struggle in both departments.
BdJ: It should probably be pointed out that Tom de Leede and Aaditt Jain’s absence for the first few matches has also been a question of force majeur (injury and scholastic commitments respectively) rather than the youngsters being benched, but the point about VCC’s remarkable depth stands. With Rippon’s arrival, Peter Hatzoglou currently cameoing and Gavin Kaplan also a potential addition later in the season, Voorburg aren’t far from a full side of International or List A cricketers. VOC did show some admirable fight in their two opening games, but it’ll take a bit more than grit to pull off an upset on Saturday.
RL’s picks: Rotterdam, VRA, HCC, Voorburg
BdJ’s picks: Kampong, VRA, HCC, Voorburg
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