Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong | 20-05-2026
Slowly but surely, this eight-team competition seems to be resolving itself into a top-three and a bottom-three, with HCC and VRA caught somewhere in the middle, but perhaps more likely to be clinging to the coat tails of the leaders than to be sinking into relegation territory. Their fortunes have contrasted sharply in recent games, with HCC posting relatively comfortable victories while VRA have twice fallen just short. Hard to believe there are only two rounds left before we reach the halfway mark!
RL: One game which will play a part in deciding HCC’s direction is their meeting with Kampong at De Diepput on Saturday. The Lions have slipped quietly into the top four (not that that means anything these days – remember when being on the lefthand-side of the Teletekst page was a thing?) by virtue of their three straight victories and VRA’s two recent defeats. Kampong aren’t quite the side they were last year, but Scott Edwards’ imperious form, coupled with Max O’Dowd’s first big innings of the season last week and a varied, hard-working attack, have kept them in the hunt. The injury Lorenzo Ingram sustained against Hermes will be a concern, as will the way in which they allowed the Sky Blues to get themselves off the hook. HCC, on the other hand, will be boosted by the successful return after a 16-year gap of Bob Entrop, who certainly strengthened a sometimes-indifferent middle order against VOC. But the Lions’ real trump card is their bowling unit, even without its leader Hidde Overdijk. Hard to pick this one, but the momentum seems to be with the home side.
BdJ: While the defending champions have not quite recaptured their form from the back end of last season, they’ve done enough to keep mostly winning, in no small part thanks to the unfaltering form of the Dutch captain. If Edwards can renew his productive partnership Max O’Dowd at club level the defending champions will begin looking something like the sum of their enviable parts. Yet while the celebrated HCC seam attack has looked a little light without Overdijk, the spin section have been impressive and the success of the likes of Entrop and Trijzelaar stepping up to the ones demonstrates an enviable depth at de Diepput. Kampong will take some containing though, especially with Damien van den Berg now also finding some form in the pro-series. While HCC should never be counted out at home, I’d still make the title-holder marginal favourites in this one.
RL: Just ahead of Kampong on net run rate, Voorburg entertain a Hermes-DVS side which put up a spirited fight against Alex Roy’s outfit before eventually succumbing. One of the problems at Westvliet seems to be sorting out the best eleven from their wide range of choices: they’ve used 17 players already in five games, more than any other team, but on the positive side that’s partly due to the return from injury of Bas de Leede, who proved his value to the side with his 85 against VRA. Young seamer Farhaad Khawaja made a promising debut in that game, but this week much will doubtless depend on Voorburg’s ability to claim early wickets, Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle-Calle having been somewhat less consistent this year than they have been in the past. David Rushmere remains an enigma: having hit a record 169 in the opening match, he has managed just 17 runs in four innings since, and Hermes will be hoping he can find something of that initial form a.s.a.p., and help them escape the lower reaches of the table they currently inhabit.
BdJ: Fair to say that “spoilt for choice” or “an embarrassment of riches” are among the more surmountable problems a Topklasse side may face, but so long as Bas de Leede isn’t bowling the ideal make-up of the attack does seem to be vexing the villagers. Khawaja is, somewhat absurdly, the 12th bowler used by VCC in five games, and his return of 1-69 in 10 thus far is unlikely to cement his place. The batting side looks a bit more settled, and young Cedric de Lange’s form at the top of the Voorburg card has surely been the story of the comp to date, if only as the most prominent example of a general trend of home-grown talent coming into their own this season. Hermes’ own top order, expected to be a strength ahead of the season, has (eliding what looks increasingly like a flash-in-the-pan innings from Rushmere) been outscored by seam all-rounders Elenbaas and Braat. While we’ve probably not seen the best of either side this season, Voorburg’s conundrums look the more solvable.
RL: Part of the reason for the elevated position of the two leaders, of course, is the unfortunate ludus interruptus at the Zomercomplex last Saturday, which means that pending a decision by the KNCB Rotterdam have played a game fewer as they head to Hazelaarweg to take on VOC in the first Rotterdam derby of the season. This looks on paper to be the easiest result to pick: the Bloodhounds are at the foot of the table on NRR, while Rotterdam’s only defeat so far has been in that rain-reduced, run-soaked encounter with Voorburg on Ascension Day. But runs were hard to come by when HCC visited Schiebroek last week, and that could conceivably put a brake on the run-scoring capacity of the Rotterdam top order. The VOC attack, worthy as it is, will need to take full advantage, though, if they are to keep their visitors down to a chaseable total, or defend whatever their own less-than-rampant batting line-up is able to assemble.
BdJ: It’s often hard to gauge the extent to which off-field issues are likely to affect a side, but while VOC’s seemingly quiet disposal of two skippers this season doesn’t seem to have unduly hampered their performance, the apparent – and recurrent – crowd (self)control problems at the Zomercomplex do look likely to cost Rotterdam points. Yet while conditions at Hazelaarweg are unlikely to play to Rotterdam’s strengths, the top-order are hardly strangers to the place and have looked cpapable of running up big scores anywhere, anytime. A VOC victory, even at home, woulkd be the upset of the round for sure, though loyal readers will of course rememeber what happened the last time I said that…
RL:HBS will need to be at their very best to overcome VRA Amsterdam when they take them on at Craeyenhout. Although Tayo Walbrugh’s return to form against Rotterdam and the continued success of Lucas del Bianco are welcome signs, their 226 last Saturday was probably short of what they needed against Sikander Zulfiqar’s side at the Zomercomplex, and this week they face in-form new new-ball bowler, the season’s leading wicket-taker, Vikram Singh. Nor will they have forgotten what he can do with the bat: three years ago he smashed a 71-ball 155 as VRA posted 455 for eight on this ground before collecting four for 81 as HBS replied with 398. We shouldn’t anticipate such record-breaking excesses this time, but Craeyenhout is a good place to bat, and whoever bats first will need to set a substantial total. Neither side has yet found much consistency with the bat – VRA admittedly hampered by the absence of Johan Smal – but in different ways both badly need to take the points here.
BdJ: Twenty-three years old does seem a little young for a career renaissance, but then Vikram Singh is nothing if not precocious. Bouncing back after being dropped from the national side last year, Singh is currently in pole position for League MVP, and in the face of stiff competition at that. Yet VRA, too, have looked unsure of their best 11 though, unsure as to where the raft of newcomers ought to be playing. Singh’s form with the ball has partially covered what remains the glaring gap in the seam section left by Fletcher and Ruffel, while the top order would look unsettled even without the loss of Smal to injury. HBS have had their own issues this season of course, though it’s remarkable how many of them would look at least half-solved if Kyle Klein can stay fit and Tayo Walbrugh’s form returns for good.
RL’s tips: HCC, Voorburg, Rotterdam, VRA
BdJ’s tips: Kampong, Voorburg, Rotterdam, VRA
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