Bertus de Jong &Rod Lyall | 28-05-2026
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May it may still be (though one wouldn’t have guessed it given the sweltering temperatures) but the front-loading of the fifty over competition this season means we’re somehow already at the mid-point of the 2026 Topklasse, and fair to say the competition, too, is heating up. Four rounds in a fortnight has seen early frontrunners RCC stumble and sometime stragglers surge up the table, with both title and relegation races wide open at the half-way stage.
BdJ: After a slow start to the season Voorburg currently have their noses in front, but will face a stern test when they take on HCC at De Diepput. With seven points from their last four matches VCC look the form team in the competition at the minute, with league lead-scorer Cedric de Lange and skipper Noah Croes reliably churning out runs, and the totemic Bas de Leede also in good nick with the bat. Voorburg were pushed hard in most of those games however, and the bowling side of things still looks unsettled. Michael Rippon’s comparatively quiet season so far remains something of a concern, and the new frontrunners still don’t look clear on their best attack. Their opponents meanwhile will be coming off the back of a confidence-boosting win at the Zomercomplex, well in touch with the top of the table. That’s thanks in no small part to the understated return to form of Tonny Staal at the top of the order, reliably chipping in 30s and 40s despite the lack of a settled opening partner. Teun Kloppenburg’s promotion to the role last week was a success in that regard, and on that may be worth persisting with. Their middle order wobble against Rotterdam still betrays a certain vulnerability, and all told an HCC win on Saturday would still be an upset, but perhaps not a shock.
RL: Extraordinarily, Voorburg have fielded twenty players in seven matches, and this might suggesr some uncertainty about the best combination. The core is stable enough, although Mees van Vliet’s nightmare against Kampong (especially in combination with the absence of Jaynul Islam) will be a cause of concern, And with the departure of the national team for Canada looming, Voorburg will suffer a good deal more than most: much of that core will be unavailable for a couple of vital rounds. All the more important, then, that they make sure of the points against HCC, who are clearly emerging as challengers to the top three. The Lions, on the other hand, will be extremely keen to further close the gap on the leaders, and even without the injured Hidde Overdijk and the ill Teun Leijer they have assembled an impressive attack, into which Justin Trijzelaar and Thijs Vrolijk have slotted well. They are certainly capable of unsettling Voorburg’s top order, and they will need to do so if HCC are to take the points.
BdJ: Defending champions Kampong will be poised to take advantage should VCC slip up, but their own fixture against HBS Craeyenhout at Maarschalkerweerd hardly looks the foregone conclusion one might have imagined at the start of the season. While Kampong have stayed within shouting distance of the top spot thanks in large part to a steady bowling unit and the form of Pierre Jacod and Dutch skipper Scott Edwards, they don’t look quite the force they were last season. Meanwhile the Crows have won three from three in their last four games (eliding the incomplete and unresolved unpleasantness at the Zomercomplex) buoyed last week by the return of Heino Kuhn and Roelof van der Merwe to Topklasse competition. While Kuhn didn’t have quite the impact he might have hoped with the bat, van der Merwe certainly did, and if the pair can be called upon more regularly HBS’ prospects look a good deal better, especially given Lehan Botha’s form and the hints that Tayo Walbrugh’s horror early season may be behind him.
RL: With one notable exception neither Damien van den Berg nor Max O’Dowd has been able to give the Kampong innings a decent start, and without last year’s Lane Berry or, at present, the injured Lorenzo Ingram, the top and middle order has looked vulnerable, despite useful contributions from Karel Vieler at three and the dependability of Jacod and Edwards. The bowlers have, as m’colleague says, saved their blushes somewhat, but they will need to get rid of Walbrugh and Botha early if they are to contain an HBS line-up which successfully chased down 282 on Monday. The Crows’ middle-order, with Kent Goedeke and Lucas del Bianco, has been firing well, though, and although their bowling unit was able to make no impression on Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle in that game, they have the potential to trouble Kampong,
BdJ: Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, where Hermes DVS unexpectedly find themselves, the Sky Blues welcome VOC Rotterdam to the Loopuyt Oval. Hermes’ 136-run opening win over the Bloodhounds remains their only victory of the season, though their three-point tally probably isn’t a fair reflection of the quality of the cricket they’ve played. The return to form of the prolific opening pairing of Ostling and Doyle last week just happened to coincide with a sub-par outing for the rest of the order, and that’s arguably been pretty typical of their season so far. VOC meanwhile have been battling commendably throughout and finally found some reward last week with a win over VRA, with young Roman Harhangi and the veteran Ahsan Malik again the stand-outs. Hermes remain much the stronger side on paper, but VOC have been playing closer to potential of late, despite an unsteady early season.
RL: To be fair, the Hermes middle order sacrificed itself on Monday in the search for quick runs, but it’s not the first time the Sky Blues have collapsed after an outstanding start, and with David Rushmere struggling to reproduce his brilliant debut the batting has generally been less than overwhelming. The attack, too, has lacked bite in a season where the batters have generally been in charge, its best effort probably dismissing Voorburg for 228 in a match that was eventually tied. Sahil Kothari and Sebastiaan Braat have been their most successful bowlers, and skipper Braat has made valuable runs as well, but the side will haave to lift itself in the back-half of the season, starting with this must-win game against fellow relegation-candidates VOC. The Bloodhounds pulled off a remarkable last-minute win against VRA, and they will know that a win here would greatly ease those pressures.
BdJ: Finally VRA Amsterdam welcome Rotterdam CC to the Bos, with both sides coming off the back of a tough run of results. Rotterdam’s scarcely believable collective early form with the bat was not enough against Voorburg, and then seemingly deserted them entirely when they were skittled for 120 by HCC on Monday. That said, the fact that their average score batting 50 remains north of 300 will be playing on the minds of a VRA side that gave up 338 against them in the season opener and who themselves have gone winless for four rounds. The Amsterdammers have suffered a series of close defeats despite getting into winning positions, and despite flashes of form from all of the top order it’s been rare for all or even most to fire at once. The bowling also remains a concern, as while league lead wicket-taker Vikram Singh is having a revelatory season with the ball the rest of the attack has looked rather innocuous, leaving a tricky forty overs to fill.
RL: It would be stretching credibility to the limit to suggest that Rotterdam might collapse in a heap two matches in a row, especially since their opposition this week lacks the incisiveness of HCC’s bowling unit. For Musa Ahmad, Shoaib Minhas and Mohsin Riaz to assemble ten runs between them is close to unheard of, and it’s a lot to ask of VRA’s new-found spearhead Vikram Singh to repeat that blitz. But VRA are something of an enigma: with the introduction of Lovepreet Padda and the return of Johan Smal the batting looks a lot more solid, but the side has displayed a notable ability to conjure defeats from winning situations, and they will really need to cast off that tendency if they are to get their campaign back on track. With only two partnerships of 75+ in seven matches, their batting has been as vulnerable as their bowling; Rotterdam, at the other end of the scale, have had seven, in six completed innings.
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BdJ’s picks: Voorburg, Kampong, Hermes, Rotterdam
RL’s picks: Voorburg, HBS, Hermes, Rotterdam.
TKcricket 