Author: tkcricket

Round 1 preview

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 20/04/23

The winter tombola always means that the first round of matches is enigmatic even by the standards of the Topklasse, and the reversion to ten teams together with the arrival of a score of new or returning players and the usual clutch of transfers ensures that picking winners is pretty much an exercise in sticking a pin in a telephone directory (yes, I know, nobody remembers telephone directories). Add to all that the fact the opening fixtures all have plenty of intrinsic spice, and it’s more fun contemplating the encounters in prospect than it is trying to judge who might come out on top.

RJL: No question what the opening round’s Match of the Day is: the luck of the draw has ordained that last year’s grand finalists will kick off proceedings, and that they will do so at the scene of HCC’s triumph. Some of the cast of that event will be missing, most notably departed Voorburg captain Bas de Leede, but there will equally be some significant arrivals. HCC will welcome back Jonathan Vandiar, while the home side will counter with Michael Levitt and a brace of pacemen in Ryan Klein and Mees van Vliet. With places in the squad for the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe up for grabs there will be players on both sides especially keen to strut their stuff and a series of fascinating match-ups in both innings should make for an enthralling game. It would, however, not be unreasonable to expect Voorburg’s more seasoned attack to give their side the advantage this time.

BdJ: The same fixture as last year’s final, but a stretch to call it a rematch given the personnel changes on both sides over the winter. VCC’s acquisitions of van Vliet and Klein go some way toward covering the seam exodus, but more responsibility will rest on the shoulders of Viv Kingma to lead the attack. Newcomer Michael Levitt’s form, hitting back-to-back tons in pre-season, suggests he has acclimatised to Dutch conditions faster than some past VCC signings, while the brothers Ahmad return with a good deal more international experience under their belts. All told a tough game first up for an HCC side in a rebuild phase, though if Vandiar can match his form from last season it may be game on.

RJL: Opening day also features the first Rotterdam derby of the season, with Punjab playing host to VOC at Het Zomercomplex. Minus Vandiar, Nidamanuru and Salarazai, Punjab may find the going tough, and the contribution of the four Zulfiqar brothers seems likely to be even more important for the side’s prospects this season. Early breakthroughs against a VOC batting line-up which includes not only O’Dowd and Edwards but also the new overseas Lane Berry will be crucial to Punjab’s chances, with the evergreen Sohail Bhatti and Sulaiman Tariq backed up by the seam of Sikander Zulfiqar and his leg-spinning triplet brother Saqib. Berry’s arrival should add substance to a line-up which often looked brittle once the two internationals had departed, although non-one should underestimate the contributions of Jelte Schoonheim with both bat and ball.

BdJ: The importance of the Zulfiqar triplets to the Punjab line-up was rather underlined in pre-season, the Rotterdammers sliding to a 38-run loss to an understrength VRA side while the trio were away in Iberia with the A-side before handing out a 129-run drubbing to Excelsior on their return. This without even the services of prodigal pair Shoaib Minhas and Khurram Shahzad, who rejoin Punjab this season. Nonetheless the loss of Salarazai, who’s understood to have followed new-ball partner Ashiqullah Said to Belgium, leaves Punjab without their two most effective quicks from last season. VOC’s top order may already be eyeing up the short boundaries at the Zomercomplex, though even with the advent of Berry, O’Dowd and Edwards may have to be mindful of the long tail behind them. They will also be starting the season comparatively cold, VOC not featuring in any formal pre-season matches, while Punjab’s hitters already have their engines running.

RJL: Neither Capelle a/d Ijssel nor Schiedam would be happy to be seen as part of Rotterdam, but Excelsior ‘20’s visit to the Bermweg to take on Sparta 1888 also has something of the flavour of a local rivalry, spiced up this time by the transfer of Joost Kroesen to the Capelle club. Reinforced by the return of Garnett Tarr and the arrival of New Zealanders Clark and Ferguson as well as Kroesen, Sparta will be looking to improve on the surprising fourth spot they achieved in the 2020 half-season, and two points here are vital if they are to challenge for the top six. Excelsior, on the other hand, will be hoping that Michael Hart slots quickly into their top order, and that Lorenzo Ingram eases past the 38 runs he needs to pass 5000 in the Topklasse and goes on to add plenty more. The Schiedammers have a well-balanced attack, but Sparta are an unknown quantity at this point, and this could be one of the day’s more intriguing encounters.

BdJ: Tarr’s return alongside the two young Kiwi prospects certainly lends the Spartan batting a rather more intimidating look than last season, though settling into Dutch conditions is often a trial for newcomers and it’s rare for antipodean arrivals to replicate home form at once. Clarke and Ferguson both have plenty of the latter however, and judging by how Excelsior’s balanced attack went against Punjab last week this may prove a comparatively gentle introduction. Conversely Excelsior’s Michael Hart has had a rough welcome in preseason, clubbed for 75 off his 8 overs at the Zomercomplex and going little better with the bat. The Schiedammers will be hoping their new pro finds his feet quickly, especially with the ball, after last week’s alarming showing. That said it should be noted new ball pair Niels Etman and Rens van Troost were absent that day, and their return may lend the Excelsior attack a little more penetration.

RJL: The return of South African international Heino Kuhn to Het Loopveld is one of the bigger stories of the pre-season, and if anyone can generate energy at ACC you’d think it would be him. They start their campaign against a somewhat depleted HBS, who will be relying on their new captain Wesley Barresi to lead from the front. There’s been something of an exodus from Craeyenhout, the seam attack particularly depleted, and Kyle Klein and Benno Boddendijk will find themselves called upon to deliver against an ACC top order which has been reinforced not only by the advent of Kuhn but also with the transfer of Rahil Ahmed from Dosti. But the Amsterdammers are also missing their leading wicket-taker from last season, Mees van Vliet having moved to Voorburg, and it may be the spin trio of Mahesh Hans (another acquisition from Dosti), Anis Raza and young Zinesh Master which gives them their best chance of bowling out opposing sides.

BdJ:It was indeed ACC’s slow section that caused the most trouble for VRA in their warm-up last week, and though their batting looked extremely fragile as they were rolled for 100 exactly, that was without Kuhn and the returning Thomas Hobson in the line-up. All told ACC look a somewhat stronger side this season despite the departure of van Vliet, while HBS will be fielding a comparatively more callow outfit. Nonetheless they still boast last season’s top-scorer Tayo Walbrugh at the top of the order, who struck two centuries against ACC last season. Whether ACC have the bowling to get past him and Barresi (who also averaged almost 100 against them last season) will likely prove the key question on Saturday.

RJL: One of the questions we all have is how VRA Amsterdam will cope with the departure of Peter Borren, while a more immediate one on Saturday will be which Salland they will be facing in the Amsterdamse Bos. The Deventer side’s inconsistency last season had much to do with whether or not they were able to call on their German contingent, but they may have greater stability this time round with the addition of New Zealanders Fraser Bartholomew and Finn Raxworthy. Given how competitive they could be without this infusion of new blood, they could prove a handful for a Borrenless VRA, although the home side will be looking to Teja Nidamanuru and Australian import Tyler van Luin to anchor a batting line-up which also blew hot and cold last year. Vikram Singh’s evolution into an allrounder means he may bowl a good deal more this season, and VRA’s young but fairly incisive attack will doubtless be the better for Van Luin’s presence as well.

BdJ:It’s always difficult to judge how the arrival of a single new overseas will affect the fortunes of a previously struggling club, much less two. Indeed that’s arguably the principle reason that Topklasse sides fortunes’ careen wildly {https://tkcricket.com/2021/09/08/better-together-a-two-pool-2022-topklasse-is-a-recipe-for-rancour/] from one season to the next. Salland arguably rode their luck to Topklasse survival last season, but with the two newcomers and a full delegation from across the Eastern border they ought to have an easier time of it in 2023. The departure of Borren along with sometime keeper Mitch Lees leaves new skipper Leon Turmaine looking a little lonely in the leadership group, and how well he manages his young side will likely prove crucial to their fortunes over the season, and indeed on Saturday.

RL’s picks: Voorburg, Punjab, Sparta, ACC, VRA.

BdJ’s picks: Voorburg, Punjab, Sparta, ACC, VRA.

Preview 2023: Voorburg miss De Leede, bigger changes at HCC

Rod Lyall 18/04/2023

After the anticlimax of last season’s grand final defeat Voorburg go into the new season without their former captain Bas de Leede, but champions HCC face much bigger changes as they set about defending their title.

De Leede, of course, has moved to Durham to join Ryan Campbell’s squad, but his loss will be at least partially balanced by the advent of 19-year-old South African Michael Levitt, and the return of Noah Croes, not to mention the arrival of Ryan Klein from HBS.

Levitt, who began his Dutch season with two centuries over the Easter weekend, made 795 runs for Stanmore in the Middlesex Premier League last year and, as a Dutch passport holder, may be of considerable interest to the national coaches.

As for Croes, he last played for Voorburg in 2019, when he made over 500 runs in the club’s first season back in the Topklasse, but since then he has become a regular in Melbourne University’s first-grade side as well as playing for Didsbury in the Cheshire Premier League in England.

Klein will join a pace attack which already includes fellow Dutch international Viv Kingma, although Logan van Beek will be resting in New Zealand for the first part of the season, perhaps creating room for another recruit, promising youngster Mees van Vliet, who has transferred from ACC, while Voorburg also have plenty of seam cover in their stalwarts Stef Mulder and Ali Ahmed Qasim.

The side will be captained by Sybrand Engelbrecht, who will be part of a batting line-up which includes another Dutch international in opener Musa Ahmad, as well as Levitt and fellow South African Karl Nieuwoudt, along with wicketkeeper Mohit Hingorani.

Having fallen at the final hurdle in each of the last two seasons – gallingly, after leading from gun almost to the tape last year – Voorburg will be hoping that this squad will be good enough to take them to their second championship, their first and only triumph to date having been in 2001.

A rather different dynamic is at work at De Diepput, where it is probable that fewer than half of last year’s championship team will represent the Lions this season: Reinier Bijloos and Olivier Klaus have retired, Damian Crowley and Yash Patel will be unavailable, Felix Bennett will be playing in England, and the club has recently been informed that Tim Pringle will be resting an injury for the whole of this New Zealand winter.

That being so, HCC will be enormously relieved that they have secured the return of Jonathan Vandiar, who demonstrated in his ten matches for Punjab last year that he has lost none of his destructive power: he averaged 83, and added three centuries to the five he scored during his spell at De Diepput in 2016-17, and he now has 2360 runs at an average of 67.43.

De Diepput’s proportions are even more bijou than those at ‘t Zomercomplex, especially square of the wicket, and Vandiar can be expected to take full advantage.

Patel’s absence will be covered by the arrival of Ratha Alphonse from relegated Kampong Utrecht, while Adriaan Verbeek will join HCC from ACC.

Also new to the defending champions will be South Africans Daniel Crowley, the younger brother of Damian, and 18-year-old Phillip Opperman.

But HCC are likely to rely even more than they have in the past on skipper Boris Gorlee, his predecessor in that role Tonny Staal, allrounder Hidde Overdijk, and left-arm spinner Clayton Floyd, all of whom have some experience in the national side.

Henrico Venter will doubtless support Overdijk in the seam attack, where he will need a new opening partner with the retiral of Bijloos, and Floris de Lange may get more opportunities in the first team with the changing of the guard.

The same goes for Overdijk’s younger brother Jan-Wieger, and a trio of Trijzelaars, Daniël, Justin and Piet-Jan, while there may be opportunities as well for young Teun Kloppenburg, son of former international Feiko.

But one more thing is certain: 2023 will be a season of rebuilding at De Diepput as the club celebrates 145 years of its existence.

Preview 2023: HBS, Punjab see turnover and transition

Bertus de Jong 16/04/23

After comfortable finishes in the top half of the table last season big name departures over the winter at HBC Craeyenhout and Punjab Rotterdam have left both clubs with significant gaps to fill. While Punjab retain the services of the four Zulfiqar brothers, skipper Sulaiman Tariq nonetheless faces a rebuilding task with big name bats departing for pastures new and two Afghan quicks heading south. HBS meanwhile have seen a series of retirements leaving new skipper Wesley Barresi to take charge of a comparatively untested squad of youngsters.

Punjab’s strong early showing last season owed a lot to their lead scorer Jonathan Vandiar, who will be turning out for HCC this summer, and to all-rounder and new Netherlands international Teja Nidamanuru, who has left for VRA. Word is the prolific Stephan Myburgh may also spend more time on the sidelines than on the middle this season, having been brought into the national set-up in a coaching role. Add to that Afghan pace occasionals Samiullah Salarazai and Ashiqullah Said both playing their cricket South of the border in Belgium these days, and the Rotterdammers have lost close to half a side’s worth of first-choice players.

The core of the side remains intact however, the dependable Sulaiman Tariq will lead the attack and the side for another season, and be able to call on a full complement of Zulfiqars. Of the four, Rehmat and Asad have been a fairly reliable source of top-order runs, while Sikander and Saqib’s all-round talents lend the side a degree of balance and batting depth. The veteran Sohail Bhatti will likely have to shoulder more responsibility with both the new ball and with the bat down the order, but the Rotterdammers will be glad of the return of Shoaib Minhas and Khurram Shahzad after a four-season sojourn at Hermes.

Minhas and Shahzad played a key role with bat and ball in Punjab’s first season in the Topklasse prior to the arrival of the Zulfiqars, and their presence goes some way toward offsetting the effect of the departures over the off-season. Nonetheless it may take some time for the new-look side to bed in, and if there’s a return to the inconsistent selection and player rotation of the past it could well hamper Punjab’s season.

The steady presence of the four Zulfiqars at the Zomercomplex along with Tariq and reliable stalwarts such as Yasir Usman, Mubashar and Mudassar Hussain nonetheless ensures a degree of stability that ought to allow the Rotterdam side to weather the departures, and indeed their pre-season form gives considerable casue for optimism.

Meanwhile over at Craeyenhout HBS have seen a similar exodus, the Crows seeing with a string of senior retirements. Former skipper Ferdi Vink and his brother Stephan are both understood to be hanging up their spikes, along with all-rounder Navjit Singh and the explosive keeper-bat Tobias Visée. Player coach Gavin Kaplan will also be absent this season, while Ryan Klein has moved to VCC, though his younger brother Kyle remains at HBS.

The experienced Wesley Barresi will take over the captaincy for the 2023, and will be able to call on the experience of now well-integrated overseas bat Tayo Walbrugh to provide some continuity at the top of the order at least. Should Walbrugh replicate his form from last season, when he finished top of the run tables with 844 runs at an average over 60, it should go some way to smoothing what otherwise looks a potentially rough transitional year for the Crows.

The loss of Singh, Visée, Vink and Klein leaves the top order looking rather thin otherwise, and the HBS faithful will hope Reese Mason can grow into a senior role at the top and that slow southpaw Julian de Mey recovers some of his past form with the bat. Leading the attack will be new acquisition Nic Adendorff, a right arm seam-bowling all-rounder brought over by Barresi from the Titans academy.

For the rest the season will be something of a baptism of fire for the youth and second-team graduates that make up the remainder of the squad. Bowlers Benno Boddendijk and Yoran Visée boast a modicum of top-flight experience, though all told the seam attack looks rather green. Keeper-bat Martijn Scholte has also had a run in the firsts without quite finding his feet, and HBS will hope he and graduates Adil Ahmed, Elmar Boendermaker and Leon Stadhouder will be able to grow into their roles.

In the circumstances survival will presumably be the first goal for the venerable Hague side, who will not want to repeat their brief stint in the Hoofdklasse a decade ago. Much will depend on captain Barresi, not only to contribute with bat and ball but also to get the best out of a comparatively inexperienced side.

Topklasse Fantasy Cricket Returns

cricxiBowing to whelming popular demand, CricketXI and TKcricket are delighted to announce the return of Topklasse Fantasy Cricket for the 2023 season.

Pit your managerial wits against your friends and team-mates, test your Topklasse knowledge against the self-styled experts.

Submissions for teams and leagues are now open over at CricketXI. Entry is entirely free, the trophy for the global winner is a rather fancy hat. (Hat currently believed to be in the custody of Mr RC Campbell, county Durham)

Have we missed any signings, retirements or transfers? Get in touch and let us know.

2023 Preview: Change at VRA, continuity at Excelsior

Rod Lyall 13/04/2023

With nearly two-thirds of the national titles between them since the turn of the millennium, neither VRA Amsterdam nor Excelsior ’20 Schiedam will have been happy with their mid-table position last year; Excelsior last won the championship in 2019, while VRA have to track back to 2011 for their last victory.

And there will be a massive hole in this season’s Topklasse: the one left by Peter Borren’s return to New Zealand over the winter.

With 8786 runs at an average of 36.16, 348 wickets at 25.24 and 194 catches in his 315 matches for VRA, Borren is literally irreplaceable, but he has left behind a legacy of some young players who have already proved their worth in the top flight and who will now need to fill as much of that gap as they can.

Leon Turmaine will take over the captaincy (a fourth area in which Borren will be missed), and he will be looking to international stars Vikram Singh, Aryan Dutt and Teja Nidamanuru (transferred from Punjab) to form the core of the side.

The squad will also be strengthened by the arrival of 24-year-old Australian allrounder Tyler van Luin, a left-handed batter and right-arm fast medium bowler who is one of the key players in the Queanbeyan side in the ACT first-grade competition, and who has also played in the ACT representative side.

Turmaine will be hoping that Singh and Shirase Rasool are able to open together more regularly than was the case last season, but with Van Luin and Nidamanuru to follow, along with Luke Scully, Jack Balbirnie and Dutt, the top order has a more solid look than it did last year.

It will be interesting to see how Van Luin is able to team up with left-armer Ashir Abid, one of the crop of youngsters fostered by Borren over recent seasons.

Singh, too, demonstrated in Johannesburg that he is capable of developing into a serious allrounder, and with the spin options of Dutt, Turmaine himself, Balbirnie, Nidamanuru and the 17-year-old Udit Nashier, captain of the national Under-18 side, the skipper will have plenty of bowling resources at his disposal.

Excelsior’s young guns who won them that 2019 title now have several more years’ Topklasse experience behind them, Roel Verhagen, Tim Etman and Rens van Troost having played more than 130 top flight matches apiece.

So has long-serving overseas Lorenzo Ingram, who has made 4962 runs for the club at 47.26 and taken 136 wickets at 18.77; it’s a fair bet that he will complete the double of 5000 runs and 150 wickets before stumps are drawn for the last time in August.

Captain Tom Heggelman also has double milestones in his sights, with 2980 runs at 16.37 and 189 wickets at 21.45 from his 273 games, and Tim Etman too only needs 25 runs to reach 3000.

Excelsior have lost Joost Kroesen to Sparta, but his younger brothers Gijs and Luuk are still in the squad, and there are two more younger brothers in the mix as well: left-arm seamer Niels Etman proved a more than useful new-ball exponent last year, while Stan van Troost will be looking to cement his place in the middle order.

Also missing from this season’s line-up is overseas Brett Hampton, but the Schiedammers have found a very promising successor in Michael Hart, a 24-year-old Western Australian who is yet another from the state to come to Thurlede, following in the footsteps of Wayne Andrews, Tim Zoehrer, Murray Goodwin and several more.

Hart has taken 330 first-grade wickets for his Subiaco-Floreat club with a best of seven for 47, and compiled over 3700 runs, and he is likely to make a significant contribution to the side’s challenge for a top-six spot.

So with Tim Etman and Verhagen to start, Ingram, Hart, Heggelman and either Luuk Kroesen or Stan van Troost, Excelsior will have a pretty impressive top six, while the seam attack of Niels Etman, Hart and Rens van Troost, backed up by the spin of Ingram and Umar Baker, will cause plenty of problems for opposing batters.

2023 Preview: Salland, VOC look to hit the ground running

Bertus de Jong 12/04/23

Though both wound up in the wrong half of the table last year, neither VOC nor Salland looked in serious danger of relegation through the second phase of the 2022 season. For Salland that was in part down to a bit of luck in that they took all their phase one points through to the relegation fight, and Victor Lubbers’side will be happy enough if they can survive another season in the top flight. In VOC’s case, the T20 Champions will feel they rather underperformed in the longer format last year.

The Rotterdammers were rather reliant for runs on international opening pair Max O’Dowd and Scott Edwards last season, the only VOC bats to cross 500 runs for the season in 2022. Former West Australia under 19’s bat Lane Berry arrives at Hazelaarweg to bolster the top order, which will be particularly welcome when the national side comes calling for Edwards and O’Dowd during the mid-season T20 competition.

Nonetheless they will hope from more regular contributions from skipper Tim de Kok, whose form was rtaher all-or-nothing last year, and Bloodhounds fans will hope his predecessor Pieter Seelaar has another season in him, along with the evergreen Jelte Schoonheim. The arrival of the veteran Atse Buurman from Sparta means their will be no lack of experience at Hazelaarweg, but with the exception of all-rounder Arnav Jain the middle order does look rather long in the tooth.

Arguably more of a concern is the bowling however, especially if Seelaar is unable to lead the spin attack and Pierce Fletcher’s coaching duties keep him off the roster too often. Max Hoornweg and Belgium’s Burhan Niaz have been an adequate new ball combo, but the pair managed only 30 wickets between them last season. Arnav Jain’s offspin bagged him 20 scalps last summer, but a shoulder injury has kept him from bowling for much of the off-season. The arrival of Asief Hoseinbaks from Dosti adds another slow-bowling option, and Sieb van Wingerden continues to show promise, but all told the VOC roster looks rather batting heavy again for 2023.

Conversely Salland’s chief strength last season was their reserves of quality slow bowling, with German spin pair Elam Barathi and Venkatraman Ganesan the stand-outs. The German contingent will be back this season, with Talha Khan and Sahir Naqash also turning out for the Deventer side again. Indeed the core of the side is largely unchanged, Piyaranga Ottachchige again takes the glove and Victor Lubbers again captaining, as well as providing another seam option alongside his brother Reinder or Gijs van der Molen. Newcomer Fraser Bartholemewwill likely take over the as Reinder’s new ball partner however, and Salland will hope the Kiwi right arm quick will lend the seam attack a cutting edge it was previously lacking.

It was the batting side of things that was Salland’s main weakness last year with no bat passing 350 for the season, though a second signing from New Zealand may go some way to redemying that deficiency. A product of the Central Districts youth system, Finn Raxworthy’s occasional legspin may add an extra dimension to the spin attack but his primary role will be to bolster the batting. Alongside the two signings Salland have also added some locally-based foreign talent to the rolls in Australian James Ridley and South African Ruan du Plessis (though not the former Easterns bat of the same name) lending the roster some much needed depth for when the German contingent are unavailable.

A shallow player pool was a significant issue for the Deventer side last season, availability issues occasionally even seeing the venrable Steven Lubbers called out of retirement. That looks likely to be less of an issue this season, though the squad remains rather geographically disparate, which has hampered preparations. “We are a team completely scattered across two countries, with almost no one of our squad actually living in Deventer, meaning that our pre-season shape up is messy to say the least” Lubbers told Tkcricket. “We finished 7th out of 12 last year which we of course were incredibly happy about, our goal for 2023 is nothing different than 2022: surviving demotion. It is important that our batting clicks, as we often struggled to set a decent score on the board. There will be a big role for the Germans, Raxworthy, Piyaranga and myself to play this year. Making the top half after the first phase would relieve all the pressure, but we’re realistic and may well see ourselves in the bottom half, meaning we will have to come up with the same season finale as we showed last season by winning 5 of our last 6 games. Our goal is not to do well in the Topklasse for a single season, but to become a mid-table team for multiple years.”

2023 Preview: Sparta, ACC look for improvement

Rod Lyall 08/04/2023

The two sides that finished closest to relegation last season, ACC and Sparta, have both had some significant gains over the winter, and will be hoping to stay well clear of the drop this time round.

Sparta will be without Samit Gohil, whose batting often seemed to the only thing standing between the Capelle side and relegation last season, but they will be delighted to see the return of South African Garnett Tarr, who made 632 runs at 39.91 in 2021 and may again be the mainstay of the top order.

Joost-Martijn Snoep’s side will also be reinforced by the arrival of two New Zealanders, both from Central Districts: William Clark, a former New Zealand Under-19 international is a right-handed batter and medium pace bowler, while opener Sam Ferguson reportedly combines seam bowling with leg breaks and googlies.

The Spartans have further picked up Joost Kroesen from Excelsior, and his arrival at the Bermweg will add add extra substance to the middle order as well as providing another bowling option with his leg spin.

There were rumours towards the end of last season that Mudassar Bukhari might be thinking of calling a halt to his outstanding career, but with those four acquisitions he may feel that he will be able to play under less pressure than he has in the past couple of years, and there is no doubt that Snoep would welcome his aggressive batting and hostile bowling, both of which are still capable of turning games.

Wicketkeeper-batter Ali Raza is another who was below his best last year, and he too could bat with more freedom if the rest of the batting pulls its weight; no-one in the Topklasse can be more devastating when he is in the mood.

Khalid Ahmadi and former international Ahsan Malik both took 28 wickets last season, Malik’s average of 15.50 marginally better than Ahmadi’s 17.00, and both will be crucial to Sparta’s chances of moving up the table.

Add in Manminder Singh and Nasratullah Ibrahimkhil, together with Bukhari and the two New Zealanders, and Sparta will have an attack capable of putting most sides under pressure.

ACC, too, will welcome back a familiar face in Heino Kuhn, who played three seasons at Het Loopveld between 2011 and 2014, making 1547 runs at 61.88 in his 32 matches.

Now 39, Kuhn has made over 10,000 first-class runs for a variety of South African sides and for Kent, and he will bring massive experience to ACC’s young Topklasse outfit.

Thomas Hobson will be back, and the Amsterdammers have picked up two players from relegated side Dosti, in wicketkeeper and opening batter Rahil Ahmed and off-spinner Mahesh Hans; both have been among the better players of the long-struggling Drieburg club, and their experience will give ACC a welcome boost.

Other newcomers at Het Loopveld will be South African Pienaar Buys, until recently director of cricket at Grace College High School, and New Zealander Zac Konlechner.

The other overseas players from last year, Robin Smith and Robert Ackermann are not returning, but Kuhn, Hobson, Buys and Konlechner, not to mention Ahmed and Hans, will provide plenty of substance alongside Anis Raza, the reliable Devanshu Arya, and ACC’s crop of youngsters, Shreyas Potdar, Aryan Kumar, Ammar Zaidi and Zinesh Master.

In what is likely to be an intensely competitive Topklasse this season, both these clubs have put themselves in a position to earn themselves another year in the top flight.

Topklasse Team of the Year 2022

Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 04/10/22

BdJ: While the TK-TOTY teamsheet this year doesn’t quite come with one of the openers pre-printed as it did for the last couple of seasons, one might say Tonny Staal’s name has been helpfully pencilled in for us at the top already. HCC’s former skipper amassed 767 runs at an average of 48 at a healthy strike rate just a shade under 81, his contributions at the top of the order despite the lack of a dependable regular opening partner being instrumental to HCC’s successful title run. A stand-out innings of 143 off 144 against Excelsior in their first phase 2 clash key to HCC’s second-place finish and double-shot at a place in the final. The choice for second opener is perhaps less clear cut, largely because season stop-scorer Tayo Walbrugh did not consistently play that role for HBS, yet though Walbrugh occasionally dropped down to three for the Crows, even on the handful of occasions he’s not opened the batting he might as well have done, generally finding himself in the middle after a few balls regardless. Walbrugh’s tally of 844 runs at an average little over 60 certainly warrants a place somewhere in the top three, but the chief reason to push him down to three would be to make room for VOC’s Max O’Dowd, whose 669 runs from just 13 matches helped keep the Bloodhounds clear of danger this season, and indeed had he and opening partner Scott Edwards not been preoccupied with the national team’s  frenetic schedule VOC’s 2022 might have looked quite different. Similarly Voorburg’s Andre Malan would be a strong contender here had he played a whole season, having taken to Dutch conditions rather better than his more celebrated brother. Malan racked up 395 runs at an average of 65.8 and a strike rate of 110 from the eight games he played, and one suspects if he comes back for a full season he’ll be getting more than an honourable mention.

RL: Staal and Walbrugh were certainly top of my list, but O’Dowd wasn’t far away, and a top three of Staal, O’Dowd and Walbrugh makes perfect sense to me. One might think this is a bit rough on HCC’s Zac Worden, whose admirable consistency brought him 782 runs at 52.13 without his reaching three figures; nine half-centuries in 17 innings was a pretty remarkable effort and contributed significantly to HCC being anywhere near contention for the grand final, although a strike rate of a tad below 60 is a point against him. Others worthy of an honourable mention include Voorburg’s Musa Ahmad and Kampong’s overseas Cole Briggs, the latter too often having to try to hold a fragile batting line-up together.

Tonny Staal

RL: If we’re repeating last year’s decision to restrict ourselves to two overseas players, then Jonathan Vandiar of Punjab must surely have a decent claim to join Walbrugh in the side: it’s true he only played ten matches, but his tally of 581 runs at 83 with a strike-rate of 95 and including three centuries and two fifties in only eight innings was unquestionably one of the outstanding individual efforts of the season, and it brought some solidity to a Punjab side which fired a good deal below its championship-winning form of last season. There certainly has to be a spot for Voorburg’s skipper Bas de Leede, whose 627 runs came at 48.23 and again did not include a hundred, although he made seven half-centuries. Nor should we forget his 16 wickets at 22.50. Among the wicketkeeper-batters who might tuck into the middle order there’s a strong case for Scott Edwards (VOC), who filled this role successfully in national colours and who did make over 500 runs at an average of almost 50, and he should probably be preferred to either ACC’s Robin Smith or the mercurial but inconsistent Ali Raza of Sparta, who did top the keeping table along with Excelsior’s Roel Verhagen. That brings me to six, but it’s not entirely for sentimental reasons that I want to make a case for VRA captain Peter Borren, who bade farewell to the Topklasse with 377 runs at a strike rate of almost 92 and 15 wickets at an average of 21: as a captain and as a role model he has been a giant in the Dutch game, and I’d unquestionably have him leading this side.

BdJ: Walbrugh’s overseas status is of course not as clear-cut as it once was of course given his rumoured aspirations to orange, and there’s a couple of reasons it might be tempting to fudge things a little on that front. First among them is Delano Potgieter, who was a big reason VCC looked nigh-unbeatable early in the season. 17 wickets at an unmatched average of 10.94 and 259 runs at 43 across his ten matches make him one of the summer’s most impressive acquisitions, despite his status as a short-stay. Excelsior too picked their overseas wisely, Brett Hampton bagging 21 wickets and kicking in some decisive knocks down the order, and Lorenzo Ingram again proving his worth with 647 rns at 59 despite a comparatively quiet season with the ball. Failing overseas rule-bending, a case might also be made for Wesley Barresi whose 626 runs at 48 for HBS kept the Crows in contention deep into the season. As m’collegue observes, however, there are good reasons to argue for Borren’s inclusion beyond valedictory nostalgia and a vague feeling that we’ve unjustly overlooked him in the past. While Borren would be a shoe-in for team of the decade, he has admittedly had a merely adequate personal season by his own standards. As captain, however, he saw VRA through a season that many speculated would be a relegation battle – without any overseas and denied the services of Quirijn Gunning, Eric Szwarczynski and Ben Cooper –  and took what was essentially a youth team with hangers-on into the championship group.

Peter Borren

BdJ: Of Borren’s young charges, Aryan Dutt stood out in the slow-bowling department, taking 24 wickets at 16 in the Topklasse when not bagging likes of Nicholas Pooran or Babar Azan in orange. Fellow teenaged spinner Shariz Ahmad likewise managed to fit in an excellent domestic season around his international commitments, taking 31 wickets at 17 for VCC, and when it comes to spin options it’s hard to look past the two 19 year-old break-outs. That said, HCC’s Clayton Floyd has a winners’ medal to go along with his 25 wickets, while Alex Roy’s efforts in Kampong’s doomed campaign were among the few positives in the Utrecht side’s ill-fated top-flight return. Salland’s German spin pair Venkat Ganesan and Elam Bharathi are also worth a mention here, though it’s perhaps hard to make a case for either individually (if only because there’s little to choose) they did take 42 wickets at 17.5 between them, and their contribution to Salland’s survival is difficult to overstate.

RL: To take the quicker bowlers first, Roy is certainly a strong contender with his 23 wickets at 20.48. So too is ACC’s Mees van Vliet, who had the best strike rate of all the front-line bowlers and who led the wicket-taking table for much of the season, only pipped by Hidde Overdijk as HCC played three extra games in the finals series. With 38 wickets at 16.18 Overdijk surely has to be included, and to have him coming in at eight would also give the batting additional depth. Others deserving serious consideration include Ahsan Malik of Sparta, who often kept his side in contention by securing the early breakthrough, Excelsior’s new-ball combination of Niels Etman and the evergreen Tom Heggelman, and Ryan Klein of HBS. With De Leede and Borren in the side and Overdijk getting a shout as well, I’m left with a difficult choice between Roy and Van Vliet, and I’m happy in the end to go along with m’colleague’s nomination of the former. In the spin department it is indeed a choice of two from off-spinner Dutt, the leg-breaks (or more accurately, wrong’uns) of Shariz, and the left-arm spin of Floyd. Seemingly under-rated at international level, Floyd is a proven wicket-taker, but in another very close call I too would give the last two places to Dutt and Shariz.

So there you have it, TKcricket’s Team of the Year:

Tonny Staal (HCC), Max O’Dowd (VOC), Tayo Walbrugh (HBS), Bas de Leede (Voorburg), Jonathan Vandiar (Punjab), Scott Edwards† (VOC), Peter Borren [c] (VRA), Hidde Overdijk (HCC), Alex Roy (Kampong), Aryan Dutt (VRA), Shariz Ahmad (Voorburg).

Previous Seasons TOTY | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

Scorecard | Final | VCC vs HCC | 10.09.22

Voorburg I Vs HCC I
1-Innings Match Played At Westvliet, Voorburg, 10-Sep-2022, Topklasse
HCC I Win by 12 runs
Round GF
Toss won by HCC I
Umpires RJ Akram – NR Bathi – M Prabhudesai
Scorers CC Schinkel – K Pattiselanno
Home Side Voorburg I
Comment Match reduced to 46 overs
Points Awarded HCC I 2, Voorburg I 0
HCC I 1st Innings 200/5 Closed (Overs 46)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
DG Crowley   b VJ Kingma 0 1 0 0
AJ Staal c SF de Leede b BFW de Leede 11 15 0 1
ZA Worden   b AJ Malan 32 74 3 0
BHG Gorlee* c SF de Leede b S Ahmad 31 64 2 0
TJG Pringle not out   64 68 1 4
HC Overdijk   b AJ Malan 52 51 3 2
YJ Patel+ not out   4 3 0 0
C Floyd dnb          
FM Bennett dnb          
J-WM Overdijk dnb          
RR Bijloos dnb          
extras   (b0 lb4 w2 nb0) 6      
TOTAL   5 wickets for 200      
FOW
1-0(DG Crowley) 2-16(AJ Staal) 3-76(BHG Gorlee) 4-79(ZA Worden) 5-187(HC Overdijk) 
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
VJ Kingma 9 2 35 1 1 –
S Ahmad 8 0 42 1 – –
BFW de Leede 9 2 31 1 1 –
AA Qasim 3 0 15 0 – –
PRP Boissevain 8 0 34 0 – –
AJ Malan 9 1 39 2 – –
Voorburg I 1st Innings 188/9 Closed (Overs 46)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
AJ Malan lbw b RR Bijloos 4 5 1 0
MN Ahmad c DG Crowley b HC Overdijk 75 135 6 0
M Hingorani+   b RR Bijloos 2 3 0 0
BFW de Leede* run out C Floyd   26 55 1 0
SA Engelbrecht c YJ Patel b FM Bennett 3 13 0 0
TN de Grooth c ZA Worden b C Floyd 18 20 1 0
S Ahmad c TJG Pringle b HC Overdijk 31 30 0 0
AA Qasim run out   17 10 2 1
PRP Boissevain not out   1 2 0 0
SF de Leede   b HC Overdijk 0 2 0 0
VJ Kingma not out   0 1 0 0
extras   (b2 lb2 w7 nb0) 11      
TOTAL   9 wickets for 188      
FOW
1-10(AJ Malan) 2-12(M Hingorani) 3-74(BFW de Leede) 4-80(SA Engelbrecht)5-117(TN de Grooth) 6-158(MN Ahmad) 7-185(AA Qasim) 8-185(S Ahmad)9-188(SF de Leede) 
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
RR Bijloos 4 0 19 2 1 –
HC Overdijk 9 1 34 3 1 –
TJG Pringle 10 3 35 0 – –
J-WM Overdijk 4 0 24 0 4 –
C Floyd 9 2 28 1 1 –
DG Crowley 7 0 30 0 – –
FM Bennett 3 0 14 1 – –

HCC hold their nerve and take the title

Rod Lyall 11/09/2022

HCC held their nerve in another tense finish at Westvliet on Saturday, to beat Voorburg by 12 runs and claim their 47th national title, their first since 2008.

It was a bitter disappointment for Voorburg, who had led the competition throughout the season and who had beaten the same opponents by four wickets in last weekend’s semi-final, but HCC showed the same resilience and determination that had then taken them past HBS the following day and into the grand final.

Voorburg, it is true, missed Logan van Beek, called up by New Zealand A, but their squad had strength in depth, and they still went into this match clear favourites to take the second national championship in the club’s history.

It looked promising enough when, after a delayed start which led to the game being reduced to 46 overs a side, Viv Kingma bowled Damian Crowley with the very first ball, and when HCC were labouring their way to 79 for four after 27 overs.

Bas de Leede managed his attack effectively in the conditions, ensuring that runs were at a premium, and it took a fine stand of 108 for the fifth wicket between Tim Pringle and Hidde Overdijk to lift the tempo in the latter stages of the innings.

Overdijk was eventually bowled by Andre Malan for 52, but Pringle, who hit four sixes, stayed to the close, finishing with an unbeaten 64, and his side ended on 200 for five.

De Leede was the pick of the bowlers with one for 31 from nine overs, while Kingma had one for 35 and Malan two for 39.

Playing his final Topklasse match, Reinier Bijloos then gave HCC a great start, removing Malan and Mohit Hingorani in the third over of their reply and reducing them to 12 for two.

Musa Ahmad and De Leede rebuilt the innings with a partnership of 62, but after the Voorburg captain was brilliantly run out by a direct hit from Floyd as they attempted a second run, it was largely left to Musa to craft a victory.

Seamer Felix Bennett soon had Sybrand Engelbrecht caught behind, but it was now HCC’s spin trio of Floyd, Pringle and Crowley who steadily applied the pressure, and the asking rate began to inch its way upwards.

Tom de Grooth contributed 18 before he was well caught by Zac Worden at point off Floyd, but Voorburg were still in with a good chance as Shariz Ahmad settled in with his elder brother, who by now had gone past fifty for the sixth time this season.

The spinners had created the pressure, but it was the return of Hidde Overdijk which spelled the end for Musa, who holed out to Crowley at mid-off trying to hit him over the top; his patient 75 had come from 135 deliveries and included six boundaries.

Ali Ahmad Qasim made a rollicking 10-ball 17, hitting two fours and a six, but Voorburg needed 24 off the final two overs, and as he and Shariz tried to squeeze out every run he was, inevitably perhaps, the victim of a mid-pitch mix-up, and the home side were left to make 16 from the last.

Shariz had no option but to hit out, falling to a Pringle catch in the deep off Hidde Overdijk’s first ball and departing for 30, and when Stijn de Leede was bowled off the penultimate ball Kingma could only dig out a final yorker and HCC’s celebrations began.

They had gone into the second phase of the competition well off the pace, but they got steadily better as the play-offs approached, and showed great character in two very tense matches at the end.