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Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 18/07/25

With Kampong claiming the title last week with two rounds to spare, the business at the top of the tabled is largely settled and their three nearest rivals – Punjab, VRA and HCC – are left chasing runners-up spots on the podium. With as many as three teams relegated this season though, the rest of the field are far from out of the woods. Sparta have of course been living in the woods for some time now with no hope of escape, but their valedictory matches in the top flight could still play a substantial role in determining who ends up in the Hoofdklasse with them next year.

BdJ: The real four pointer of the round this Sunday is thus set for Hazelaarweg, where VOC Rotterdam take on HBS Craeyenhout, aiming to vault over the Crows and out of the relegation zone. A win for HBS (currently in 7th place) could see them very close to safe, their NRR advantage over both VOC and Excelsior sufficient to insulate them against all but the most implausible calamity in the final round should they get to 15 points. For VOC a win will practically assure them of at least a shot at Topklasse survival via the playoffs, but their essentially irreparable net run rate means they can’t secure safety this week. Concerningly for the Bloodhounds, they’re set to lose the services of Aaditt Jain and Roman Harhangi for the final round, the increasingly impressive young pace pair heading off to the U19 Qualifiers in Dundee next week, along with HBS’s Elmar Boendermaker. VOC’s loss of their joint lead wicket-takers is unarguably more significant, but HBS can’t really spare many bats either given increasing reliance on Lehan Botha and Tayo Walbrugh for runs. Walbrugh currently tops the batting tables for good reason however, and while the progress of VOC’s young attack has been one of the few positives of their season, they face a tough pre-departure assignment on Sunday.

RL: VOC’s recovery, winning four of their last seven games after winning only two out of nine in the front half of the season, has been remarkable, but it has certainly helped that they have on the whole been able to field a stable eleven. The only raid by selectors until now has been by the Danes calling up Monty Singh, and his presence has been a key factor in most of VOC’s successes. The Bloodhounds’ other imports, Scott Janett and Christiaan Oberholzer, have been important as well, and their contribution will be even more significant in the absence of Aaditt Jain and Harhangi. Concentrating on this week’s task, however, both sides should be at full strength, although the Crows were without Wes Barresi last week and Kyle Klein had followed big brother Ryan in confining himself to spin. Removing the dangerous Lehan Botha quickly when HBS bat will be a crucial task for VOC’s new-ball-deploying Jains, but if they can manage that then they will greatly improve their side’s chances to scrambling to relative safety.

BdJ: Languishing in 9th place, 2019 champions Excelsior ‘20 are not quite dead-and-buried, but will need a win when they take on HCC at Thurlede if they’re to claw their way out of the relegation zone. Sparta’s parthian shot last Sunday sent their net run rate deeper into the red, and while they’re unlikely to dip below VOC on NRR, the prospect of catching up to HBS or Hermes on that metric has receded into the realm of the fanciful. If they can bank two points on Sunday their fate will be mostly in their own hands come their showdown with HBS in the final round, effectively assured of finishing above either HBS or VOC should they also win that final game. For now though they face an HCC side that, while now playing essentially for pride, are coming off the back of a comfortable win over a motivated VOC last week, and comprehensively outclassed the Schiedammers in their Round 8 fixture. Raynard van Tonder was notably sidelined for that encounter, but while he’s found a degree of form of late he’s had limited support from the rest of the order (nor much cooperation when chancing risky singles). While on the bowling side Jason Ralston and Sam Rahaley both looked in good rhythm last weekend, HCC’s middle order resilience was also on show, and early wickets may not be enough for the hosts at Thurlede on Sunday.

RL: Having found themselves on 49/6, 72/7 and 37/4 in their last three games, HCC will be hoping for a more solid start this time, and although Oliver White delivered on being switched to an opening role against Kampong it availed little as the rest of the top order again went cheaply. Jason Ralston’s season has distinctly picked up after a relatively quiet start, and he will likely provide a stiff test for Tonny Staal and Co. On the other side of the balance sheet, Excelsior have had top-order problems of their own, the return of Tim Etman not having yielded quite the results they might have hoped, and they have nothing like the strength in depth with the bat that their visitors can boast. The Lions’ bowling unit, too, has been better balanced than their hosts’, although the success with the ball of leg-spinner Joost Kroesen and, more recently, the occasional contributions of skipper Roel Verhagen, have been useful when all else has failed. A depleted Excelsior, however, will need to be at their very best if they are to overcome HCC and give themselves a chance of staying up.

BdJ: Both winless now since Round 11, either Hermes DVS or Voorburg will (weather permitting) end a five-match losing streak and thereby secure safety on Sunday, while the other will head into the final round at real risk of relegation despite their strong starts to the season. Voorburg’s late season has inevitably suffered from the absence of their internationals for long stretches, compounded by an injury to pace spearhead Viv Kingma, with the remaining seamers hemorrhaging runs at close to six an over in his absence. The looming loss of Alejo Nota, Tom de Leede and especially Cedric de Lange to the U19’s for the final round, when they will face champions Kampong, means defeat this Sunday could carry dire consequences. The pressure will be on senior internationals Noah Croes and Michael Levitt to make up for missed matches, and on the seam section to deliver some measure of control. Any win will be enough for VCC to reach the safety of 16 points, but their positive net run rate is unlikely to be of use to them should they be stuck on 14. For Hermes any win likewise means safety, but in case of defeat every run and ball will count. The hosts’ reliance on Daniel Doyle-Calle for the former has been an increasingly telling vulnerability, especially given Ashley Ostling’s current lean patch. One could easily imagine the Spanish skipper making hay against a profligate VCC attack, but should he fail again Hermes may quickly find themselves in damage-limitation mode.

RL: On paper, Voorburg had the strongest 18-man squad in the competition, but national team call-ups have been exacerbated by injuries to Kingma and Carl Mumba and the premature departure of Peter Hatzoglou, and they have not been able to field a stable A team when the internationals were away. Lacking big names but relatively free of national team demands – Aryan Dutt aside on both counts – Hermes have now lost five on the trot, balancing their run of five wins back at the start of the season, one factor being the decline in the wicket-taking capacity of Hikmatullah Jabarkhail, which was crucial during that initial winning streak. The reduction in the size of next season’s competition means that this game is rather more than the mid-table jostle it would otherwise have been, and with another raid on their playing resources impending for the final round the points here are much more vital for Voorburg than for their opponents, whose last game is against woodeen-spooners Sparta.

BdJ: On to the day’s dead rubbers then, with Hoofdklasse-bound Sparta 1888 headed to the Zomercomplex to take on silver medal hopefuls Punjab-Ghausia. The Spartans have looked keen to do some damage on their farewell tour, and having made a mess of Excelsior’s net run rate last week would doubtless be delighted to knock Punjab off the podium on Sunday. Such pressure as there is on Sunday will probably be on the hosts, but despite the danger posed by a side with nothing left to lose, it’s worth noting Sparta have yet to win a game away from home this season. Even if their hopes of retaining the title are gone, the 2024 champions look to be finishing strong, sending first Voorburg and then Hermes down toward the danger zone last weekend. the Punjab top order has been consistently producing runs, and even if the bowling has lacked for penetration at times it’s likely to be more than enough to see off Sparta’s brittle batting line-up.

RL: Little to add to that, really: Punjab have settled back into a solid match-winning formula, built on the most dependable top order in the competition and a very effective spin attack, while the thinness of Sparta’s resources has beeen increasingly apparent as the campaign has continued. Kyle Klesse’s batting has been one of their few successes, although if any new-ball can cause problems for Punjab’s top five it’s former international Ahsan Malik, coming off a short run these days but still capable of claiming early wickets. Had Punjab not lost three of their first four games the climax to the competition would have been a lot more interesting, but they will want to finish the season in style, and a win for Sparta here would be one of the shocks of the campaign,

BdJ: Finally our newly-crowned champions Kampong start their lap of honour by welcoming VRA to Maarschalkerweerd. The hosts may be forgiven for treating the game as something of a celebratory occasion in the circumstances, and there’s every chance some of the senior players make way for some lesser lights. That said, the likes of Lane Berry and Lachlan Bangs have lately been clearing the ropes with consistency regardless of the circumstances, and one imagines they’ll be aiming to put on a show for the home crowd again. Conversely, while VRA may be happy enough with safety at this stage too, their underperforming internationals are likely to take any chance to improve their season statistics fairly seriously. Neither sometime skipper Vikram Singh not current incumbent Teja Nidamanuru will relish the prospect of finishing the season with an average in the teens, and Sunday represents their penultimate chance to address the issue.

RL: I’ve never understood the concept of a ‘dead rubber’: quite apart from team pride, surely no cricketer ever wants to get out cheaply or throw away runs by a ton, and equally surely both sides here have plenty to play for. A Kampong celebration would be somewhat deflated by a home defeat, while VRA, having clambered out of the relegation zone in recent weeks, will want to prove that their more elevated position is a fairer reflection of their quality. This could, therefore, be one of the showpiece fixtures of the season, with a panoply of talent on display, if both sides approach it in the right spirit.

BdJ’’s picks: HBS, HCC, Voorburg, Punjab, Kampong

RL’s picks: HBS, HCC, Voorburg, Punjab, Kampong.

Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 06/06/2025

We may be barely a month into the cricket season, but the half-way stage of this year’s frenetic Topklasse is already upon us, with another double round looming. Saturday’s schedule especially features a handful of games that may well prove retrospectively decisive, and at the least will be a test of the bench strength of several sides that have lost players to the national team – currently away in Dundee contesting the latest CWC trilateral series again Scotland and Nepal.

[RL: If I may for once violate the conventions of the genre by adding a second headnote, most of what follows is written on the improbable assumption that the weather allows Saturday’s matches to go ahead uninterrupted. In the more likely event that they are abbreviated by rain, the balance obviously shifts, possibly in favour of the heaviest hitters.]

BdJ:The top-table clash between 3rd-placed Voorburg and current frontrunners Kampong at Westvliet is a match that falls into both of those categories, with the hosts missing skipper Noah Croes as well as Michael Levitt and Viv Kingma, while Kampong will be without Dutch skipper Scott Edwards and Max O’Dowd. Down a keeper and opener each, both sides will arguably miss the former more than the latter on current form, while the loss of Kingma is a blow to VCC it is one they’ve become accustomed to this season. For Kampong the importance of Edwards’ role as anchor to an otherwise rather gung-ho top order was illustrated again last week, striking a crucial century as part of a match-turning partnership with Lorenzo Ingram that delivered a critical away win over VRA. In Edward’s absence Ingram’s experience in the middle may prove crucial, should the rest of the top order’s buccaneering approach fail to come off. Voorburg’s batting has been driven above all by the opening pair of Kaplan and de Lange, and while the loss of Croes as backstop and the underperforming but dangerous Levitt will be a blow, their main concern remains a comparative lack of incision with the ball. The return of the now Netherlands-resident Carl Mumba may help in that regard, but one suspects the game will be decided by the battle between a care-free if occasionally care-less Kampong batting line-up, and Voorburg’s young bowling attack.

RL: Even without a handful of internationals, this is undoubtedly the Match of the Day: a win for Kampong would keep them clear at the top of the table going into the back half of the 50-over season, while a Voorburg victory could, depending on events at the Loopuyt Oval, turn the run-in into a genuine three-forse race, with the additional possibility of one or more from the chasing pack bridging the gap to tighten things up still further. Those absences put the spotlight even more than usual on the overseas contingent in both squads: Kaplan, Henry Melville and (in a sense) Carl Mumba for the Villagers, Lane Berry, Lachlan Bangs and (in a sense) Lorenzo Ingram for their opponents (who also, incidentally, have a claim to our ‘Villagers’ nickname, given that that’s what kampong means in Indonesian). And significant as the ability of Kampong’s top order to deal with Voorburg’s bowling will be, so will the match-up between Voorburg’s top six and the Utrecht side’s bowling unit, in which the seam of Kertan Nana, Shashank Kumar and Alex Roy combines effectively with the spin of Pierre Jacod and Akhil Gopinath. This is really one of the most crucial encounters of the season, as the return match on 3 August, when both sides should be at full strength, could well be as well.

BdJ: Already stumbling somewhat, VRA now suffer the hammer blow of losing four first-choice players to the Oranje, potential debutant Ben Fletcher joining Teja Nidamanuru, Shariz Ahmad and Vikram Singh on the tour to Dundee. Their hosts on Saturday, VOC Rotterdam, are conversely entirely unscathed, and may sense a chance to claim some direly-needed points against a weakened and wobbling VRA side. Even without their internationals VRA still boast a solid front line bowling attack however, with lead wicket-taker Peter Ruffel in fine flow, while both young Darsh Abhinay and less-young Leon Turmaine have impressed coming off the bench at the Bos. The batting may be somewhat dependent on stand-in skipper Johan Smal with support from overseas Jack Cassidy and Patrick Gouge, but the Bloodhounds have been no less dependent on their foreign recruits for runs this season. The brothers Jain have been consistent performers, but VOC have lacked a genuine match-winner with the ball as much as with the bat thus far this summer. Nonetheless of late they’ve come close to besting stronger sides than what VRA can likely muster next weekend, and if they’re going to turn their season around they can’t wait much longer to start.

RL: It’s a sign of progress that people seem to be accepting that you need a squad of 15 or so to be in with a real chance of doing well in the Topklasse, and that losing your internationals is the downside of packing your team with them in the first place. Whether VRA have the strength in depth to get the better of sides like a first-choice VOC is indeed moot: it seems a long time since the Amsterdammers, under Peter Borren’s leadership, had the most progressive youth policy in the competition. Their Second XI is having a hard time in the Hoofdklasse, to which they won promotion last year, but they do have possible replacements for Fletcher in Sharad Hake, who made a useful contribution to the Topklasse seam attack at the back end of last season, and Viraj Thakur. Turmaine’s efforts have again been good enough to keep him in the side even when the internationals are back, but the big question is how VRA reinforce the middle-order in the absence of Singh, Nidamanuru and Shariz. Along with the Jains we should not forget Roman Harhangi, who has bowled some great spells so far, while Jelte Schoonheim chipped in usefully last week. With Scott Janett and Christiaan Oberholzer beginning to find their feet with the bat and helping out with the ball, this is an opportunity VOC cannot afford to miss.

BdJ: Another side hit hard by the return of international cricket are HBS Craeyenhout, who will be without not only Kyle Klein, but also their lead wicket taker and most reliable bat in Wes Barresi when they head to Thurlede to take on Excelsior ‘20 on Saturday. Away games on turf wickets have generally posed a particular challenge for the Crows, and without Klein and Barresi much will depend on skipper Tayo Walbrugh and his compatriot Lehan Botha, or for a more impactful cameo from a veteran occasional like Navjit Singh or Toby Visée. Excelsior for their part have seen impressive individual performances from almost every member of their side at one point or another, without being able to consistently translate them into wins. They will likely have far the stronger side on paper and form come Saturday, but the question remains whether they’ll be able to translate paper advantage into points against an HBS side that, while weakened, has found wins in less likely places.

RL: Among those waiting in the wings at Craeyenhout is veteran seamer and former skipper Ferdi Vink, and it will be interesting to see whether he comes into the attack in place of Klein. With 11 runs in three innings the potentially-explosive Visée has yet to fire, but it’s a fair bet that if the Crows persist with his recall some attack is going to suffer. It could conceivably be Excelsior’s, which has lacked the incisiveness it had last season, although as m’colleague observes, HBS are a much more menacing on their own astroturf than they are away from home. But Walbrugh remains one of the classiest batters in the competition, and if the rest of the top and middle order bat around him they are capable of posting a score which would challenge the theoretically more powerful Excelsior batting. They really missed Raynard van Tonder against HCC last week, collapsing dramatically after Sam Rahaley and Roel Verhagen had given them a great start, and they will need to do much better against a Crows’ attack which, even without Klein and Barresi, offers Walbrugh plenty of options with both seam and spin.

BdJ: Firmly in the mid-table both, Punjab-Ghausia and HCC’s clash at the Zomercomplex could set the tone for the rest of the season for the two sides – a late title challenge or relegation battle still on the cards for either in theory. Though the watchful eyes of the Dutch camp have doubtless been monitoring the likes of Overdijk, Gorlee, Floyd, Ahmad and Punjab’s remaining Zulfiqars, both clubs have been unscathed by the selector’s scythe for these rounds at least, and will presumably be at full strength come Saturday. After an underwhelming start to their title defence, Punjab have managed to string three wins together in their last three matches, perhaps building a degree of confidence or momentum. The return of Saqib Zulfiqar to bowling has lent a greater variety to the attack, though the lack of Sikander as seam option remains an issue. The batting hasn’t quite been firing on all cylinders either, but the quality of the top six is such that it’s rarely had to. Conversely HCC have been rather reliant on the prolific Gorlee for big runs at the top this season, even if the middle and lower order has been a steady source of helpful 20s and 30s. Alongside Gorlee’s weight of runs, it’s been the seam attack – the in-form spearhead Hidde Overdijk ably supported by Josh Brown, Henrico Venter and Daniel Crowley – that’s arguably delivered the most points for HCC this season. In conclusion, as they say, Punajb-HCC is a match of contrasts.

RL: That Punjab have been able to win despite Jonathan Vandiar managing just one run in his last two knocks is an indication that their batting overall is starting to run back into form, and you just know that sooner or later, as with Visée, some attack is going to bear the brunt of the big man’s hard-hitting talent. The consistency, though, has been coming from Mohsin Riaz, on course for his most productive season to date, but with players like Fawad Shinwari and Khurram Shahzad coming in at seven and eight, Punjab ought to be riding higher than they are. The same applies, though in a different sense, to HCC, whose attack is among the most effective in the competition. That it can be put under pressure was clearly demonstrated by Excelsior’s openers last week, but the Lions fought back impressively to take the points, and the battle between their bowling unit and Punjab’s top order is one to savour. By the same token, even without Sikander Zulfiqar the champions’ combination of seam and spin, reinforced now by Tehzeeb Haider, will test a HCC batting line-up which has experienced both the highs and lows already this season.

BdJ: Finally erstwhile frontrunners Hermes DVS welcome incumbent wooden-spooners Sparta 1888 to the Loopuyt Oval for what could be a make-or-break game for both sides, albeit for rather different reasons. Back-to-back defeats over the double round last week brought Hermes’ unbeaten streak to a jarring halt, and if they’re to get their title challenge back on track one feels a convincing victory at home to the struggling, straggling Sparta will be necessary, if far from sufficient. To their credit, the dogged Spartans have generally made their opponents work hard for their wins so far, and taken advantage when opportunity arose, as against a weakened and unwary VRA. Last Saturday’s batting capitulation against Punjab might just be an indication that Martijn Snoep’s side (Ahsan Malik aside) have begun to lose their appetite for tenacious resistance and valiant defeat, but if they can rediscover their resolution they could well prove a stern test for a Hermes side likely somewhat shaken by last week’s double blow. The return of Daniel Doyle-Calle, back from Spanish obligations, at the top of the order will doubtless provide some reassurance for the Sky-Blues, and while they will be without Aryan Dutt, the slow bowling section remains the most effective in the competition thus far. Leggie Hikmat Jabarkhail and southpaw Sahil Kothari have taken 33 wickets between them and both average under 12 this season – streets ahead of any competing spin pairing. For Sparta, that means getting to a competitive score on Saturday will require a degree of application that seemed to have deserted them last week.

RL: Doyle’s return is considerable compensation for the absence of Dutt, and it is a tribute to Jabarkhail and Kothari that the Sky Blues can even contemplate with equanimity the unavailability of the Netherlands’ international off-spinner. Likewise the absence from the attack of Olivier Elenbaas, after his brother Ralph Hermes’ leading wicket-taker last season, who has yet to bowl a ball in this year’s competition and indeed missed the first four matches altogether. But their batting has been a lot less reliable, and if anyone can make early inroads it’s Sparta’s Ahsan Malik, who has removed eight of the 14 openers he has faced this season, several of them in the initial overs. On the other side of the balance sheet, Kyle Klesse and Lukas Boorer may be finding the demands made on their batting to be somewhat excessive, and even Juandre Scheepers, a potential trump card with both bat and ball) has yet to really impose himself. Sparta will need all three to come to the party if they are to win here, still more if they are to perform the increasingly unlikely feat of escaping from a rapidly-deepening relegation zone.

BdJ’s picks: Kampong, VRA, HBS, Punjab, Hermes
RL’s picks: Voorburg, VOC, HBS, Punjab, Hermes.