Category: Uncategorized

Rod Lyall 16/06/24

Another day of delays, interruptions and abandonments nevertheless ended with two surprise victories, one of them another of the close finishes which have enlivened an otherwise frustrating season.

The match between HCC and HBS Craeyenhout was the first to be called off, and because HCC already have two matches waiting to be replayed – the maximum allowed under the Playing Conditions – the sides had to be content with a point apiece.

A couple of hours later, the condition of the run-ups at Het Loopveld was responsible for the game between ACC and VRA going the same way; clubs have, apparently, yet to learn that covering the approaches to the wicket is just as important as covering the pitch itself.

By the time that decision was made play had already started at the Bermweg, where Punjab-Ghausia had won the toss and elected to put hosts Sparta 1888 in.

Sparta soon found themselves in difficulties at 24 for three, with Shaquille Martina, Riley Mudford and Sam Ferguson all gone, but although Faizan Bashir’s 25 was the top score some dogged resistance from Manminder Singh, Umar Baker and Martijn Snoep in the lower order enabled them to reach 161 for nine; Burhan Niaz was the most successful of Punjab’s bowlers with three for 18 from seven overs.

The visitors quickly discovered that that was a better total than it may have seemed at the innings break, and Snoep and Khalid Ahmadi maintained the pressure effectively as Punjab, losing wickets at intervals, increasingly fell behind the DLS par score.

An interruption for rain after 17 overs, with Punjab on 58 for four, led to the match being cut to 45 overs with a revised target of 157, but when the players were driven from the field for what proved to be the last time Punjab were on 88 for five, 11 runs behind the par score, and Sparta had earned their first points of this season’s 50-over competition.

After long delays a start was finally possible at Westvliet, Voorburg winning the toss and electing to field against Hermes-DVS Schiedam in a match reduced to 23 overs a side.

Michael Molenaar and Philippe Boissevain collected two wickets apiece, but Daniel Doyle was again in great touch, smacking an unbeaten 86 from 53 deliveries with seven fours and three sixes.

With Hermes on 150 for four, however, and Doyle seemingly on the way to another century, the rain returned and no further play possible.

That left the game between VOC and Excelsior ’20 at the Hazelaarweg, where a delayed start meant that there was a reduction to 40 overs a side.

With Jock McKenzie taking four for 15 and Jelte Schoonheim three for 28 Excelsior were dismissed for 156, despite Roel Verhagen’s 53 which had seen them reach 113 for three; the middle and lower order was again unable to capitalise on that solid start, the last six wickets adding just 43 runs.

As at the Bermweg, though, VOC soon found chasing even a modest target tricky in the conditions, especially with Jason Ralston attacking the stumps at pace and bowling Francois Fourie, Taylor Bettelheim and McKenzie in the space of five deliveries to reduce them to 9 for three.

Ryan Schiehout watched the chaos from the other end, contributing a determined 46, but when he tried to hit Niels Etman over the top and was caught by Ralston at long off, the score was 82 for six the home side’s chances seemed to have dissipated.

They were rescued by a stand between brothers Arnav and Aaditt Jain, who added a precious 34 for the eighth wicket, and after Arnav had been caught behind by Verhagen of Etman’s bowling for 29, Aaditt and Roman Harhangi continued to push towards their target, so successfully that when Etman began the final over only eight more runs were needed.

Four leg-byes halved the deficit, but then Harhangi tried to hit over the top and was caught by Lorenzo Ingram; four were now required off four deliveries as last man Asief Hoseinbaks joined Aaditt Jain.

He pushed the next ball to cover and took off, the batters keen to get Jain back on strike, but Ingram gathered the ball and ran towards the stumps, his short-range throw quick enough to beat Hoseinbaks’ desperate lunge.

Ralston finished with four for 22 and Etman with four for 30.

It was the second time this season that VOC had been deprived of victory in the final over, and Excelsior, like Sparta, claimed their first points of the competition. The hunt for a top-six place is now definitely on.

Bertus de Jong 16/05/24

---

As the final round of T20 League matches approaches, the unseasonably wet weather has left us with a substantial backlog of catch-up games to get through at the back end too, with almost as many rain-repeats scheduled over the next few days as actual Round 6 games. Further complicating the schedule is of course the arrival of the international season, with Scotland and Ireland in town for a tri-series that will pull a number of players out of domestic cricket as the scramble for playoff spots comes to a head.

A total of ten matches remain, to be played over the course of the weekend and Easter Monday. One side has already booked their place for finals day, hosts Voorburg, two points clear at the top of the table, can no longer drop out of the top four. That’s perhaps fortunate for them as they may lose a number of players to international duty – Vivian Kingma, Sybrand Engelbrecht and Michael Levitt unlikely to be available for their catch-up against HBS on the eve of the international tri-series, and even less likely to feature against HCC the next day.

For HBS Craeyenhout, currently in second place but unbeaten and with three games in hand, only a catastrophic final stretch could see them miss out. While they likely lose Kyle Klein and skipper Wesley Barresi to national duty, they only need one win from their three matches against Voorburg, Punjab, or Excelsior to be sure of progressing, and perhaps not even that considering their robust net run rate advantage. While Barresi and Klien have been key to the Crows success thus far, it’s hard to see them missing out from here.

Similarly HCC, though they lose the services of Tim Pringle, have two games in hand to make sure of their spot in the top four, one against a likely weakened Voorburg and another against wooden-spooners Salland, who have not looked like winning a game all season. Though the Lions’ core trio of Staal, Gorlee and Overdijk looked a bit rusty early in the season, all three have started to fire, while young Teun Leijer continues to impress. Though their poor net run rate does mean they will almost certainly need some points to make the playoffs, they’re pretty well-placed to collect them.

All of which makes for a nervous few days on the sidelines for VRA, who have completed all their fixures with five wins from nine and a solid but not insurmountable NRR of +0.85. Hermes DVS could yet leapfrog them, though it would take an emphatic win in their final match – the Schiedam Derby against Excelsior– to the tune of about 60-65 runs or with about 8 overs to spare if chasing. That looks a tall order given that they’ll likely be without Aryan Dutt and just possibly Olivier Elenbaas if the latter’s called up as cover for absentees. Any win could still be enough for the Sky Blues, but it would take a lot of improbable results going their way, having frittered away an excellent start to the season. If Daniel Doyle Calle or CP Klijnhand recover some of their early form one could still envisage a last ditch recovery, but finals day looks a long shot for Hermes as it stands.

Excelsior ‘20 themselves could still sneak in too if they got on a run this weekend, with three games in hand and three wins probably enough. In addition to the derby, Excelsior face HBS and Salland in their final matches. Unlike HBS, Excelsior won’t lose any players to the national team, and if they can take the hnours against rivals Hermes they will feel they’re in with a real chance of a surge up the table.

Meanwhile defending champions VOC Rotterdam are slightly better-placed to storm into the top four, level with Excelsior on two wins and a no result for 5 points in the bank with three games to go. The Bloodhounds will be away for all three fixtures however, first heading to Bermweg to take on Sparta, then the Zomercomplex to face Punjab, and finally Craeyenhout against HBS for their final match. With both Sparta 1888 and Punjab-Ghausia already out of contention (as are Salland of course), a full-strength VOC probably pose the greatest threat to HCC and VRA’s position in the top four. By the time Monday roles around HBS may already be safe as well, meaning VOC would exclusively be playing opponents with nothing to gain or lose.

All told there’s plenty of possibilities and permutations still in play, and the final four may well not be decided before the final match on Monday.

Rod Lyall 13/05/24

Voorburg tmade sure on Sunday of a place at the T20 finals day they will be hosting on 26 May, when they saw off a spirited challenge from Excelsior ’20 at Westvliet and won by eight wickets.

Excelsior’s imposing total of 197 for three was set up skipper Roel Verhagen’s 39-ball 70, 47 from Stan van Troost, and a composed fourth-wicket stand of 51 in 27 deliveries between Lorenzo Ingram (37 not out) and Derek Mitchell (22 not out), although it could have been even higher but for effective spells from Voorburg’s Sybrand Engelbrecht and Michael Molenaar.

The Schiedammers threatened to take the upper hand when they removed both openers, but the game was taken away from them by an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 146 between Gavin Kaplan, whose 81 not out came from just 52 deliveries, and Engelbrecht (64 not out from 43), the winning run coming with just one ball to spare.

It was a disappointing end to the weekend for Excelsior, who had brought themselves back into contention for a semi-final spot with victories over Punjab-Ghausia on Friday evening and VRA the following day.

Not for the first time, Excelsior showed remarkable resilience in defending a low total against Punjab: Saqib Zulfiqar’s four for 27 had been instrumental in dismissing them for a disappointing 118, Mitchell top-scoring with 33, and at 84 for three in the 14^th over Punjab appeared to be cruising.

But then Jason Ralston bowled Jonathan Vandiar for 33 and a remarkable collapse ensued: five more wickets fell for the addition of just 16 runs, and even a late flurry from Sajjad Kamal left them nine runs short.

Ralston finished with three for 19, Niels Etman giving excellent support with two for 20.

A much more assured batting performance enabled Excelsior to take command of the game against VRA on Saturday: Tim Etman (53 from 34) and Verhagen (28 from 23) put on 86 for the first wicket, and then it was Ingram and Mitchell who closed out the innings, Ingram finishing with an unbeaten 32-ball 47.

VRA’s reply never really got out of first gear, the best partnership 31 for the second wicket between Vikram Singh and Abul Sheikh. The wickets were shared, Ingram, Ralston, Niels Etman, Lubbers and Luuk Kroesen picking up two apiece as VRA were all out for 111.

A wretched weekend for VRA continued into Sunday, when another batting collapse saw them slump to a 20-run defeat by HCC at De Diepput.

They had started brilliantly, Ben Fletcher removing Jed Wiggins with the first ball of the match and Bob Entrop, returning to first-team cricket after a 14-year absence, shortly afterwards, and although Tonny Staal contributed 31 and Conor McInerney 34 it took a defiant 31 not out from Patient Charumbira in the closing stages to get them up to 138 for eight, Fletcher finishing with three for 34.

Again VRA’s batting let them down: despite Singh’s 32, marked chiefly by three consecutive sixes off Hidde Overdijk, they were soon in desperate trouble at 54 for seven, the damage having been done by Daniel Crowley at the top of the innings and then by Adam Leonard (four for 11) and Wiggins (three for 20).

Elijah Eales (23) and Udit Nashier (29 not out) put up significant resistance towards the end, limiting the NRR damage somewhat, but the side was dismissed for 118, and VRA, having completed their programme, will now have to wait to see whether results elsewhere mean that their five earlier wins will be enough to see them to the finals day. It seems unlikely.

Also likely to miss out on a spot at Westvliet on 26 May are Hermes-DVS, whose nine-wicket defeat by VOC on Saturday was only partially offset by their subsequent 33-run victory over Punjab-Ghausia.

Despite Daniel Doyle’s 40 and 21 from Aryan Dutt, Hermes could only manage 118 in their first game, Jelte Schoonheim taking three for 27 for VOC and Arnav Jain and Asief Hoseinbaks picking up two wickets apiece.

It was never likely to be enough, and VOC rattled off the runs in 13.3 overs, thanks to an opening stand of 95 between Ryan Schierhout (37) and Francois Fourie (59 not out from 38).

But then Doyle produced the individual batting performance of the weekend, smashing his second century of the campaign with an unbeaten, 57-ball 101 which saw his side to 179 for four, Ashley Ostling contributing 38.

Olivier Elenbaas quickly struck twice when Punjab replied, and although Saqib Zulfiqar made a 47-ball 66 the visitors steadily fell behind the required rate and ended on 146 for six.

HBS, meanwhile, were maintaining their unbeaten record with a comfortable six-wicket victory over Sparta 1888 at the Bermweg.

An unrelenting Crows’ attack never let their hosts off the hook, and although Juandre Scheepers hit a defiant 45 which included four sixes, he received little support, and the innings closed on 123 for eight.

At 28 for three HBS wobbled slightly, but then Matthew de Villiers and Wesley Barresi steadied the reply, adding 73 for the fourth wicket before De Villiers fell to the admirable Ahsan Malik for a 22-ball 42.

Barresi continued in company with Kyle Klein, moving to 49 not out with the six which secured HBS the win.

Bertus de Jong 08/05/2024

---

With 15 games to be played over four days, the Ascension Day weekend looks set to be decisive for the Topklasse T20 season, at least in terms of who’s likely to feature in the play-offs. Two complete triple-headers and two teams trekking out East gives us eight Round 4 games on Thursday, plus an orphaned Round 1 catch-up match on Friday for nine games before Round 5 kicks off on Saturday.

VOC Rotterdam welcome current table-toppers VRA and third-placed Voorburg to Hazelaarweg for the first three-way, and will be hoping to make as good use of home advantage as their opponents have thus far. The Bloodhounds have only gotten two matches played so far, and lost one of those to HCC, so four points are basically a must for them on Thursday. Overseas bat Jock McKenzie and Ryan Schierhout have proved more than adequate replacements for the departed O’Dowd and Edwards, while Asief Hoseinbaks is having an exellent season with the ball. Nonetheless VRA’s hitting power will be cause for concern at Hazelaarweg, with Dutch internationals Vikram singh and Teja Nidamanuru both in the runs and (rumoured Dutch residancy aspirant) Elijah Eales has been a force down the order. VRA’s own bowling has struggled to stem the scoring this season though, and both the other sides at Hazelaarweg have the batting to take advantage. Voorburg’s top order hasn’t really fired in club cricket, though the club is the chief supplier of bats to the national side for good reason. Young Nehaan Gigani’s had a chance to steal the spotlight as his international team-mates have struggled, while Floris de Lange’s five-for last week suggests their slow-bowling worries may be overblown.

Meanwhile HCC host Punjab-Ghausia and Sparta 1888 in the day’s other full triple-header, in what’s most likely to be a decisive day’s play for the table. HCC and Sparta are both firmly mid-table on four points, while Punjab are two points behind with games in hand. HCC’s sixth-place position arguably flatters them, having struglled with both bat and ball this season. Not one HCC bat averages over 30 in their four matches, while young Teun Leijer’s outshone his more senior team-mates with the ball. The addition of Tim Pringle helps in both departments, but the Lions will look for greater contributions from Gorlee, Overdijk and Staal. Sparta meanwhile have had a profoundly up-and-down season, on the receiving end of two trouncings at the Amsterdamse Bos in Round 2 but bouncing back to best Excelsior fairly comfortably last weekend. Riley Mudford looks perhaps the most dangerous bat in the competiton, while Khalid Ahmadi has been in fine form with ball in hand, and so too has the veteran Ahsan Malik when he’s been available. There’s been little match-winning threat on show from the rest of the side yet though, and when things have gone badly for them they’ve gone very badly indeed.

Hermes DVS and HBS Craeyenhout make the trip to Deventer to take on last-placed Salland, though the two visiting sides won’t be playing each other. Salland’s season so far has seen them endure a series of drubbings, their net run rate of negative seven refelecting how they’ve been hopelessly outclassed. The absence of the German contingent owing to a national training camp robbed them of much of their side, but even at full strength they’ve looked far from competitive thus far. Hermes by contrast exploded out of the gate ton top-flight return, but stumbled last week when their top order twice misfired. Two round 3 defeats at the hands of Voorburg and HBS exposed a dependence on openers CP Klijnhans and Daniel Doyle Calle, though Salland hardly look in shape to take advantage of any vulnerability. HBS versus Salland is on paper the easiest match to call all season. Salland are still winless, HBS undefeated, and it would take a remarkable upset to change that tomorrow.

Excelsior have a bye for Round 4, but do have a catch-up Round 1 match against Punjab scheduled for Friday night at Thurlede. With just a single point from their double wash-out against VOC thus far the Schiedammers will be desperate to get a win on the board. They still have two games in hand over most of the field so their position is hardly irrecoverable, but another defeat would likely finish their play-off hopes.

Rod Lyall è in vacanza

Bertus de Jong 02/05/2024

---

With the welcome arrival of Spring sunshine we’ve a bumper weekend of Topklasse T20 to look forward to assuming the warm weather holds, with two one catch-up matches from round one scheduled in addition to the eight regular round three games on Saturday.

VOC Rotterdam will travel to Thurlede on Friday evening to take on Punjab-Ghausia, and then again (oh no they won’t it’s been postponed again -BdJ) on Sunday to face Excelsior ‘20 in addition to their single round 3 home match against HCC on Saturday. The Rotterdammers look to be shaping up decently enough, with Ryan Schierhout the stand-out thus far of the three overseas brought in to replace Edwards and O’Dowd, stiking 85 off 40 in their win over Salland last week. Asief Hoseinbak’s six wicket haul in that match grabbed the headlines for the round, but even a convincing 167-run win over the hapless Salland tells us little of course. Their prospects in their one regular round 3 game are complicated by the the presence of a number of Netherlands World Cup hopefuls in the Netherlands for the Pro-Series, meaning HCC may be able to call on the services of left-arm spin pair Tim Pringle and Daniel Doram for the game. If either or both play it could add some much needed control to the Lions’ attack, which has struggled both to contain and penetrate – young Teun Leijer the notable exception in that regard.

Punjab have a home trilateral on Saturday in addition to their friday night catch-up with VOC, welcoming VRA and Salland to the Zomercomplex. Punjab’s one match so far saw them take down the more-fancied Voorburg in emphatic fashion, Muhammad Shafiq the star with the ball and Musa Ahmad leading the with a blistering 92 off 41. Ahmad’s mercurial form is a bit of a worry however, having struggled in the pro-series so far. In the absence of Jonathan Vandiar which Musa turns up may prove decisive, with the rest of the batting still comparatively untested this season. Salland have thus far shown little indication that they have the firepower with bat or ball to challenge the rest of the field, though Pruss and Malikzai have looked handy additions there’s Sallanders have generally looked out of their depth in the top flight this season. VRA meanwhile bounced back from their opening defeat to HBS, taking full advantage of the small dimensions of their second ground to rack up wins over Sparta and a high-flying Hermes. The big question at the start of the season was how well the overhauled VRA side would gel, and indeed be able to transcend the off-field drama that seems to be engulfing the club. Based on last week’s showing, the side seems largely unphased. Vikram Singh’s form with bat and ball looks the Amsterdammers’ greatest strength at the minute, along with Elijah Eale’s hitting down the order, though most of the squad are looking an decent enough nick.

At the top end of the table unbeaten HBS Craeyenhout and early frontrunners Hermes DVS head to Wesvliet to take on Voorburg CC, who host the second of the weekend’s triple-headers. The hosts are right up in the mix at the top end too on two wins from three despite not looking at their best this season. Michael Levitt has yet to replicate his pre-season form in club cricket, while pace spearhead Vivian Kingma has been sidelined as a preacution as he nurses a side niggle. While Logan van Beek is in town it’s not thought likely that he’ll play, leaving the bowling looking a little threadbare. They’ll have a job containing Hermes, who have been racking up 200+ totals from the off thanks in large part to CP Klijnhans and Daniel Doyle-Calle, the latter currently leading the run-scoring in the competition with 223 runs at a strike rate over 200. With Klijnhans and skipper Sebastiaan Braat at 3 and 4 in the aggregates, the newly-promoted Schiedammers have had the most effective batting unit in the competition so far. The HBS top order has the pedigree to match them in principle, though it’s been Kyle Klein down the order and with ball in hand that’s been the stand-out performer for the Crows this season, the younger Klein also looking in excellent rhythm in the Pro-Series.

Finally, along with their catch-up fixture against VOC on Sunday, Excelsior ‘20 have a single round 3 match at home to Sparta 1888 the day before, with both sides looking to turn around a tough start to the season. Excelsior have only gotten on the park once thus far in an abbreviated encounter away at HCC that saw them slump to DLS defeat. Newcomer Jason Ralton had a particularly tough introduction to Dutch cricket as his pace was clubbed for 62 runs in 4 overs, and indeed only the veteran left arm spinner Lorenzo Ingram and ex-Salland skipper Victor Lubbers can be said to have had a good day with the ball. While Sparta had a very rough day with the ball on the VRA second ground last Saturday, there’s plenty of firepower in their batting, not least new keeper-bat Riley Mudford. Belgian seamer Khalid Ahmadi has also had a fine season with the ball so far, but Sparta felt the absence of wiley ex-Dutch international Ahsan Malik last round, and whether he’ll be available for a one-off game at Thurlede on Saturday is one of the big questions hanging over the round.

Rod Lyall 21/04/24

There was some good cricket played in Saturday’s opening round of this season’s Topklasse T20 Cup despite the weather, but that is by no means the most important dimension of the day’s events.

For the first time in the 134-year history of the Dutch competition, more overseas-produced players took the field in top-flight games than those who had learned their cricket in the Netherlands – the actual figure was 57%.

This remarkable statistic is perhaps skewed a little by the fact that three teams did not play, the triple-header at Thurlede having been called off on Friday night after a week of heavy rain, but nevertheless the trend is clear: the leading Dutch clubs are relying ever more heavily on imported players in their quest for silverware.

Of the seven teams who did play, only three fielded a majority of Dutch-produced players, and one, Salland, actually put out a side without a single member who had learned their cricket in this country.

Without being xenophobic about it, you have to ask whether it is in the long-term interests of Dutch cricket that home-produced players should be marginalised in this way, and whether the clubs who are ready to splash so much cash to try to build a championship-winning team might not be better off using their scarce resources on youth development and recruiting new members.

This is doubtless a topic to which we shall return, since the policy implications for Dutch cricket are enormous, but in all fairness it needs to be recorded that the two most notable innings of the opening day were played by South Africans making their Dutch debut.

At Schiedam’s Loopuyt Oval, a ground which did not exist when Hermes-DVS last played in the top flight, the Sky Blues’ winning return was spearheaded by opener Christoffel Klijnhans, who hammered a superb, 46-ball 114 which included six fours and ten sixes, sharing an opening stand of 155 with Spanish international Daniel Calle Doyle.

In a match reduced to 19 overs after an initial delay the pair completely dominated the HCC attack for the first 11 of them, and after Klijnhans had finally fallen to the youngster Teun Leijer Doyle went on to make 73 from 41 deliveries, helped by skipper Sebastiaan Braat’s 19-ball 43 not out.

Hermes’ 239 for three effectively put the match out of HCC’s reach, and with spinners Aryan Dutt and Murid Ekrami keeping things tight early, the visitors had reached 77 for two in 10.2 overs, well behind the required rate and the DLS par score, when more rain swept in and proceedings came to an end.

Meanwhile at the Bermweg, Sparta 1888’s new wicketkeeper, Riley Mudford was putting the Salland attack to the sword in still more devastating vein, his 136 coming from 45 deliveries and including nine fours and 13 sixes.

He, too, had valuable support, sharing a second-wicket stand of 179 in 11.5 overs with Sam Ferguson (75 from 44) as Sparta ran up a massive 244 for four.

Then former international Ahsan Malik took over, running through the Salland top order to the tune of four for 19 in his four overs, and the Deventer side were eventually dismissed for just 84.

Salland did a little better in their second match, largely thanks to a defiant 52 from young German international Arcelan Pruss, but their 120 for seven never seemed likely to be enough against Voorburg, and with skipper Noah Croes making a 29-ball 47 and opener Nehaan Gigani anchoring the innings with 44 not out, the Villagers cruised to a seven-wicket victory with 46 balls to spare.

The strength of the Voorburg attack was confirmed in the final game of the day, Sparta battling their way to 125 for eight, opener Shaquille Martina showing that his skills have not suffered hugely from his time away from the game with a solid 35 and Khalid Ahmadi chipping in with an 18-ball 25 in the latter stages.

Gigani again led the way for his side with 49 from 31 deliveries, but Sparta’s bowlers fought all the way, and it took an unbeaten 28 from young allrounder Michael Molenaar to see Voorburg to a three-wicket win in the 18^th over.

The greatest excitement, and not a little confusion, was generated at Craeyenhout, where a rain-affected game between HBS and VRA Amsterdam went down to the final delivery.

After a delayed start and in miserable conditions, a new-look VRA side reached 140 for five in 13.4 overs, although it was well-established Dutch international opener Vikram Singh who set the tone with a rousing 17-ball 32.

Sint Maarten-born keeper Semari Prince contributed 31, Bangladeshi Abul Khayer Biprob Sheikh made 21, and then Shariz Ahmad and Australian Elijah Eales maintained the pressure as the rain threatened, smacking 15 from nine and 24 from eight respectively.

After a long delay it seemed that HBS would be chasing 120 from 11 overs, and for a time it looked as if this would be beyond them, Ben Fletcher, Singh and Ashir Abid combining to reduce the home side to 66 for four.

But Matthew de Villiers had produced a rapid 20, and once he was gone Kyle Klein’s eight-ball 27, 26 of them in boundaries, swung the game back towards the home side.

There were seven deliveries left when Klein holed out at long on and five (or, as it proved, six) runs required, and with Eales bowling a tightly- controlled final over it took until the final delivery for Lucas del Bianco to secure the winning single, with Wesley Barresi at the other end having made a crucial 27 not out.

Rod Lyall 17/04/24

---

Punjab Rotterdam topped the Topklasse T20 table last year jointly with HCC, although both eventually lost their semi-finals. Punjab, who have merged with Rotterdam neighbours Ghausia Feyenoord over the winter, will unquestionably be strengthened by the return of Jonathan Vandiar from HCC, and by the arrival of Dutch international Musa Ahmad from Voorburg.

Musa, the leading scorer in the T20 round robin last year with 348 runs at an average of 58.00 and a strike rate of nearly 128, will slot into a Zulfiqar-heavy Punjab top order alongside the returning Shoiab Minhas and potentially Stephan Myburgh, who is rumoured to be mulling a competitive return. Although Vandiar had a very quiet campaign for the Diepput club, is always at his most menacing at ‘t Zomercomplex.

The Ghausia merger has also boosted Punjab’s squad list significantly, most notably with allrounder Danish Ateeq, who hit 295 runs with a strike rate of almost 188 in last season’s Eerste Klasse T20 as well as claiming 14 wickets, and Bilal Saleem, whose 405 runs at 57.86 and a strike rate of over 150; it will be interesting to see whether either or both of these players force themselves into the new-look Punjab side.

The same applies to Sajjad Kamal who, like Musa, moves to ‘t Zomercomplex from Voorburg; he found himself in the seconds at Westvliet last year, but he, too, may be a contender for a first-team with Punjab. He’ll also be facing competition from Belgian international Burhan Niaz, who makes the switch from VOC.

Then, inevitably, there are the four Zulfiqars, triplets Asad, Saqib and Sikander and elder brother Rehmat: they have collectively anchored the top order in the years since they moved from ACC, while Sikander’s brisk pace and Saqib’s leg spin have both contributed substantially to Punjab’s attack.

Sikander takes over the captaincy from the veteran Sulaiman Tariq this season, though the former skipper will doubtless still have plenty to contribute with the ball. Together with Muhammad Shafiq and the greatly-improved Mubashar Hussain, Tariq’s wiley medium pace accounted for the lion’s share of the wickets last year; the trio took 42 between them, two-thirds of those captured by the side in their eight games.

A slightly unkind draw gives Punjab only three games at ‘t Zomercomplex, where they are undoubtedly at their most effective, but they are well adapted to the T20 format and it would be no surprise if they were again to make it to the finals day.

T20 Record: 2023 SF | ’22 GS | ’21 SF | ’20 QF | ’19 QF | ’18 GS | ’17 SF | ’16 N/A | ’15 N/A | ’14 N/A

---

HCC have opted for a triple Antipodean strengthening of their squad, recruiting New Zealanders Adam Leonard and Jed Wiggins and South Australian Conor McInerney to compensate them for the non-return of Daniel Doram and the departures of Vandiar to Punjab, left-arm spinner Clayton Floyd to VRA and medium-pacer Henrico Venter to HBS.

27-year-old allrounder Leonard has played three Plunket Shield matches for Wellington since moving across the Cook Strait from Nelson, while off-spinner Wiggins, two years younger, has appeared alongside him in Wellington’s A side.

Left-hander McInerney, aged 30, has played 15 times for South Australia, most recently in the State’s final Sheffield Shield match of the season, against Tasmania in Hobart, and has just completed a successful Premier League campaign with his new club, Glenelg, helping them to the grand final.

HCC will also welcome back pace man Ali Ahmad Qasim, who has played for Voorburg for the past four seasons, but who claimed Topklasse 89 wickets for the Lions between 2011 and 2019.

In addition to their three overseas players the Diepput club will be looking to Boris Gorlee and Tonny Staal to show the form which earned them both national team selection, and will also hope to see further progress from youngster Teun Kloppenburg, who demonstrated with three consecutive half-centuries last season that he has the temperament to succeed at the top level and who has the hard-hitting skills to be a force in the T20 format.

Nor should we forget allrounder Hidde Overdijk, who as well as being the spearhead of the pace attack has contributed crucial innings in both formats and has the ability to turn a game very quickly, while younger brother Jan-Wieger may take a further step towards establishing himself as a permanent fixture in the side.

Zimbabwean Patient Charumbira gives valuable support in the pace attack, while the return of Ratha Alphonse to Kampong is likely to mean that we will again see Yash Patel behind the stumps.

Having reached the final of the 50-over competition and the semi-finals of the T20 Cup last year, HCC will be especially keen to pick up some silverware this time, and they certainly have the strength on paper to once again challenge for either or both titles.

T20 Record: 2023 SF | ’22 SF | ’21 GS | ’20 GS | ’19 QF | ’18 SF | ’17 QF | ’16 SF | ’15 SF | ’14 SF

Bertus de Jong 16/04/2024

---

Just three years on from winning the title, this season’s VRA Amsterdam side are all but unrecognisable. Of the side that lifted the T20 Cup at the end of the summer of 2020, fewer than half are still on VRA’s books, and of those most are unlikely to feature much for the first XI this year.

Netherlands all-rounder Teja Nidamanuru, who takes on the captaincy full-time this season, recognises the challenge of reshaping a side still emerging from the long shadow cast by his predecessor Peter Borren. “For us this season it’s about firmly establishing and our identity and way of playing” he tells TKcricket. Nidamanuru isn’t quite starting with a clean slate, there’s a few survivors from the previous era, not least sometime captain and Netherlands bat Vikram Singh, his opening partner Shirase Rasool, and left arm seamer Ashir Abid, but the trio will be in the minority as the Amsterdam club rings the changes.

A host of new arrivals will replace or displace some familiar faces at the Bos, with Aryan Dutt departing for Hermes, Mitch Lees and Quirijn Gunning retired to Bloemendaal, while club stalwart Leon Turmaine leads a substantial contingent down to strengthen the seconds; Jack Balbirnie, Luke Scully, Debrup Dasgupta and Udit Nashier amongst those slated to spend much of their season turning out for the twos.

In their place come Dutch international spinners Clayton Floyd and Shariz Ahmad, transfering from HCC and VCC respectively, while overseas bat Johan Smal returns alongside new three new in signings Sint Maarten-born keeper-bat Demari Prince, seam all-rounder Elijah Eales and left-arm quick Ben Fletcher. Prince will take over the gloves from Lees and Scully, while Fletcher (also a Dutch passport-holder) will likely open the bowling alongside Abid. Meanwhile Eales, a right-arm seam all-rounder (and son of former Australia rugby captain John Eales) has already demonstrated an ability to hit a very long ball in pre-season.

Despite the strength of the squad on paper, Nidamanuru is not looking at silverware as the first yardstick of success, “we’re of course going to look to put ourselves in a position to play for championships, but the priority is not to put a team together for one season. A lot of these guys are Dutch passport-holders and will be looking to push on to higher honours, so while there’s been a lot of changes we’re hoping to keep this team together for a long time.”

Young prospects: Though the influx of talent will likely keep many of VRA’s youth players out of the side at least as long as they’re at full strength, there’s no shortage of youngsters waiting in the wings. “In the starting squad, Shirase Rasool is one to watch out for this season” says Nidamanuru, “the guys coming up – Ibaad (Zaidi), I like what I’m seeing – he’s got a lot of time when he bats. I don’t understand how he hasn’t played age group. He’ll play for sure if we lose a few players to World Cup duty. Adam Constant will likely be batting three for the seconds, he averaged around forty last year, he’s one that could definitely step up too.”

T20 Record: 2023 GS (5th) | ’22 QF | ’21 QF | ’20 TKC | ’19 QF | ’18 QF | ’17 QF | ’16 QF | ’15 RU | ’14 SF

---

Despite their recent success in the longer format, VCC have rarely been more than also-rans (if that) in the T20 competition. The Topklasse 50-over champions have moreover seen something of an exodus over the winter, and despite boasting an admirable depth and youth production line, the Voorburg club does look to be heading into something of a transitional season for 2024.

They will do so under new leadership, with keeper-bat Noah Croes taking over the captaincy from SA Engelbrecht. While the pair’s fellow Netherlands international Logan van Beek remains on the roster, it’s not clear how much the all-rounder will play this summer. Similarly legspinner Flip Boissevain’s availability is likely to be limited as he pursues as career in New Zealand, and Karl Niuewoudt has hung up his boots too.

Brothers Musa and Shariz Ahmad have also departed, the former for Punjab and the latter for VRA, opening further gaps both at the top of the order and in the spin section. Former HBS overseas Gavin Kaplan arrives to fill the former, while long-serving legspin understudy Floris de Lange will be shouldering more responsinbility with the ball, as may former Dutch youth all-rounder Nehaan Gigani.

VCC retain the services of in-form opening bat Michael Levitt as well as seam pair Vivian Kingma and Ryan Klein, though the latter’s fitness is a worry ahead of the season and all three are in contention for national call-ups at the back end of the competition. Rangy right-armer Mees van Vliet may well feature more prominently for the first team to cover, and indeed there’s more than a few young players who will likely get the chance to cement a a spot in the senior side this season.

“We’re quietly confident,” Croes says, “we’ve still got the core and a really good squad, with the experience of some of our Dutch guys over the last months out in South African and Nepal we’ve got a lot of good players in form, and Ryan Klein back from injury is a big bonus. It’s a good mix of younsters and senior guys, we’ll be in amongst iot for sure and hopefully holding some more silverware at the end of the T20 season.”

Young prospects: As a reliable supplier of talent to both the Netherlands age-group and senior teams, VCC are almost spoilt for choice in terms of young talent to fill the gaps that have opened in the senior side. Of the de Leede clan, Tom and perhaps Stijn look set to make the step up to the senior side, while Alejo Nota is also pushing for a spot.

Opening bat Cedric de Lange has already appeared for the firsts on more than a few occasions, and joining him back at Voorburg this season will be his Dutch under 19s team-mate Michael Molenaar, returning to the old country from South Africa, who Croes also tips to impress. “For us a a club it’s great to see the youngrsters coming up through the ranks; Molenaar, de Leede, de Lange, Nota are all really exctiting prospects for us as a club and I think you’ll be seeing those names over the course of the season, which is really exciting for Dutch cricket.”

T20 Record: 2023 GS (6th) | ’22 QF | ’21 GS | ’20 SF | ’19 QF | ’18 ⅛F | ’17 GS | ’16 N/A | ’15 GS | ’14 GS

Rod Lyall 17/11/23

The Topklasse will be the poorer for the loss of national team captain Scott Edwards and opener Max O’Dowd following the announcement from Hoofdklasse club Kampong Utrecht that the pair, along with Spanish national coach Corey Rutgers will be leaving VOC Rotterdam and playing at Maarschalkerweerd.

Edwards made 509 runs for the Bloodhounds last season at an average of 50.90, while O’Dowd contributed 482 at 43.82, 186 of them in one brutal early-season innings against ACC.

In all, O’Dowd has made 3455 runs in 90 matches for VOC at an average of 45.46, including seven centuries, and Edwards 2671 at 46.86 in 76 games, with three hundreds.

They will leave a significant gap in the Rotterdammers’ top order, which it will not be easy to fill; even with them in the side the batting has tended to show signs of brittleness under pressure, and the side finished sixth in last season’s championship play-off.

For Kampong, on the other hand, the arrival of the two international stars will seriously strengthen their challenge for promotion to the Topklasse in 2025.

They were widely seen as somewhat unfortunate to be relegated from the twelve-team Topklasse in 2022, and they finished a creditable fourth in the Hoofklasse last season.

Edwards and O’Dowd will join national A-squad players Alex Roy and Pierre Jacod and under-18 seamer Gert Swanepoel at Maarschalkerweerd, and while they will miss parts of what promises to be another busy season because of their national team commitments, they are likely to cause plenty of headaches for opposing attacks in the matches they do play.

In statements on the Kampong website all three players stress the family-friendly atmosphere, the facilities and the ambitions of the Utrecht club, which (like VOC) boasts a turf square and hosts matches of the national men’s and women’s teams.