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Voorburg go top, but HBS stay unbeaten

Rod Lyall 13/05/24

Voorburg took a big step on Sunday towards qualifying for 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 14th 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.

Topklasse T20 | Round 4 Preview

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

Topklasse T20 | Round 3 Preview

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.

Topklasse T20 | Round 2 Preview

Bertus de Jong 27/04/2024

It’s been a dispiritingly damp start to the Dutch season, with less than half the 320 overs of cricket scheduled for round one played last Saturday, and three matches washed out altogether. The question of when or whether the three matches that didn’t happen at Thurlede will be played has been tentatively answered in part, with Excelsior-VOC pencilled in for May 5th andExcelsior Punjab for the 10th. No word as yet on when VOC-Punjab will happen but it doesn’t look likely to be this weekend. That leaves us with the seven games scheduled for Round 2, though a glance at the weather forecast suggests we’ll be lucky to get those all played on Sunday too.

The day’s triple-header is slated to be hosted at VRA, though the fitness of the square at Amsterdamse Bos is also in question, with a pro-series game relocated to Westvliet on Tuesday and yesterday’s game abandoned owing to persistent damp patches at either end of the square. Whether VRA will be able to host Sparta and Hermes on the turf wicket is thus doubtful though the ever-optimistic word from the ground is that conditions underfoot should be alright if conditions overhead are too.

Be it on turf or mat VRA will be keen to get points on the board after a late surge from Wes Barresi and Kyle Klein last week saw HBS take the two on offer at Craeyenhout. The Amsterdammers nonetheless look in decent shape with the bat, Vikram Singh in the runs both in pre-seasona dn pro-series while Elijah Eales showed off some of his destructive potential last Saturday. They’ll be without Johan Smal again however, the deputy skipper out for at least four weeks due to an injury picked up on a soft outfield in pre-season. Containement with the ball also looks to be an issue, the new slow bowling section going at more than 2 runs a ball last week, though VRA’s bigger boundaries may help somewhat there.

They’ve a tough assignment for their first home series though, taking on Sparta 1888 in the morning game and then Hermes DVS in the evening. Sparta made light work of a bedraggled-looking Salland outfit at home last weekend, before cuccumbing to Voorburg in the afternoon. Their batting is a worry, succumbing at the first real test, but the seam attack especially looks a handful. Old international Ahsan Malik has clearly lost none of his guile, picking up six wickets last Saturday, while Belgium’s Khalid Ahmadi has also hit the ground running. If new overseas Riley Mudford can recover some of his pre-season form with the bat the Spartans have a serious shot at taking four points from the Bos, but they do look reliant on their top order.

Hermes too will fancy their chances of maintaining a perfect record, though they only had the one game on Saturday, and a rain-shortened on at that, the Sky Blue Schiedammers look right at home back in the top flight. Newcomer CP Klijnhans kicked off his Topklasse career with a blistering ton, ably supported by Spanish international Daniel Doyle Calle, who looks set to play akey role for Hermes again. Skipper Sebastiaan Braat also looked in fine form with willow in hand, and though the lower order didn’t get a run-out the monstrous 239-3 total in 19 overs against HCC doesn’t look like a one-off.

HCC meanwhile have two games to host at the ever accurately-named Diepput, welcoming first HBS Craeyenhout and then Excelsior ‘20 for the moning ang afternoon games respectively. Word is the ground is in worse shape even than VRA, and we may be in for an ECN-style situation on the second field bowling from one end only. The question of whether such innovation is technically permitted by the playing conditions is left as an exercise to the reader, but given the abysmal excuse for an April we’ve had this masthead’s position is “desperate times…

There’s not much to be gleaned from HCC’s abreviated opening games other than that the bowling is a vulnerability, with young Teun Leijer’s efforts with the ball the only positive to take from there trip to Hermes. HBS’ bowlers also took a pounding last week of course, and weather permitting we may well be in for something of a slog-off at de Diepput first up. Excelsior of course are entirely untested in competitive play this season, with both matches cancelled in Round 1 and none of the squad getting picked up for the Pro-Series, so we can only refer the reader to out pre-season preview there.

We’ve two more orphan matches in the afternoon to look forward too, which arguably have the best chance of actually getting played. First off VOC Rotterdam welcome Salland to Hazelaarweg, which we hear has weathered the weather rather better than some other grass clubs. VOC haven’t had a game yet either of course, though Arnav Jain got on the pitch for the Seafarers on Tuesday. He did basically fine, but his 4* off 3 with the bat and 2 wicketless overs for 15 tells us little really, so again the pre-season preview may be more illuminating on how VOC are shaping up. Salland’s two matches on Saturday tell us more, but little good. Skittle for 84 and 120 by Sparta and VCC, alland looked a long way from competitive in either game. Two positives did come in the form of the two newcomers we tipped in the preview, Acelan Pruss scoring a rearguard half-century against Voorburg and Shahir Malikzai bagging a couple of wickets against Sparta. All told though they’ll start every match this season as underdogs and their game against VOC is no exception.

Finally Punjab-Ghausia will take on Voorburg at the Zomercomplex, the former also still waiting on their first game while Voorburg are already two from two at the top of the table. Punjab have had three players involved in the Pro-Series during the week, though Saqib Zulfiqar’s 39 off 22 for the Seafarers was the only performance of note. Whether Shoaib Minhas and Jonathan Vandiar will be available Sunday is probably the biggest question hovering over the game, as one suspects Punjab will need all hands on deck to test the defending 50-over Champions. Voorburg will be without pace spearhead Viv Kingma, who is nursing a side-niggle, and though Ryan Klein has been bowling in the nets he’s unlikely to take the ball on Sunday. Logan van Beek is in town and on the list of course, but a surprise appearance for his old club would be just that. VCC have pace depth however, Mees van Vliet likely will presumably the new ball while youngsters Tom de Leede and Michael Molenaar may feature more prominently, with Michael Levitt also a dpendable option. It’s Levitt’s form with the bat that will worry Punjab more however, the Netherlands opener carrying his form from Nepal into pre-season, Pro-Series and Topklasse. Plenty of action to look forward to all told if the weather allows, but it’s hard to see Voorburg getting knocked off the top of the table this week.

Rod Lyall è in vacanza

Overseas players dominate a rain-affected opening day

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 18th 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.

Topklasse T20 | Round 1 Preview

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 18/04/2023

With at least 20 players making their debut in the Dutch competition this weekend and a further dozen or so having changed clubs over the winter, making predictions for Saturday’s matches unusually problematic. Add in the vagaries of the early-season weather and the inherent randomness of the T20 format with which we are beginning this year, and it’s a real lottery.

RJL: Cup-holders VOC Rotterdam will make the short trip to Thurlede, where they will join their Rotterdam neighbours Punjab, now amalgamated with Ghausia Feyenoord to form Punjab-Ghausia, in taking on home side Excelsior ‘20. The first of the day’s three matches will pit Excelsior against Punjab, with VOC then playing Punjab before finishing off with their game against the hosts. Punjab had a pretty good campaign last year, reaching the semi-finals, while Excelsior will be hoping that new overseas players Derek Mitchell and Jason Ralston can slot in with the veteran Lorenzo Ingram to give them an improved campaign. With Joost Kroesen returning from a brief sojourn with Sparta and Victor Lubbers joining the squad from Salland, it will be a very different Excelsior side this year.

The Schiedammers were given a reminder of what VOC will be missing in their double-header warm-up against Kampong Utrecht last weekend, when Scott Edwards’ 56-ball 87 and Max O’Dowd’s unbeaten 27-ball 69 spearheaded the Hoofdklasse side to two comfortable victories. That bodes ill for Kampong’s Hoofdklasse rivals, but it also illustrates what a rebuilding task the Rotterdammers have had to undertake. They will be hoping that their Kiwi reinforcements Taylor Bettenheim, Jock McKenzie and Ryan Schierhout fill the gaps left by their Dutch international stars and by Max Hoornweg, who has returned to Sparta. All in all, this Thurlede triple-header should, weather permitting, provide cricket lovers in Schiedam and Rotterdam with some very entertaining T20 games.

BdJ: The list of Rumsfeldian known unknowns this season is indeed a lengthy one, compounded by the fact that at this point we don’t even know whether the fixtures at turf clubs will be played on natural or artificial wickets. Either way conditions are likely to be unfamiliar to newcomers, of which there are an outrageous number this summer. How well the new overseas adapt could well prove decisive all over this weekend, but especially at Thurlede where the defending champions will be looking to a their new Kiwi contingent to cover for the absence of Edwards and O’Dowd. The latter pair were hardly regulars for the Bloodhounds last season either of course, and skipper Tim de Kok was bullish about his side’s prospects of defending their title in our pre-season chat.

The hosts nonetheless will have the advantage of familiarity with the conditions, and their two new signings have already had a chance to get a sense of the situation at Thurlede, even if neither looks to have exactly enjoyed it. Conversely Punjab’s new acquisitions will all be more than familiar with the conditions, with Jonathan Vandiar and Musa Nadeem at the top of the order rarely phased by the vagaries of Dutch weather or wickets. How exactly Punjab-Ghausia will line up following the fusion and and influx of outside talent is one of the big questions of the weekend, along with the accuracy of rumours of a return for Stephan Myburgh. In the circumstances prediction looks a fool’s game, but it’s probably fair to say whoever has the best day at Thurlede on Saturday will have staked a claim to the title of League favourites.

RJL: In the other triple-header, at the Bermweg, Sparta 1888 will play host to Salland and Voorburg. For the home side, Aucklander Ryan Mudford has quickly adapted to Dutch conditions, albeit against Hoofdklasse side VVV Amsterdam, with knocks of 53 and 103 last weekend, both coming from 46 deliveries and the latter including no fewer than ten sixes. He could be crucial to his side’s chances, but it was interesting to see that rumours of Mudassar Bukhari’s departure from the scene may once again have been premature, while Sparta will have been encouraged by the success of their new spin pairing, Umar Baker having joined Manminder Singh in their ranks.

Sparta will begin their day by taking on Salland, who will be without last year’s skipper, Victor Lubbers, but will be reinforced by the arrival of Acelan Pruss and perhaps paceman Shahir Malikzai, as well as South African Conor Ruff. At full strength Salland are a match for anyone, and they will be hoping to take at least two points back to Deventer with them, either from this first game or from the following one, against 50-over champions Voorburg. Despite something of an exodus from Westvliet, brothers Musa and Shariz Ahmad having departed to Punjab and VRA respectively, the former in company with Kamal Sajjad, and Ali Ahmad Qasim having returned to HCC, Voorburg still have a formidable-looking squad, Michael Levitt having limbered up with a century and an unbeaten fifty in warm-up games last weekend, while one of the less-remarked transfers of the winter has been that of Usman Malik, who last played for the Westvliet club more than twenty years ago.

BdJ: Despite the winter departures Voorburg have looked arguably the most impressive side in pre-season, doubtless helped by the fact that much of their side has been in action for the Dutch national team recently. Levitt and Kingma especially look to have brought their form home from Nepal, while the VCC youth graduates look ready to step up too, though questions remain in the spin department, with much likely to ride on how Floris de Lange adapts to regular top tier competition should conditions turn spin-friendly later in the season.

Sparta likewise look like they could be a handful at full strength, with both Bukhari and Ahsan Malik seemingly resigned to one last(?) go around and Mudford a seemingly shrewd acquisition. As with Salland the question remains how regularly they will be at full strength of course, both sides relying on foreign internationals that could be called up to national duty mid season – a trio of Belgians in Sparta’s case and a hefty German contingent at Salland. All three sides will likely be able to field something close to their strongest sides on Saturday though, a round may well set a record for most international caps to take the field at Bermweg on one day.

RJL: Newly-promoted side Hermes-DVS Schiedam will be looking to find their feet in the Topklasse when they take on HCC at their home ground, Loopuyt Oval. HCC are another club who have being doing reconstruction work during the winter, and their three new overseas players will relish the chance to strut their stuff against a Hermes side which has been playing in the Hoofdklasse for the past few seasons. But Sebastiaan Braat’s team will benefit not only from the already-considerable experience of Dutch international off-spinner Aryan Dutt and an influx of Belgians, adding to Braat himself, the brothers Elenbaas and Hermes’ own three overseas players. You’d think last-year’s table-toppers HCC should have the edge here, but Hermes will be very keen to spring the surprise of the round.

BdJ: The exodus at HCC has got a little less attention than those at VOC or VCC, but the departure for Floyd, Doram and Venter has left the lions without three of their most economical bowlers from the 2023 season. The spin section looks especially threadbare for 2024, with Jed Wiggin’s offspin the only slow bowling to be had from the reinforcements. HCC’s prepartation has also been heavily impacted by the weather, getting just 30 overs in in total over the last couple of weeks. Likely to be reliant on seam and hitting power to blast past the opposition, HCC remain dangerous but look a rathe unbalanced outfit all told, even if conditions are unlikely to favour spin this weekend.

Hermes conversely have plugged some gaps over the winter, with Dutt’s arrival a particular coup. Spanish international Daniel Doyle-Calle also arrives back at Harga with some recent runs under his belt, having helped Spain to two historic wins over Jersey earlier this week. One might think that the lowest seed against last year’s table-toppers would be a straightforward call, but I’m inclined to tip an upset here.

RJL: In the day’s other single-header, HBS will welcome VRA Amsterdam back to Craeyenhout. Promoted to an opening role, Martijn Scholte started with an unbeaten half-century in last Sunday’s British Embassy tournament in Den Haag, as did allrounder Kyle Klein, and with their new overseas Matthew de Villiers and Lehan Botha, the vast experience of skipper Wesley Barresi and the explosive force of Tayo Walbrugh at the top of the order, the Crows should be set for a successful campaign this time round. But VRA have plenty of firepower as well, with new overseas players Demari Prince, Elijah Eales and Ben Fletcher, not to mention spinners Clayton Floyd and Shariz Ahmad establishing themselves at the Bos. Add in fellow-Dutch internationals Teja Nidamanuru and Vikram Singh, whose 71-ball 155 in the 50-over competition last season is no doubt still echoing around Crayenhout, opener Shirase Rasool, the power of Johan Smal, and left-arm speedster Ashir Abid, and this has the makings of turning out to be the Game of the Round.

BdJ: Both sides have indeed undergone pretty drastic overhauls over the winter, with a number of familiar faces in both squads either pushed down to the seconds or out altogether. Both probably look the stronger for it on paper, though it remains to be seen which if either will be able to get all the recruits pulling in the same direction in time. With so many changes to both sides this is a particularly tough game to call, though having seen a bit of what the newcomers can do I’d be willing to chance a forecast of heavy run-scoring, with another potentially pricey ball-bill attached.

T20 Previews | Excelsior ’20 & VOC

Bertus de Jong 18/04/2023

Excelsior ’20’s 2023 season is not fondly remembered in Schiedam, the club’s traditional prioritising of the 50-over format meaning an impressive showing in the T20 competition is rated poor compensation for a 9th-place finish in the Topklasse, but nonethless the Schiedammers have had more success in the short format in recent years, twice finishing one win short of silverware as runners-up to VOC.

Roel Verhagen leads an appreciably stronger side into this year’s competition, having picked up Salland skipper Victor Lubbers in the off season and the prodigal Joost Kroesen returning from Sparta, while two new signings join the evergreen Lorenzo Ingram in the overseas section.

South African opening bat Derek Mitchell will likely partner either Verhagen himself or his predecessor Tim Etman at the top, while former Australia u19s seam all-rounder Jason Ralston will lend a cutting edge to the pace attack as well as hitting power down the order.

Despite these new arrivals, Excelsior’s squad looks like an island of continuity in a broiling sea of change this season, with a reassuringly stable contingent of van Troosts, Kroesens and Etmans (Etmen? Etmannen?) filling out the rest of the roster.

Umar Baker’s switch to Sparta is the most notable departure over the winter, along with the non-return of overseas Michael Hart and the rumoured retirement of Tom Heggleman. In their absence Verhagen may have to bowl more than he’d like again, though given his return of 13 wickets at an economy under 7 in last year’s T20 competition his reluctance is perhaps unwarranted.

The word at Thurlede is that Excelsior’s principal ambition for 2024 is to return to the top end of the table in the 50-over competition, and perhaps it’s the freedom afforded by treating T20 as a secondary concern that’s allowed them to

Young prospects: Stan van Troost has been a regular in the first team since taking over the gloves from Verhagen a couple of seasons back, but is tipped for a big season with the bat after a winter spent turning out for Curtin-Victoria in Perth grade cricket. Youn Jens Blankestijn, who spent part of the off-season at the Gary Kirsten academy in South Africa, is also ecpected to play a more prominent role with the ball for the coming season.

T20 Record: 2023 RU | ’22 RU | ’21 QF | ’20 SF | ’19 GS | ’18 ⅛F | ’17 QF | ’16 SF | ’15 QF | ’14 QF

Defending champions VOC Rotterdam find themselves facing the ever-tricky challenge of dynastic succession this season, the side’s remarkable domination of the T20 competition in recent years, winning four titles of the last five, being in no small part down to the effectiveness of the partnership of Dutch internationals Max O’Dowd and Scott Edwards at the top of the order, as well as the eaerlier efforts of their sometime flatmate Corey Rutgers and Edwards’ predecessor as Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar.

Rutgers and Seelaaar had already been edging their way toward retirement, but the well-publicised departure of O’Dowd and Edwards (along with Rutgers) to Kampong Utrecht over the winter leaves the Bloodhounds without four key figures in their most successful short-format side.

Yet skipper Tim de Kok adds some welcome perspective; “Obviously Max and Scott will leave a gap, but with their Dutch commitments we didn’t always see much of them anyway.” Indeed O’Dowd and Edwards appeared in only three T20s for VOC last season, Seelaar just two, Rutgers not at all and Edwards already handed over the gloves to Francois Fourie some time ago. “The three new Kiwis we’ve got look to be serious players” adds de Kok, “and [Jock] McKenzie can bowl pretty rapid too.”

Along with NZ u19s and Auckland all-rounder McKenzie, the new Kiwi contingent includes top order bat and part-time leggie Taylor Bettelheim, and all-rounder Ryan Schierhout, both of whom have provincial A team experience back in New Zealand.

While there have been further departures from Hazelaarweg, with last season’s overseas Lane Berry not returning, Burhan Niaz heading to Punjab and Max Hoornweg back to Sparta, most of VOC’s regulars from last season will be back for the Bloodhounds. Alongside de Kok himself, the veteran Jelte Schoonheim (onze vedette as de Kok describes him) has signed on for another season, while slow-bowling pair Asief Hoseinbaks and Arnav Jain are also retained, the latter now joined by younger brother Aaditt, the left arm quick making the switch from VRA over the winter.

In de Kok’s assessment, a fourth consecutive title and a berth at the European T10 Championships well within reach. “We’re really happy with the group we have, there’s a good vibe and the talent to beat any team. We’ve got our sights set on going back to Spain.”

Young prospects: Alongside spinner Sieb van Wingerden, de Kok identifies his two young pace prospects as worth watching for in the coming season, “Aaditt [Jain] really showed some skills [at the 2023 ECL] in Spain – him and Roman [Harhangi] for my money are the two stand-out talents in that age group for the Dutch.”

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

T20 Previews | Punjab & HCC

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

T20 Previews | VRA & Voorburg

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

T20 Previews | Sparta 1888 & Salland CC

Rod Lyall 15/04/2023

Change has been the order of the day at the Bermweg, where Sparta 1888 have been among the most active clubs over the winter.

They have been faced with the retirement of former international Mudassar Bukhari (though preseason scorecards suggest that retirement may not have stuck) and Joost Kroesen’s return to Excelsior, not to mention the fact that Garnett Tarr will not be coming back for a fourth season, leaving a not-insignificant gap in the top order. New Zealanders Sam Ferguson and Will Clark are still on their books (though neither are expected to feature much this season) and they have added two South Africans and another New Zealander to the squad, in the persons of Juandré Scheepers, Cameron Fraser and Riley Mudford.

The 23-year-old Scheepers, a left-handed batter and left-arm fast medium bowler, has played a couple of games for Limpopo in the CSA T20 Provincial Cup but now lives in the Netherlands, while Fraser, two years younger, is a member of the Rondebosch club side which has just claimed the Western Province Premier League. Mudford, also 23, is a wicketkeeper-batter who has represented Auckland A, and who also played a couple of interprovincial T20 games for Leinster Lightning last year, while he was turning out for Dublin club side Railway Union.

The Spartan attack will be further strengthened by the return of Max Hoornweg after two seasons with Rotterdam neighbours VOC, and the arrival of off-spinner Umar Baker, who will pass Kroesen somewhere on the route from Thurlede to the Bermweg. The Capelle side have also acquired the Sint Maarten-born Shaquille Martina, who first came to the Netherlands as a 16-year-old and who now returns to the Topklasse after a 12-year gap.

The team will again by led by Martijn Snoep, and with those five additions and the continued presence of such hardy annuals as Manminder Singh along with the explosive Ali Raza, Khalid Ahmadi, Mamoon Lafif (when the latter three are not on Belgian duty), he will undoubtedly be looking for an improvement on last season’s seventh place on the T20 table. “We’re of course going to be looking to win every game, we have the squad to beat any team on the day” say Snoep, “Finals Day is the first goal and will see what happens from there. Failing that, worst case scenario – avoid relegation.”

Young prospects: Of the younger players at Bermweg, Snoep is quick to spotlight seam all-rounder Prithvi Balwantsingh, “he looks better every year, largely self-taught and still just 21 years old, he’s due a big season.”

T20 Record: 2023 GS (7th) | ’22 QF | ’21 QF | ’20 RU | ’19 GS | ’18 GS | ’17⅛F | ’16 GS | ’15 GS | ’14 GS

That Salland are again part of the Topklasse T20 mix is due to a remarkable exercise in escapology which they pulled off last year, convincingly beating ACC in their final game to stay up at the Amsterdammers’ expense.

The heroes that day, as so often in the Deventer side’s better efforts, were Venkat Ganesan, Sahir Naqash and Akhil Gopinath, all of whom will again be donning the maroon and blue this year.

But the team will be missing skipper Victor Lubbers, who will be playing his cricket at Excelsior this year, as well as last season’s two overseas, Finn Raxworthy (the club’s overall leading run-scorer in the 2023 T20 Cup) and Fraser Bartholomew.

As against that, Salland’s German contingent will be augmented by the addition of 20-year-old Acelan Pruss, a Vfb Gelsenkirchen all-rounder who has been playing in Benoni, South Africa over the winter, and by Connor Roff, a South African from Eastern Province who has had several seasons with Rothley Park in Leicestershire and who is presumably not to be confused with the Canadian singer-songwriter of the same name.

Although Victor Lubbers has gone, his elder brother Reinder will ensure that the Lubbers name is still heard at Het Schootsveld, while opening batter and wicketkeeper Piyaranga Ottachchige will again join Naqash and the Germans in the side; Ganesan takes over the captaincy.

Salland’s reliance on their German-based players means that they may again suffer from those players’ national team commitments, but when they are all available they are capable of pulling off surprises in both formats, as they did against an admittedly-depleted Voorburg in last year’s T20 Cup.

One might suppose, though, that this is a team better suited to the longer format (where they will be looking for a quick return from the Hoofdklasse), and they will need to be at their absolute best if they are to stay up in the Topklasse T20 for another year.

Young prospects: Unsurprisingly given the growing German influence at Salland, the most eye-catching youngsters on their books this season hail from across the eastern border alongside the aformentioned Pruss, upcoming German-Afghan quick Shahir Malikzai is expected be making his Topklasse debut for Salland this season. With a stiff-armed action reminiscent of Jaspit Bumrah, the right-armer is sure to make an impression.

T20 Record: 2023 GS (8th) | ’22 GS | ’21 SF | ’20 N/A | ’19 QF | ’18 GS | ’17 ⅛F | ’16 N/A | ’15 N/A | ’14 N/A