If survival was the first goal last season then HBS Craeyenhout had a moderately successful 2025; relegated from the T20 top flight but finishing in the top half of the fifty over table. One imagines survival will again be priority one in the one-day competition, though that assignment will arguably be even tougher this time around.
The Crows local roster is reportedly similar to that of last season, but there are some substantial changes to the overseas section, most significantly the departure of last season’s lead wicket-taker Jayden Rossouw, who has switched to local rivals Quick Haag. German-South African bat Kent Goedeke comes in to replace Selin de Beer, with HBS looking to rely more on their homegrown bowling stocks. All-rounder Lehan Botha is back however, while skipper Tayo Walbrugh is now settled in the Netherlands, and indeed becomes eligible for the Oranje this year.
Julian de Mey
Botha and Walbrugh, along with veteran Wesley Barresi, were responsible for the bulk of HBS’ runs last season, though young Lucas del Bianco also passed 400 for the season and along with Navjit Singh will likely have a key role to play in the middle order. On the bowling side, the irrepressible Mudassar Bukhari returns for a third stint at Craeyenhout, lending a couple of decades worth of experience to an otherwise youthful seam attack spearheaded by Dutch international Kyle Klein.
On the spin-bowling side the departure of Rossouw means much will depend on southpaw Julian de Mey. together with the veteran Barresi’s offspin. With Rossouw contributing 38 wickets at 19 last season there’s a substantial gap to fill though, and the slow-bowling department is arguably one of the bigger questions around the balance of the HBS side for the coming season.
Hermes DVS had an excellent start to the season last summer, making the early running in the fifty over competition before tailing off somewhat toward the end, eventually settling into a comfortable mid-table finish. Overseas opening pair Daniel Doyle Calle and Ashley Ostling were key to that early run, and both are back for 2026. Some middle-order reinforcement also arrives at Harga this season in the form of Dutch/South African bat David Rushmere, who will likely also take the gloves for the early season with Asad Zulfiqar’s availability limited to the shorter format this year.
Aryan Dutt
Seam all-rounders Olivier Elenbaas and Sebastiaan Braat will still have an important supporting role to play with the bat however, as will the evergreen Nick Statham, who finished third in the Topklasse run tallies for Hermes last year. Aryan Dutt and Sahil Kothari will again provide an enviable left-right spin combination, though Belgian leggie Hikmatullah Jabarkhail isn’t expected to be up north of the border as regularly as last season. His compatriot Oliver Harrington has signed on with the sky blues for the summer however, the imposing pace all-rounder bringing hitting power down the order as well as a useful option first change.
Skipper Braat is bullish about his side’s prospects, telling Tkcricket “With Rushmere joining we’ve a much strengthened middle order – too often when we lost last season it was down to a lack of runs on the board, and if Olivier and myself can bat well around them we should be finishing top four at least.”
With the new acquisitions the ingredients are certainly there to improve on last year’s performance, and if the Schiedammers can find some consistency a title challenge could well be on the cards.
Following a creditable podium finish last year, 2024 champions Punjab-Ghausia return under a new name this season, turning the page on 30 years of tradition to rebrand as Rotterdam CC, the new name reflective of the growing club’s more expansive and inclusive ambitions. The biggest changes at the club are off field though (not least some substantial upgrades to the Zomercomplex itself) with comparatively few comings and goings among the first team at least. Former Zimbabwe quick Carl Mumba comes over from Voorburg and Samir Butt departs for VOC, but otherwise the 2026 Rotterdam squad looks much like the Punjab-Ghausia one of last year.
The core of the side is still built around two thirds of the Zulfiqar triplets, legspinning all-rounder Saqib lining up behind seam-bowling skipper Sikander, who again takes the armband this season. The pair will play a crucial role in the middle order, especially with big name bats Jonatahn Vandiar and Mohsin Riaz expected to miss much of the early season. Their absence will place greater responsibility for Musa Ahmad and Shoaib Minhas at the top of the order, with keeper-bat Fawad Shinwari perhaps pushed up the order too.
Burhan Niaz
The Rotterdammers will also be hoping for more consistent contributions with the bat from Belgian seam all-rounder Burhan Niaz, who notably played as a dedicated number four in their victorious pre-season Rijmond Cup campaign. Veteran former captain Sulaiman Tariq is also game for another season, and will likely share the new ball with Mumba. Offspin all-rounder and former Pakistan youth international Aaliyan Mahmood returns, as does veteran South African bat Rushdi Jappie, though both are expected to play more of a role in the seconds. Asif Gondal is expected to be a more regular feature in the first again however, and if Ahmad and Minhas can replicate their form with the ball from last season Zulafiqar should not be short of slow bowling options.
All told despite the infrastructural and nominative transformations at the Zomercomplex, it’s more continuity than change for the first XI, a wealth of capable all-rounders still the Rotterdammers’ key strength, coupled with an admirably consistent ambition. When asked about his ambitions and expectations for the coming season, captain Sikander Zulfiqar supplied the laconic response; “Kampioenschap.”
Continuity seems to be the keyword at de Diepput too, Haagsche CC similarly sticking with a well-tested formula that delivered a solid fourth-place finish last season. The sole significant change to the side is the return of Australian Zac Worden, who was key to HCC’s championship run did well four seasons ago. Worden relieves Oli White as batting overseas, but last season’s lead wicket-taker Josh Brown returns for another season. Skipper Boris Gorlee remarked “we’re sticking with just the two [overseas] as usual, and it’s good to have a couple of lads that know the club and what we’re about.”
Clayton Floyd
HCC’s perennial senior trio of Gorlee, Tonny Staal and Hidde Overdijk remain the foundation of the side, but there’s been plenty of youth pushing through at de Diepput too of late. Teuns Kloppenburg and Leijer will likely play a larger bigger role this season, the former back for a full season this time round while the latter has been opening the bowling with Daniel Crowley in pre-season. Likewise Shirshak Banerjeee has established a strong claim on a regular top-order spot, Mark Wolfe has looked settled behind the stumps since taking over the gloves from Yash Patel, and young Justin Trijzelaar has also been knocking on the door.
In the absence of White the slow bowling does look somewhat dependent the prodigal Clayton Floyd’s left arm spin, but the Haagsche’s seam-heavy approach could serve them well in the front-loaded fifty over season. Gorlee was somewhat circumspect in assessing their chances, telling Tkcricket “with the talent we have we know we can beat any team in the competition, though, well, we can certainly lose to anyone too. But if we’re at our best we should be mixing it in the top three.” Though not short of experience, this relatively young HCC side is probably still a few seasons away from their best, and if they can manage a podium finish this year then another title likely won’t be far away.
Newly-promoted Kampong Utrecht made history last season by becoming the first clubs since Prinses Wilhelmina Enchede in 1939 to win the top division immediately upon their return, clinching the Topklasse title with two games to spare. The defending champions don’t look to be changing a winning formula, and the 2026 squad looks broadly similar to last season.
Kampong’s success in recent years has been in part based on shrewd past acquisitions, tempting Dutch international duo Max O’Dowd and Scott Edwards over from VOC and the veteran Lorenzo Ingram from Excelsior, and the trio are expected to play a substantial role in Kampong’s title defence again. Edwards in particular was imperious when available last year, and though O’Dowd had a comparatively quiet season, Kampong will hope a comparatively light international schedule will mean the pair will be around a bit more.
Pierre Jacod
The absence of last season’s top-scorer Lane Berry, who remains in Australia means the title-holders will be likely need a few more runs from their Dutch international pair, While the returning Lachlan Bangs along with Damien van den Berg ensure Kampong will not be short of hitting power, the Kampong top order may be left looking like something of a glass cannon if and when O’Dowd and Edwards are called away on national duty. That said, Pierre Jacod comes into the season in fine form, having followed up an excellent 2025 Topklasse season with an impressive winter in Australia, and combined with the evergreen Ingram provides not only an enviable left-right spin combination but also a degree of depth to the batting card.
The bowling attack likewise looks much the same as last season, though Kirtan Nana is understood to be taking a summer off, with young Gert Swanepoel expected to get a few more chances in the senior side, joining skipper and spearhead Alex Roy in an otherwise comparatively callow pace attack. The spin trio of Ingram, Jacod and Akhil Gopinath will likely bowl the bulk of the overs again this season, while Dutch prospect Zach Lion-Cachet is also on the Kampong list, the young offie will likely be available only when in the country with the national squad.
Roy is somewhat phlegmatic about the prospect of Kampong defending their title, “winning was great but of course this year we’ll have a bit of a target on our backs important thing is consistency, it would be great to go back to back but really we just want to show we can keep competing at the top level. We’ll be aiming first to keep pace in the top four, but of course if we can push on for the title again then great.”
While the competition may be somewhat fiercer this season as talent concentrates into the newly streamlined top division, the defending champions established a working blueprint for success in their first season back last year, and taking the title off them will doubtless take some doing.
T20 champions and runners up in the fifty-over competition last year, VRA Amsterdam will be looking to add to their silverware collection again this time around, albeit with a somewhat reshuffled squad. The local core of the side remains largely unchanged under captain-manager Teja Nidamanuru, but the overseas section looks markedly different for the coming season.
Among the more significant personnel changes is the departure of pace pair Ben Fletcher and Peter Ruffel, who accounted for some fifty wickets between them last season, with Jersey international Patrick Gouge another notable absence from the 2026 roster. New arrivals include Kiwi bats Sam Cassidy (cousin of current keeper Jack) and Lovepreet Padda, along with seam all-rounder Devin Wilke and legspinner Ivan Zmak.
While most if not all of the newcomers will be in contention for first team spots, VRA’s fortunes will likely hinge on their trio of sometime Dutch internationals, Vikram Singh, Shariz Ahmad and skipper Nidamanuru, who collectively had a somewhat modest season last year. Singh and Nidamanuru’s limited returns with the bat left VRA rather dependent on vice captain Johan Smal, who’ ha’s looked in fine form in pre-season after an excellent 2025, and may himself may push for Dutch selection when he becomes eligible in a few weeks’ time, potentially leaving VRA vulnerable to something of an exodus when the selectors come calling.
Johan Smal
The top order looks solid on paper though, and the Amsterdammers are confident in their local bowling depth. While Shariz Ahmad has not hit the heights of past seasons, the return of left armer Udit Nashier, backed up by the veteran Leon Turmaine (VRA’s stand-out slow bowler last season) together with Nidamanuru’s own improving offspin ensures they won’t be short of spin options. The loss of Fletcher and Ruffel means responsibility for leading the seam attack will fall to left arm quick Ashir Abid, backed up by Singh’s medium pace and potentially opening up more space for youth and second-team prospects to push for more regular opportunities in the top flight.
Nidamanuru struck an upbeat tone ahead of the season on that front, telling TKcricket “We’ve some local talent coming through for sure. We’re very happy with the new guys coming in from overseas of course, but partially we’ll be looking to a couple of them to bring some stability in the seconds rather than coming straight into the first team … we’re relying on our local bowling especially this season, and I do think we’ve got the depth to go one better this year.”
The fact that VRA finished runners-up last time round despite several senior players having sub-par personal seasons does suggest there’s potential for the squad to break the silver-medal ceiling that they’ve bumped against on occassion since their last fifty-over title in 2011, if they can get a few more cylinders firing on full.
Bertus de Jong18:10 So it’s all over, as they say, bar the regulatory challenges. Let’s hope we can do without those. VRA claim the title and it must be said it never looked like anything but paperwork or rain could deny them. HCC showed some fight with the bat after the rain break, but VRA made light work of the chase, looking more worried about the weather than the chance of losing. They needn’t have as it turns out, the sinking sun is shining here at Harga. It sets on the season too, bar the promotion clash at the Zomercomplex tomorrow. That’s a wrap for out live coverage for 2025, but we’ve plenty of reflection and retrospection content in the works, not least our 2025 Team of the Year, so do check back soon. Thanks for joining us for another summer, on behalf of all the team here at TKcricket, this is Bertus de Jong signing off – see you next season!
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA 67-4 (6.5/11 overs)
Gorlee brings himself on for the last rites. Shariz punches a single to midwicket first up, Cassidy takes four balls to find the gap but does so eventually, single out in front of square to seal the victory. VRA win by 6 wickets to claim the 2025 Topklasse T20 Championship!
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA 65-4 (6/11 overs)
Smal steps across and again goes over the man at fine leg, four more. Single tucked square, and VRA any boundary away. Shariz can’t find it, but a mishit pull brings one more square. Smal across his stumps once too often and is bowled behind his legs next ball. Cassidy to the crease. Two needed.
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA 59-3 (5/11 overs)
Good start from Trijzelaar, but fourth ball Smal muscles him away quare from over off-stump for another boundary. Five overs done, and not even rain can save HCC now. Eight runs to get for VRA. Banerjee gets a bowl…
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA 53-3 (4/11 overs)
Singh the next to perish in the cause, looks to loft Floyd over long on but it has more height than distance and HCC are holding their catches despite the slippery conditions. Shariz at five, and single out toward long on first up, then four more for Smal swept up wide of fine leg, then a gift dowd leg is swatted on it’s way bursting through the same man. Trijzelaar into the attack.
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA 42-2 (3/11 overs)
VRA clearly want to get these runs before the rain returns. Short ball from Leijer dispatched over backward square for four more by Singh, who like his teammates has been swinging with abandon. Lovely cover drive brings two a couple of balls later, but clear that keeping it down isn’t bringin reward on this outfield. Floyd into the attack. 25 runs to get, two more overs for a guaranteed result.
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA 32-2 (2/11 overs)
Nidamanuru quickly into his work, makes room to cut hard behind point for four, then twice more to the rope high over the on side. But another brief innings, another big heave to leg is top-edged and held ar deep square. Smal at four.
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA 19-1 (1/11 overs)
Singh off the mark galncing fine for one, Rasool top-edges the next back over third for four, then two clean connections brings him 12 in two balls over cow. Gets greedy though and next ball holes out to Overdijk on the rope at long on. Nidamanuru in at three, up over mid on burt blugs in the sodden outfield. 19 off it. White to share the new ball.
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA 0-0 (0/11 overs)
Singh and Rasool to open for VRA, 67 target we are indeed assured. Crowley takes the new ball.
Bertus de Jong17:28 DLS has not punished HCC too harshly for those pre-rain wickets it seems. Word is 67 in 11 overs will be the target for VRA.
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Crowley on the charge first ball, swipes at air and stumped. Trijzelaar in and off the the mark glancing fine for one, Wolfe puts the next away for four over midwicket, but holes out in the same direction two balls later. Vrolijk at nine and a hard run two to finish.
HCC 65-7 (11/11 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Crowley on the charge first ball, swipes at air and stumped. Trijzelaar in and off the the mark glancing fine for one, Wolfe puts the next away for four over midwicket, but holes out in the same direction two balls later. Vrolijk at nine and a hard run two to finish.
HCC 58-5 (10/11 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Shariz again for the tenth, they can’t get him away to the rope but hard running brings eight from the over. Nidamanuru to bowl the last himself.
HCC 50-5 (9/11 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Crowley dumps the first ball on the 9th back over Singh’s head for six, and two balls later a deft late cut from Wolfe brings four more. Signs of fight from HCC.
HCC 37-5 (8/11 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Singh completes his over tidily, just a couple of singles off it. Fletcher and Ruffel are bowled out owing to the abreviation, so Shariz Ahmad into the attack and strikes with his first ball, skidding under and ungainly mow from Banerjee and into the stumps. Overdijk in. And Overdijk out first ball! Full from Shariz and turning in, Overdijk looks to work it to leg, misses and plumb. Crowley to the crease and survives the hat-trick ball more by luck than judgement as it fizzes past his outside edge. Single, and finally something for HCC to cheer for as Shariz drags the last ball short and Wolfe creams it high and long over midwicket for six. Singh to continue.
Bertus de Jong16:53 But not the sort that will make a result more likely. HCC to resume batting, nine overs off each innings for now, so four overs and 4 balls left for HCC.
Bertus de Jong16:51 Covers on, covers off. Dark clouds on the horizon but looks like we may just get a bit more cricket.
Bertus de Jong16:35 It’s starting to rain again.
Bertus de Jong16:27 Well hope spings eternal, we’ve a brief break in the weather and they’re busy getting the water off the covers, and now the covers off the pitch. If they do get back on in the next ten minutes it’ll be HCC resuming their innings, albeit with a fair few overs off. That will of course, ironically, make a result less likely.
Rod Lyall15:35 Well, the radar wasn’t lying, except that the rain has arrived a little earlier than predicted. The indications are that it’s set in for the rest of the day, but Bertus will jump in if there’s any good news. For now, this is Rod Lyall saying a provisional farewell.
HCC 25-3 (6.2 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Shirsak Banerjee under way with a boundary, and there’s time for Vikram Singh to bowl a couple of deliveries before rain drives them from the field.
HCC 17-3 (5.1 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Peter Ruffell replaces Nidamanuru, starting with a wide. A single apiece, then four off Fletcher’s third. Then Gorlee edges Ruffell through to Cassidy, and HCC are in trouble here.
HCC 10-2 (3 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Wolfe off the mark with a single, then Gorlee survives a very confident appeal for leg-before. He finishes the over with a single to point.
HCC 8-2 (2.1 overs)
VRA yet to bat
And another! Fletcher digs one in, it climbs on White, who tries to cut at about shoulder height, and can only steer it to Smal at cover. Mark Wolfe joins his captain, with VRA looking very hungry.
HCC 8-1 (2 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Gorlee works him in front of point to get off the mark, then White pushes to mid-off for a quick single.
HCC 6-1 (1.1 overs)
VRA yet to bat
Nidamanuru from the Pavilion End. And a breakthrough off his first delivery, as Floyd drives, fails to get on top of it, and the bowler takes a very good low catch. Boris Gorlee in at three.
HCC 6-0 (1 over)
VRA yet to bat
They’re out in the middle, Ben Fletcher opening from the Railway End to Oliver White, Clayton Floyd the non-striker. The first is in the channel outside off for the left-hander, who plays and misses. Pushes the second into the off side, looks for a single but is sent back. The next is in the slot, and lofted over long off for the first six of the game. Three dots to finish, though not for want of attempted knocking the cover off the ball by White.
Rod Lyall14:50 Hats off to the umpires for managing to get a result in the women’s T20 final, where after Quick Haag made 143 for five the game was cut to five overs, HCC being set a target of 36. Which they achieved for the loss of one wicket, with three balls to spare. Congratulations to them.
Rod Lyall14:40 It may, of course, all prove a bit academic, if the radar is to be believed. It’s been raining in Schiedam, it seems, and there’s more on the way. We should get in an hour or so’s play, but thereafter a lot may depend on the exaxt path the next lot of rain chooses. The Playing Conditions provide for one rescheduling if the match is abandoned.
Rod Lyall14:35 Teja Nidamanuru has called correctly for VRA, and elected to field.
Rod Lyall14:30 Good afternoon/evening/morning everyone, and welcome to our coverage of this year’s Topklasse T20 Cup Final. It’s been a strange old week, but it seems that after all the argy-bargy’s done it will be VRA who take on HCC. Though it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if three teams turned up at the Loopuyt Oval today. Why, one wonders, does Dutch cricket keep shooting itself in the foot with bad news stories?
So, as the season nears its end, it’s time for us to come up with our seventh Topklasse Team of the Year.
RL: Once again, we cannot avoid the issue of overseas players, and how many we should include. Arguably, we could name a side like: Janett (VOC), Doyle-Calle (Hermes-DVS), Kaplan (Voorburg), Walbrugh (HBS), Melville (Voorburg), Brown (HCC), Bangs (Kampong), Shahzad (Punjab-Ghausia), Ruffell (VRA), Ralston (Excelsior) and Rossouw (HBS) which wouldn’t be too much of a travesty, but while it might make a point, it wouldn’t be a totally fair reflection of the season so far. So perhaps the sensible course is once again to give preference to local, or at least Dutch-qualified, players wherever possible, while including a small number of the most influential imports.
So here goes:
Starting with the openers, the first name on my sheet is that of Cedric de Lange (Voorburg), still eligible to play in the KNCB’s Under-17 competition but already a Topklasse regular, with 634 runs this season at 42.27. No other locally-produced opener has shown anything like the same degree of consistency, with some, like VRA’s Vikram Singh and HCC’s Tonny Staal, having distinctly disappointing returns. Musa Ahmad (Punjab) spent most of the season at three, but his promotion to opener brought him plenty of runs, and his 621 at 42.40 earns him a place in one or other of these positions. If we were to go for an overseas to partner De Lange, then Daniel Doyle-Calle’s 711 at 64.64 (at a strike rate of 105) for Hermes, although he fell away somewhat towards the end of the season, makes him the outstanding candidate.
Cedric de Lange
BdJ: De Lange is probably the easiest pick this season for what one suspects will be the first of many TK team of the year appearances. The 17 year-old doubtless has a bright future ahead of him both in the Topklasse and indeed in Orange, his maiden international call-up coming earlier than even he might have hoped one imagines. The second opener is a tougher pick, however. Musa Ahmad indeed did well opening, but with only four appearances at the top of the order probably doesn’t qualify. It’s perhaps recency bias that summons VOC’s Scott Jannet to mind – his unbeaten 83 in the relegation play-off arguably the single most consequential innings of the season. Conversely, we perhaps shouldn’t discount Doyle-Calle’s weight of runs merely because the lion’s share came at the start of the season. DDC’s early season form was a big part of Hermes’ dominance over the first few weeks of the competition, and ensured they had a cushion of safety even as their title challenge rather sputtered out.
There’s a rather more crowded field for numbers three through five, though again overseas players feature heavily. Voorburg’s Gavin Kaplan is an obvious contender again, while strong cases might be made for Kampong’s Lane Berrry – whose 684 runs for the champions came at an average over 50 and a blistering strike rate of 124, while VOC’s Danish number 4 Monty Singh also had an excellent debut season, and had his long commute from Denmark not limited him to ten appearances the Bloodhounds’ season might have looked rather different. Among the locals Kampong’s Pierre Jacod deserves at the very least an honourable mention among the batters with 403 runs at 57.57, though he’s generally been at his best further down the order. For my money though, we should probably stretch our definition of local players to include those set on qualifying for the Netherlands again. That would make room for Tayo Walbrugh and Johan Smal who, though both still a few months from eligibility (much to the frustration of the aforementioned selectors as the injuries and unavailabilities mount up ahead of the impending Bangladesh tour) have already been training with the national side and one imagines will be donning the Orange sooner rather than later. Walbrugh once again finished top of the run tables with 831 at an average of almost 60, while Smal was just two spots behind, his 715 runs at 55 crucial to keeping VRA in the top half of the table while other senior bats at the Bos seemed to struggle all season.
RL: There’s obviously a serious danger that our final eleven might start to look very like the satirically-intended one I named at the outset! The lack of outstanding local candidates is due to a mix of factors: the tendency of the clubs to pack their sides with overseas players, thus limiting the opportunities for their own products, combines with the presence of relatively few young Dutch players of genuine quality and the fact that the top Dutch batters either played relatively few games or had disappointing seasons. Only eight Dutch-qualified players figure in the top twenty of the batting averages, and of those Scott Edwards played only nine times for Kampong (and had five innings) and Noah Croes (Voorburg) one more. If we agree that Jacod ought to bat at six or seven, and if I’m allowed to insist that we only include one overseas in the top/middle order (Walbrugh again, for my money), then I’d want to make a case for two of Wes Barresi (465 runs at 42.27), Boris Gorlee (628 at 39.25) and Noah Croes (372 at 41.33). Or perhaps . . .
. . . all three, if Croes keeps wicket. Equally, Edwards’ 260 at 65.00 from his extremely limited opportunities is a pretty strong case too. If we’re going to confine ourselves to keepers with a more frequent presence, on the other hand, then the top candidates are probably Mark Wolfe (HCC) and Asad Zulfiqar (Hermes), with 20 victims apiece. VRA’s Jack Cassidy had 28, but then we’re back with the overseas vs. locals debate again. Zulfiqar bats higher up the order than Wolfe but had a fairly disappointing campaign with the bat, while young Wolfe, batting lower down, played some useful innings when the HCC top and middle order had struggled. So on balance I’d probably be inclined to give him the nod.
BdJ: Well it seeems every year we’re destined to have the same tussle, as to whether to adhere in our Topklasse Team of the Year selection to a rule that hasn’t applied in the actual competition for the better part of a decade now, and was more honoured in the breach when it did. If we are to make current Dutch-eligibility rather than Topklasse performance the principal qualification for this exercise we may as well just name the national team and have done with it. In a similar vein, while Scott Edwards doubless does a fine job with the gloves in Orange I frankly draw the line at picking a wicketkeeper here that basically never keeps wicket in the Topklasse. Edwards and Croes have a total of 7 appearances behind the stumps between them this season, and to my mind picking either as Topklasse keeper of the year would send us deep into the realm of farce. Monty Singh scored more runs and effected more dismissals than both combined despite missing half the season, away playing for Denmark rather than the Dutch. If we must look to Dutch-eligible glovemen then I’d argue Kampong’s actual keeper Damien van den Berg has a stronger case, doing a fine job behind the stumps and setting the tone at the top of the order with some 400 runs at a run-a-ball. The Crows’ Lucas del Bianco had a comparable season with the bat, but a glaring 30 byes probably disqualifies him there.
Turning to seamers we are inevitably confronted with a familiar quandry, as the two leading quicks in the comp are likewise non-Dutch-eligible. HCC’s Joshua Brown took 34 wickets at 15.32 while VRA’s Peter Ruffel claimed 33 scalps at 16.55, and both were crucial to keeping their sides in the top half of the table. There is however a tad more local competition in the fast bowling stakes, with Hermes skipper Sebastiaan Braat’s 30 wickets at 16.67 earning him a spot in the top five, closely followed by Kampong captain Alex Roy, who picked up 29 wickets at 14.52 while leading his side to the title. TK TOTY regular Hidde Overdijk also deserves an honourable mention at the very least, his 26 wickets coming at just 13.69 apiece.
Alexander Roy
RL: Maybe we should pick two sides, one limiting ourselves to, say, two or three overseas players, and the other a No-Holds-Barred team, a bit like the one I ironically suggested at the outset? I for one hope that the KNCB finally gets a grip on the nuclear arms race of overseas player recruitment over the winter!
Turning to the spinners, we’ve already mentioned Musa Ahmad, Wes Barresi and Pierre Jacod in our discussion of the batting, and if all three make it into the final eleven we have a pretty reasonable array of slow bowling. Even I, though, would find it difficult to go past the Crows’ Jayden Rossouw, the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 38 at 19.37. With four off-spinners this attack would, admittedly, have a certain sameness about it, but we have to play with the cards we’re dealt, and left-armers and leg-spinners have not been conspicuous among the wicket-takers this year.
BdJ: I’d argue that four slow bowlers of any ilk would be a bit much in a season largely dominated by the quicks, but picking four right arm finger spinners of whom only two made the top ten wicket-takers seems entirely excessive. Nonetheless I’m going to have to give at least an honourable shout-out to one more right-arm tweaker here, namely VOC’s Arnav Jain, who may only have bagged 19 scalps this season but went at just 3.44 an over. If offspin is generally seen as a defensive art there’s a strong case to be made that that’s a better showing than the relatively leaky Barresi or the objectively expensive Ahmad. Among the purveyors of more esoteric or aggressive spin there’s only one genuine stand-out, namely Hermes’ leggie Hikmatullah Jabarkhail. His 32 wickets at 16.5 played a big part in the Schiedammers’ early dominance, and would make him a sure pick were it not for his hailing from Belgium. Similarly Excelsior stalwart Lorenzo Ingram to my mind has a better case than either Ahmad or Barresi, with more wickets at a better average than either and at an economy of just 3.29 – the best of any front line bowler in the competition – and a better batting average to boot. But Ingram of course, despite a Topklasse career spanning well over a decade, is not yet eligible to play for the Netherlands.
I will once again plead that we ought be picking a Topklasse XI rather than a Dutch development squad here, and point out that even if we were picking the latter at least those on track for eligibility should be accorded equal treatment, but will defer to experience when it comes to the final word…
RL:One might take the position that given the apparent indifference of the clubs to the fututre of Dutch cricket, our own annual selection might at least serve by contrast as rebuke or aspiration, but on the other hand there’s a strong case for reporting things as they aare. Considering the our differing positions on the overseas question, it’s remakable how little divergence there eventually turned out to be in our preferred selections. While I remain sceptical of treating palyers on the path to qualification as though they were already there, I’ll concede Smal has a marginally stronger claim than Musa to a place, at least a batting slot. While Ingram has not even comitted to that path, he is unquestionably a long-standing servant of the Dutch domestic game, and indeed would add variety to an otherwise offspin-heavy spin attack, so once again am happy to defer to my colleague there. On the keeping question, Cassidy certainly had a fine season, helped no doubt by the quality of the quick bowlers he’s kept to. Van den Berg’s fewer dismissals are balanced by fewer byes conceded, and there’s little to choose between them in terms or runs scored except the rate at which they scored them, so on balance van den Berg edges it irrespective of the overseas question. Finally it seems to me that given his side’s success and his on contibution to it, Alex Roy is the outstanding candidate to captain our team of the year.
Touch wood by the time we come to do this exercise next year the KNCB may have found a way of encouraging or forcing clubs to rectrict their use of overseas players, if not we’ll doubless again be wrestling with this dilemma, and hopefully diverting you all by arguin it out in public. For now though, here is TKcricket’s 2025 Team of the Year:
Daniel Doyle-Calle (Hermes), Cedric de Lange (Voorburg), Johan Smal (VRA), Tayo Walbrugh (HBS), Lorenzo Ingram (Kampong), Damien van den Berg (Kampong), Pierre Jacod (Kampong), Sebastiaan Braat (Hermes), Alex Roy (c) (Kampong), Joshua Brown (HCC), Jayden Rossouw (HBS).
Dutch autumn weather did its best to spoil the party on Saturday, but at Schiedam’s Loopuyt Oval at least cricket had the last word, the finals of both the Women’s T20 and men’s Topklasse T20 Cups achieving a result.
Both matches were curtailed by the rain, the side which won the toss electing to field and thereby gaining the considerable advantage of chasing a severely reduced target.
In the women’s match Quick Haag got in their full 20 overs against HCC, reaching 143 for five thanks to a splendid 68-ball 86 from opener Annemijn Thomson, who was supported in a second-wicket stand of 80 by Luisa Ekelmans (25 at a run a ball).
Iris Zwilling was the pick of the HCC bowlers, her four overs conceding just 7 runs for the wicket of Thomson’s opening partner Alarda Mol.
Then the weather intervened, and HCC were set a reduced target of 36 from five overs, a task which they were untroubled in achieving for the loss of one wicket with three deliveries to spare, Frédérique Overdijk seeing them home with an unbeaten 21 from 16 balls.
HCC’s men found the show on the other foot soon afterwards, when VRA captain Teja Nidamanuru won the toss and elected to field.
Who the Lions would be facing had been in doubt for much of the week, after Voorburg, who had lost to VRA in a semi-final, challenged that result on the grounds that their opponents had played an ineligible player in Shirase Rasool.
Rasool, they claimed, had played an insufficient number of matches in the round robin phase, but in a last-minute decision the Appeals Committee ruled that he had indeed been qualified to play under the KNCB’s complex Playing Conditions.
Having been cleared to contest the final the Amsterdammers immediately seized the initiative, Nidamanuru himself taking a low return catch to remove Clayton Floyd with the first ball of the second over, and Ben Fletcher having Oliver White caught by Johan Smal off the first ball of the next.
When Boris Gorlee edged the first ball of the sixth,bowled by Peter Ruffell, through to keeper Jack Cassidy it was 17 for three, and although Shirsak Banerjee got off the mark with a boundary, HCC were struggling with 25 on the board when the players were forced from the field two balls into the seventh.
A long delay followed, and when Mark Wolfe and Banerjee resumed the innings had been reduced to just 11 overs a side.
Almost immediately Shariz Ahmad removed Banerjee and Hidde Overdijk with successive deliveries, but Wolfe (20) and Daniel Crowley (18 from 10 deliveriesI doubled the score before Nidamanuru accounted for both in the final over, and HCC closed on 65 for seven.
That was adjusted to 66 by DLS, and Rasool gave VRA’s reply a flying start, top-edging Crowley to third man for four before twice smacking him over long on for six.
Trying to make it three in a row he was caught by Hidde Overdijk on the boundary for a four-ball 16, and then Nidamanuru took up the challenge, carving White through backward point for four before twice lofting him over long on for two more.
He got under the next and was caught in the deep by Teun Leijer, but VRA had almost reached the halfway mark inside two overs.
By the time Clayton Floyd had Vikram Singh caught at cow only 24 more were required, and Sma’s 11-ball 19 took VRA to within two runs of their target, Shariz and Cassidy finishing it off two balls into the seventh over.
The weather had ensured that it was far from being a classic, but it gave VRA their fifth T20 Cup final victory.
There was a less satisfactory outcome at the Zomercomplex, where ACC had reached 17 for two in 4.1 overs against Kampong Utrecht before the players left the field, never to return.
There is no provision for a replay in the Hoofdklasse Cup final, so Kampong are champions by virtue of having topped the table after the round robin phase, and will now meet VOC Rotterdam, again at the Zomercomplex, on Sunday to decide which of the two plays in the Topklasse T20 Cup next season.
VRA Amsterdam will face HCC in the 2025 Topklasse T20 Final on Saturday, following a ruling in their favour in regards the eligibility dispute pertaining to their semi-final win over Voorburg CC last weekend.
Defeated semi-finalists Voorburg CC, who lost to VRA by 22 runs in the second semi-final of the Topklasse T20 competition on Sunday, are seeking to have the result of that match overturned on grounds that VRA fielded an ineligible player. VCC are understood to have challenged the eligibility of VRA opening bat Shirase Rasool – who scored a brisk 41 before retiring hurt in the match in question – on the basis that he had not played sufficient matches in the preceding league phase.
Shirase Rasool
Rasool, a former regular at the top of the order for VRA, has played only intermittently this season owing to personal commitments. In total Rasool has made three appearances for VRA’s second team and five for the senior side this season, but crucially played only four matches in the T20 competition.
Under Article 18 of the Competitieregelement only players that have played a minimum of 50% of the first (league) stage matches of the T20 competition are eligible to participate in the final rounds. Under the current competition format the minimum is thus five matches in across divisions prior to the finals phase; Rasool therefore falling one match short.
However, a number of exemptions to these requirements are detailed in the same document, not least 18.II.7.b which exempts long-standing members of a club from the above participation requirements, under which Voorburg match-secretary and first team occasional Floris de Lange was able to play. VRA maintains that Rasool is similarly exempt under Articles 18.II.6 and 18.II.7.b, which provides for players who have regularly played for a club in preceding seasons, though the language of the document is arguably inconsistent as to whether this refers to all competition or exclusively divisions below the top flight.
“VRA is confident that we are fully within the regulations regarding the eligibility of Shirase Rasool. Articles 18.II.6 and 18.II.7 clearly state that he qualifies to play without needing to meet the five-match threshold or apply for dispensation. It is extremely disappointing how this situation has unfolded, as it distracts from the spirit of the competition and takes the focus away from the cricket itself.” VRA first team captain and General Manager Teja Nidamanuru told TKcricket.
Voorburg Chair Richard de Lange was equally confident however, stating; “VCC remains confident in the strength of our position and our rightful place in the T20 final based on the merits of our case and adherence to competition regulations. We respect the ongoing appeals process and trust that the proper procedures will ultimately ensure the integrity of the competition is upheld. We look forward to a swift and fair resolution that serves the best interests of cricket in the Netherlands.”
VRA immediately appealed the KNCB’s initial decision, which Tkcricket understands awarded the match and a place in the final to VCC and imposed a 100 euro fine on VRA. That appeal appears to have been at least initially successful in reversing the decision, but said reversal has duly been appealled in turn by VCC. At press time it remains unclear who, if anyone, HCC will face in Saturday’s final at the Loopuyt Oval.
HCC
TKcricket 