Three rounds (or thereabouts) into the 2019 Topklasse and the table has already taken on a somewhat surprising shape, with HBS Craeyenhout and the unfancied ACC unbeaten at the top, whilst last year’s champions VOC and runners-up VRA are both winless at the bottom, albeit with a game in hand over the rest of the field. Perhaps equally surprising has been the less than overwhelming impact of the expanded overseas contingent thus far, though that may change as the season progresses and the new faces acclimatise to Dutch conditions.
BdJ: Both of the two early frontrunners are both away from home for round four, and will be both playing their first matches on turf this Saturday. Table-toppers ACC will be at Thurlede to take on Excelsior ‘20, looking to extend their unbeaten run. Excelsior sank to a surprise home defeat at the hands of Sparta last week, Max Hoornweg taking 7-36 to run through the Schiedammers’ perennially brittle tail. Excelsior’s reliance on Lorenzo Ingram and now his countryman Brenton Parchment, especially with the bat, is hardly a new issue, but it remains the 2017 champions’ biggest weakness. ACC meanwhile head into the game on a high, with three convincing wins under their belt. Youngsters Aryan Kumar and especially Shirase Rasool look to have come into their own this season, though the latter’s duck in the Pro-Series match on Sunday lends further salience to the question of whether he can carry his form onto natural turf. New overseas signings Jean Marais and Brady Barents both seem to be enjoying themselves too, the former bagging four catches against VCC last week and the latter wasting no time in claiming his maiden Topklasse five-fer. If only by virtue of momentum, ACC travel to Thurlede bearing the perhaps unfamiliar label of favourites.
RL: Starting their campaign against VRA and Quick Haag seems to have given ACC a flying start, but their demolition of a below-par Voorburg last Saturday suggests that the Amsterdam side may be on course for their best season since they topped the table in 2012. Back then, an indifferent performance in the play-offs cost them the title (something they last won in 1954), but if their cohort of youngsters continue as they have started, the three remaining Zulfiqars maintain their form, and Marais and Barents contribute as expected, they will be a very tough team to beat. Excelsior’s own younger brigade took them to two successive titles a couple of years ago, but they fell away a little last season, and haven’t really fired yet in this. But Tim Etman is making runs, and it can’t be long before Ingram and/or Parchment plays a really decisive innings. The new-ball bowlers have had their share of problems with the white ball, but the attack is varied and potentially menacing, so this should be a very interesting battle indeed.
BdJ: Meanwhile at the Amsterdamse Bos the unbeaten HBS Craeyenhout take one the as-yet-winless VRA. Despite a batting card that looks solid enough in principle, the Amsterdammers have missed the unshowy but reliable Dan ter Braak at the top of the order, with the ever-promising Vikram Singh looking set to remain a future prospect for the time being, and new opening partner Matt Lake yet to find his feet in the Topklasse. Though Ben Cooper has been making runs in the Pro-Series he has yet to deliver for his club, and VRA can’t afford to be losing early wickets again if they are to contend with HBS’ hard-hitting top order.
RL: The continuing progress of spinner Julian de Mey has added another dimension to the HBS attack, while the top of the batting order is all the stronger for the arrival of Zac Elkin as an opening partner for the mercurial Tobias Visée. The return of Quirijn Gunning is a bonus for VRA, but their attack may struggle to contain the HBS top six; the batting, likewise, has so far been very dependent on the skills of veterans Peter Borren and Eric Szwarczynski. Traditionally slow starters, VRA need to gel quickly if they are not to drop behind the pack, especially with Sparta and Quick having posted their first wins last week. HBS, by contrast, have the momentum on their side, and they will be disappointed if they don’t return to Craeyenhout with the points.
BdJ: Also looking for their first win are defending champions VOC, who will face newly-promotedVCC at Westvliet. The departures of Umar Baker and especially Fred Klaassen have been sorely felt at VOC, with the Rotterdammers’ attack having managed only 11 wickets between them so far this season. On the other hand VCC’s batting order has looked surprisingly brittle so far, with the wicket of Matt Smit tending to precipitate rapid collapse. But in Vivian Kingma and Brandon Glover Voorburg have unarguably the most intimidating new-ball attack in the league, and VOC’s own batting card likewise looks rather thin, reliant on openers Max O’Dowd and Cory Rutgers and the middle-order pairing of Seelaar and Edwards. Early wickets, one imagines, will be key at Westvliet, and VCC look best-placed to find them.
RL: VOC are missing not only Klaassen and Baker, but also the reliable if unspectacular Bobby Hanif, and of course, Ahsan Malik Jamil. Their week off, as with VRA, did them no favours, and they, too, badly need a win to re-establish contact with the other teams in the lower half of the table. Somewhat surprisingly, that includes Voorburg, who began promisingly but have since succumbed to Excelsior and ACC. Their batting has shown a reluctance to graft when the wickets have started falling, but there’s too much quality in their top six for this to continue for long. Matt Smit has already demonstrated his class at this level, and Noah Croes is another potential trump card. And that attack, with Clayton Floyd as well as Glover and Kingma, not to mention Stef Mulder and Philippe Boissevain, gives skipper Tom de Grooth plenty of options.
BdJ: Across the other side of the Hague Quick Haag welcome HCC to the newlook Nieuw Hanenburg, heading into the game with some (perhaps unexpected) momentum. Despite two losses first-up, Quick have pulled together admirably in the absence of their overseas Jay Bista and Prathamesh Dake. Stand-in overseas Rupert Young has runs under his belt, while new skipper Daan Vierling and spin all-rounder Thijs van Schelven have proved an obstinate pairing down the order. The start bodes well for Quick’s prospects later in the season when the cavalry arrives, though HCC remain favourites to take home two points come Saturday. With Hidde Overdijk enjoying his new role as seam spearhead and new-ball partner Ali Ahmed also looking a handful in the Pro-Series, HCC have the edge in the bowling department, whilst Bharat Itagi is likewise relishing his promotion to regular first team opener.
RL: After losing cricket’s equivalent of a best-of-twelve-rounds bout against HBS on the season’s opening weekend, pummelled into submission by a Wesley Barresi century, HCC have disposed of Dosti and VRA, and both their batting and the attack suggest that their position in the top half of the table is well deserved. Bryce Street is another significant component of their set-up, performing well with both bat and ball, and if new skipper Tonny Staal has yet to confirm the progress he made last season, he and Boris Gorlee are home-produced batsmen who are likely to make an important contribution as the season develops. Quick’s resources appear limited by comparison, but they aren’t short of experience and it was a solid team performance which took them to their surprise win over VOC last week. As m’colleague suggests, HCC will start as favourites, but this game may be the round’s best chance of another upset.
BdJ: The round’s final match-up sees Dosti-United head down to Capelle to take on Sparta 1888, both looking to take their win tally to two. Dosti fell well short of what looked a sub-par HBS total of 220 at Craeyenhout last week, with Taruwar Kohli again going cheaply. Dosti will hope he fires at Bermweg on Saturday, though with the Dosti spinners (especially left-armer Kuldeep Diwan) impressing thus far, they will back themselves to win through with even a comparatively modest total. It was Max Hoornweg’s remarkable 7-36 that delivered Sparta their first points of the season in the end after another disappointing collective effort with the bat, which has unquestionably has looked their weakest suit thus far, though Garnett Tarr put together a promising half century against Excelsior last week his fellow overseas Andrew Fletcher has yet to make much of an impact, and Sparta have yet to pass 200 this season.
RL: Dosti fought back well in the field against HBS, only to see their batting crumble. But the overseas quartet of Kohli, Amitoze Singh, Anees Davids and Diwan, all allrounders, give skipper Vinoo Tewarie a wide range of options, and if they coalesce into a cohesive unit they will be capable of troubling any team in the competition. They are certainly likely to provide Sparta with a more challenging opponent than Excelsior were able to do, although Bermweg has proved a difficult venue for visiting batsmen in the past. Fletcher may not yet have come off with the bat, but he bowled economically last week, and Sparta’s new-ball combination of Mudassar Bukhari and Hoornweg will be keen to put Dosti under early pressure.
Bertus de Jong’s tips: ACC, HBS, HCC, VCC, Dosti Rod Lyall’s tips: Excelsior, HBS, HCC, VCC, Dosti.
The bowlers were back in control in Saturday’s third-round matches with only one side managing to get past 200, and Sparta 1888 and Quick Haag, previously winless, sprung surprises by beating Excelsior ’20 and defending champions VOC Rotterdam respectively.
The biggest upset came at Thurlede, where Sparta successfully defended a meagre total of 189, bowling the previously unbeaten home side out for 146.
Star of the show for Sparta was young Max Hoornweg – incidentally the grandson of former international pace man Ruud Onstein – who finished with career-best figures of seven for 36.
Hoornweg reduced Excelsior to 43 for three, including the key wickets of Lorenzo Ingram and Brenton Parchment, and then returned to clean up the tail.
Tim Etman again top-scored for Excelsior with a patient 45, but of the later batsmen only skipper Tom Heggelman with 31 showed any real sign of resistance.
Earlier, opener Garnett Tarr had led the way for Sparta with an 81-ball 61, the highest score of the match, while Andrew Fletcher showed the first signs of what he is capable of in making 32. Sohail Bhatti was the most successful of the Excelsior bowlers with three for 22, and there were two apiece for Heggelman and Ingram.
If VOC might have counted themselves a little unlucky to have been narrowly beaten by Dosti on the season’s opening day, there could be no doubts about their defeat by Quick Haag at Hazelaarweg on Saturday.
Their batting was unable to get going against a Quick attack still awaiting the arrival of its Indian reinforcements, and collapsed to 168 all out in just 38.3 overs.
Namibian Pieter Groenewald took three for 41, debutant Daniel Mason two for 34 and Thijs van Schelven two for 16 as VOC’s batsmen, despite mostly getting a start, were unable to build a competitive score.
Lesley Stokkers began the chase aggressively, making a 52-ball 45, and although they lost four wickets along the way Quick, judging the tempo perfectly, completed the win with more than five overs to spare, Rupert Young following up his century last week with a measured 34.
The old adage that there’s a big difference between an outstanding team on paper and an outstanding side on the field was vindicated twice this week.
At Het Loopveld Voorburg demonstrated, to their own chagrin, that last Saturday’s collapse against Excelsior was not an isolated event by falling apart even more comprehensively against a rampant ACC.
Put in to bat, the visitors lost skipper Tom de Grooth – one of four victims for ACC keeper Jean Marais – in the opening over before they had a run on the board, and Brady Barends went on to claim four more wickets to finish with five for 19 as Voorburg subsided to 84 all out.
Only Noah Croes (18) and Philippe Boissevain (20) reached double figures, while for ACC Devanshu Arya was also among the wickets with three for 15.
The Voorburg attack did their best to stage a spirited fightback, picking up six wickets as ACC chased down their modest target, but with Shirase Rasool compiling a mature 30 the home side made it within 25 overs, further improving their net run rate in the process.
Ferdi Vink just makes it
In what was in many ways the most absorbing match of the day, HBS defeated Dosti United in a game of fluctuating fortunes, but it was the failure of Dosti’s threatening batting line-up to master the home side’s attack which produced a 66-run HBS victory.
Dosti’s bowlers, especially the spinners, had done well to hold the Crows to a total of 220 after they had been well placed on 119 for two after 27 overs, with Asief Hoseinbaks, Mahesh Hans and Kuldeep Diwan picking up seven wickets between them.
Although Diwan collected three wickets it was Hoseinbaks’ eight-over spell for figures of two for 25 which prevented the powerful HBS batting line-up from getting into top gear after Tobias Visée had given his side its usual rollicking start with a 21-ball 33.
Zac Elkin top-scored with 45 before hitting a return catch to Hoseinbaks, while Sharn Gomes contributed 39.
Backed up by outstanding fielding the HBS spinners, Wesley Barresi and Julian de Mey, also built the pressure when Dosti replied, and with five wickets down for 57 and Taruwar Kohli and Amitoze Singh among those who had come and gone, the Dosti cause was effectively lost.
Diwan played a defiant hand for his 37, but as he began to run out of partners he became one of several Dosti batsmen to hole out at deep midwicket, and the innings eventually closed on 154.
De Mey took three for 34, and there were two wickets apiece for Zak Gibson, Farshad Khan and debutant Benno Boddendijk.
VRA’s unhappy start to the season continued at De Diepput, where they lost to HCC by seven wickets after having been dismissed for 189.
The match was a personal triumph for HCC’s Bharat Itagi, who took three for 30 in the VRA innings and then guided his side to the brink of victory with 90.
Itagi shared a 103-run partnership for the third wicket with Bryce Street, who went on to complete the task and finish with an unbeaten 59.
The VRA total owed much to the contribution of former international Eric Szwarczynski, who made 61 before being run out, while Peter Borren, who had earlier become VRA’s all-time leading run-scorer, claimed two of the three HCC wickets to fall.
After an initial defeat by HBS HCC are beginning to look like a well-balanced outfit, and with Hidde Overdijk and Olivier Klaus also picking up key wickets on Saturday they can look forward with some confidence.
After just two rounds (or rather less, since VRA and VOC didn’t play last week), the Topklasse has already begun to take shape, with the stronger teams making their presence felt and a couple of early candidates for the looming relegation battle already looking over their shoulders. The presence of the largest overseas contingent in the history of Dutch cricket, however, is likely to have a powerful influence on the eventual outcome in what may be one of the closest competitions for many years.
RL: Having overcome Dosti in the final over last week, HCC will be full of confidence when they take on VRA Amsterdam at De Diepput. The Amsterdammers had a very unhappy start to their campaign, collapsing to 139 all out against ACC, and after a week off, need a quick reset. It took some splendid resistance from Peter Borren to get them even that far, and they will need a much better start from their top order, featuring Eric Szwarczynski, Ben Cooper and the promising Vikram Singh, if they are to trouble an HCC side in which Adam Wiffen and Bryce Street are already amongst the runs. The Hagenaars’ bowling has yet really to fire – Hidde Overdijk’s four-wicket haul against Dosti the exception – but the batting looks strong and will provide a significant test for VRA’s bowling.
BdJ: VRA will hope that they can break the habit of losing twice in their first two matches by the simple expedient of not playing in the second round, though with only a heavy loss to ACC under their belt the Amsterdammers head to de Diepput short of both momentum and match practice. They will take some comfort, however, from the return of opening bowler Quirijn Gunning, who took 6-47 against HCC last season across the two matches, and Ben Cooper also has also been in the runs, making an impressive (if far from chanceless) 135 for the Hurricanes in last week’s pro-series match. Wiffen and Street may be the two batsmen causing them the most concern, but HCC are hardly a 2-man show, with Tonny Staal and Boris Gorlee both continuing to improve, and Douwe Walhain, as VRA will well remember, still packing a punch down the order. With both sides boasting batting line-ups capable of taking wayward bowlers to task, the winners at de Diepput will likely be whichever side does a better job of keeping the big guns quiet.
RL:HBS Craeyenhout have set out their stall pretty effectively in their first two outings, beating a promising HCC side at home and then accounting for Sparta 1888 at Bermweg last Saturday. After two tight finishes in as many games, though, Dosti United Amsterdam will be looking to upset the unbeaten Crows this week. The HBS top five of Zac Elkin, Tobias Visée, Sharn Gomes, Navjit Singh and Wesley Barresi is as menacing as any in the competition, and with a five-man seam attack and two spinners they have a well-balanced bowling unit as well. Dosti’s four overseas players are capable of demolishing any opposition if they all come off at the same time, but the Amsterdam side will have been encouraged by the early batting form of Rahil Ahmed and Vinoo Tewarie as well. This promises to be a great battle.
BdJ: Another match-up where one would expect bat to dominate ball, HBS racked up a record 356-run total against Dosti in the same fixture last season on their way to a 134-run victory. This time round the Crows are without Jaron Morgan, who hit a brutal 115 off 93 in that match, but this season’s top order is no less intimidating, and there is now a sizeable Mohammad Hafeez-shaped hole in Dosti’s bowling attack. Left arm spinner Kuldeep Diwan has stepped up admirably in his place however, with the relaxation of overseas restrictions meaning the former Himachal Pradesh all-rounder is set to play a more significant role for the Amsterdam club this season. The key man for Dosti remains Taruwar Kohli, however, his string of three-figure scores underpinned their early top-table challenge last season, and another one looks a crucial ingredient to any potential upset on Saturday.
RL: The most attractive fixture of the round, however, is probably the clash between early leaders ACC and promoted side Voorburg, whose batting collapse against Excelsior last week will have concentrated their minds considerably. One of the big stories of the first two weeks has been the success of 16-year-old ACC batsman Shirase Rasool, who may have become the youngest top-flight centurion in history last week with his unbeaten 117 against Quick Haag (we’re still checking that one!). His side have been untroubled in their opening matches, but Voorburg are likely to provide a rather stiffer test. In Brandon Glover and Viv Kingma they have the sharpest pace attack of all, and Clayton Floyd’s spin will trouble opposing batsmen with greater success than he enjoyed against Excelsior. This, too, should be an absorbing contest, and the outcome may depend on whether it’s Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde who turns up at Het Loopveld.
BdJ: A maiden fifty in round one, a maiden century in round two, by simple extrapolation one would expect that this week or next young Rasool will hit the Topklasse’s first double ton since Ben Cooper’s 202 against Hermes in 2013. Reversion to the mean is probably rather more likely of course, but the performances of Rasool and the equally young Arjan Kumar suggest that ACC’s habit of blooding youngsters early may finally pay off for them this season. Whether it will do so on Saturday specifically is rather a different question of course, and despite VCC’s collapse against Excelsior last weekend they remain among the favourites for the title this year, and Glover and Kingma are a big reason why. Kingma’s continued fitness issues have meant that he’s bowled only 5 overs in the Topklasse so far, missing the first match and bowling 2nd change against Excelsior, but he looked back in form in the Pro-Series on Sunday, taking 3-22 in 6 for the Seafarers whilst Glover bagged 3-44 for the other side. The pair will likely prove a tougher test for ACC’s top order, which will be without Sikander Zulfiqar again this week owing to a side strain. Zulfiqar’s benching also leave ACC’s attack looking rather thinner, though Brady Barends looks to have taken to Dutch conditions well.
RL: Having upset the Voorburg apple-cart last Saturday, Excelsior ’20 Schiedam return to Thurlede to take on Sparta 1888, who have been disappointing in their two games so far. With the exception of Brenton Parchment the Schiedammers’ seam attack has yet to find its rhythm (or, indeed, its radar), but with spinners Lorenzo Ingram and Umar Baker bowling as well as they did last week that is less of a problem that it might otherwise be. Ingram and Parchment are also the core of the batting, although it was Tim Etman whose resilience saw the side through to their seven-wicket victory against Voorburg. The Sparta bowlers fought back well against HBS, but the batting has so far been too dependent on old stagers Mudassar Bukhari and Atse Buurman, and they will be looking for a bigger contribution from overseas players Andrew Fletcher and Garrett Tarr.
BdJ: The performance of Parchment and Ingram for Excelsior is the principal reason the Schiedammers are two from two heading into the third round, whilst for Sparta slow starts for both their overseas goes a long way toward explaining their winless record thus far. In the circumstances Sparta’s home players have made a decent fist of picking up the slack, but without significant contributions from their pros it’s hard to see them competing this season. The batting, especially, looks fragile when Fletcher and Tarr fail. Though new signing Ali Raza remains a menace at the top of the order and Bukhari looks in fine nick coming in at six, Sparta will likely need one of Fletcher or Tarr to start earning their keep if they are to take point home from Thurlede.
RL: Defending champions VOC Rotterdam began the season among the favourites, and they were a little unfortunate to fall foul of the DLS system in their opening match against Dosti. After a week cooling their heels they return to the action at home to Quick Haag, who continue to miss their overseas players Jay Bista and Prathamesh Dake. VOC’s international trio of Max O’Dowd, Scott Edwards and Pieter Seelaar are crucial for their title hopes, but the attack looks somewhat diminished by the loss of Fred Klaassen. Pierce Fletcher, though, has a new new-ball partner in Ashiqullah Said, and they struck early against Dosti in a badly rain-affected opener. It’s much too soon to count them out of the running, and they should be too strong for a depleted Quick, notwithstanding the batting exploits of Rupert Young, whose century enlivened an otherwise feeble run chase against ACC.
BdJ: In the absence of Bista and Dake Quick will again start as underdogs on Saturday, though former skipper Tim Gruijters looks to have done his old club a fine favour by dispatching his Leeston-Southbridge CC team-mate from New Zealand as cover. Young’s defiant century was about the only positive Quick could take from their 3-figure defeat at the hands of ACC, and the bowling especially looks a worry with O’Dowd in particular looking in solid form, coming off the back of a Pro-Series 95 on Sunday. The loss of Klaassen to Kent, and to a lesser extent Baker to Excelsior, has certainly taken some of the sting from VOC’s attack this season, but against and understrength Quick they should be confident enough of avoiding a second home defeat.
Rod Lyall’s tips: HCC, HBS, ACC, Excelsior, VOC. Bertus de Jong’s tips: VRA, HBS, VCC, Excelsior, VOC.
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