Rod Lyall 09/04/2025
Back in the Topklasse after a two-year absence, Kampong Utrecht will be keen to ensure that their stay in the top flight lasts longer this time than their single, Covid-related season in 2022.
Since then, of course, they have acquired the services of internationals Scott Edwards and Max O’Dowd, and if their commitments with the national side are likely to mean that their appearances for Kampong are limited, they will provide plenty of star quality when they do turn out for their club.
The Utrecht side will also have the benefit of the allround skills of Lorenzo Ingram, who has ended his 11-year, 171-match relationship with Excelsior ’20 Schiedam, in which he contributed 5912 Topklasse runs at 44.79 and claimed 221 wickets at 18.21.
Few overseas players have given such long service so profitably, and he is likely to make a significant contribution to Kampong’s drive to stay up; with two automatic relegation spots this year thanks to the KNCB’s reorganisation of the competitions and the side finishing eighth facing a play-off against the Hoofdklasse champions, the safety of a mid-table position will be every club’s first ambition.
The Maarschalkerweerd club will also welcome Western Australian Lane Berry, who had a very successful season with VOC Rotterdam in 2023, when Edwards and O’Dowd were his team-mates, and Kampong will be hoping he can replicate the form which earned him 674 runs at 51.85 for the Bloodhounds.
Also coming from Australia is 25-year-old allrounder Lachlan Bangs, whose left-arm pace will add some fizz to an attack which includes captain Alex Roy, last year’s leading wicket-taker Shashank Kumar, Kirtan Nana, Saurabh Zalpuri and youngster Gert Swanepoel.
Another important contribution to their batting, alongside those of Berry and Ingram, will likely come from South African-born opener Damien van den Berg, whose 566 runs at 35.38 last season made a significant contribution to their Hoofdklasse title and earned him call-ups for the Pro Series and the Dutch A side.
He and O’Dowd could form a strong opening partnership, with wicketkeeper Ratha Alphonse, who returned from HCC last season and also played a significant part in the side’s promotion, a potential stand-in when O’Dowd is on international duty.
With Pierre Jacod and the improving Tushar Sharma providing spin options the core squad looks more than strong enough to challenge for that mid-table spot, and in a season in which reserve capacity is likely to be a crucial factor Kampong have enough talent and experience to go into the campaign with a fair degree of confidence.
With the loss of not only Ingram but also of Victor Lubbers, who returns to Salland after one season at Thurlede, Excelsior ’20 have made two of the most attractive signings of the winter in the person of former South African Test opener Raynard van Tonder and the 25-year-old Belgo-Zimbabwean Antum Naqvi.
Van Tonder, now 26, has had a great first-class season with North West, hitting a century and three fifties in eight innings, and he should bring greater solidity to an Excelsior line-up which showed a disturbing tendency to crumble last year.
The only issue facing the Schiedam club is whether his availability will be affected by his possible selection for South Africa A.
Few players have a more intriguing CV than Naqvi, who was born in Brussels but who grew up in Australia before moving to Zimbabwe, where he made his first-class debut for the Mid West Rhinos in January 2023, scoring centuries in his first two first-class innings.
A right-handed bat and off-break bowler, his allround skills should be invaluable, and Excelsior will be hoping that he proves an outstanding replacement for the departed Ingram.
The attack will again be spearheaded by Australian James Ralston, whose 38 wickets at 14.84 last season was a crucial factor in the side’s avoidance of relegation; not only did his ability to rip the top off opposing batting line-ups give Excelsior a vital edge, but his new-ball partnership with the rapidly-improving Jens Blankestein made a real contribution to the Schiedam club’s future.
Excelsior, too, have joined the movement towards a larger cohort of overseas players, a fourth member of their squad being the South Australian Sam Rahaley.
Part of the Kensington side which has just won the state’s first-grade competition, Rahaley will slot into the middle order at Thurlede, while his off-breaks will provide another option once Ralston, Blankestein and left-armer Niels Etman have exploited the new ball.
The locally-produced contingent is not greatly different from that which brought the trophy to Thurlede three times in four seasons between 2016 and 2019, but it’s fair to say that that youthful cohort has not lived up to the promise its showed back then, and they have greatly missed the leadership of Tom Heggelman in the middle.
The news, therefore, that he will be more involved in coaching this year will be welcomed on Excelsior’s side of Schiedam.
With a plentiful supply of Kroesens – batter and leg-spinners Joost and Luuk, and pace man Gijs – and Van Troosts – pace bowler and useful lower middle-order batter Rens, and emerging batter Stan – there will be some strong competition for a spot in the first-choice eleven.
Skipper Roel Verhagen and his fellow-opener Tim Etman had modest seasons last year, but with less pressure on them given the rejigged top order they will be looking to reassert themselves this time round, and with likely few disruptions from international call-ups Excelsior should have a decent crack at one of those coveted mid-table positions.
TKcricket 