Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong | 30-09-2026
This year we (and you!) are spared our annual debate about how many overseas players we should include in our Topklasse Team of the Year, thanks to the KNCB’s new player points system (full disclosure: one of us initially proposed the system and is involved in its implementation). We shall adopt the 28-point limit for our side, and argue instead solely about the relative merits of the candidates for selection. And we will, with apologies for the long delay in picking this year’s team, be confining ourselves to the 50-over competition.
Openers
RL: There are several outstanding candidates here, not least Voorburg’s Cedric de Lange, whose run of big scores at the start of the campaign earned him a spot in the national team for the League 2 series in Canada; he finished with 574 at 52.18 and is fifth in the overall aggregates. We also can’t ignore another left-hander in Rotterdam’s Musa Ahmad: his 638 runs at 49.08 played a vital part in his side’s taking the title, and their phenomenal run of big totals. If we’re looking for a right-hander to pair with one of them, then we should certainly look at Tonny Staal (HCC), who quietly accumulated 493 runs at 41.08, or indeed Musa’s opening partner Shoaib Minhas, with 468 at 36.00. Then there’s David Rushmere (Hermes-DVS), a feast-or-famine specialist: 454 of his 591 runs came in three innings, but there’s no denying his destructive abilities once he’s set. The coward’s way out would be to open with Musa and Staal (or Rushmere) and bat De Lange at three, but that reduces the scope for picking the top order in a remarkably run-heavy season.
BdJ: It has indeed been a season heavily dominated by bat over ball, though arguably as much a personnel issue as a reflection of conditions, two of last season’s three lead wicket-takers subbed out for batting acquisitions, though certainly the turf wickets have tended toward the batting-friendly too. Nonetheless the success of young Dutch-produced batting talent this season has been remarkable, and few have enjoyed better season’s than de Lange, who was racking up tons like it was going out of style for the first few rounds. His efforts earned him an ODI debut in the least hospitable conditions one can encounter in International cricket, and though his courageous showing in the pits of King City aren’t factored into our selection policy for this exercise, de Lange’s place at the top of the order is an easy pick. Ahmad’s claim is almost as strong, and indeed he outscored de Lange in aggregate over the season, in part due to being overlooked by the selectors. His 638 runs at a shade under 50, accumulated over the course of more than 24 hours at the crease, were the foundation upon which the record-breaking, championship-winning Rotterdam batting basilica was built. It’s difficult to make a case to displace either from the top of the order, though Staal certainly warrants and honourable mention, his understated return to form playing a big part in HCC keeping in touch with the top of the table until the final weekend. VRA’s Vikram Singh also had an excellent (albeit abbreviated) season with the bat, if somewhat overshadowed by his own efforts with the ball. 368 runs at 46 across the eight games he played was a fine return at the top, but not enough to challenge the incumbents. He’ll have a stronger case to press further down the page of course, but one can afford perhaps to disturb him from his preferred position on the batting card.
Top order
BdJ: First drop is a more closely contested position with a handful of bats doing fine work in the role across the season. None have done better than Gavin Kaplan, who struck two fifties and two tons across the six innings he played for Voorburg, but his abbreviated season probably excludes him. Of regular number threes there’s little to separate Lehan Botha, Johan Smal and Asif Gondal – the former two both passing 500 runs for the season, the latter missing that milestone by five runs though he does have a champion’s medal weighing in his favour. Smal’s forced foray into bowling owing to Singh’s absence and injury does work in his favour there though, going at a shade over fours in a high-scoring season no mean feat for a part-timer. Kampong’s Scott Edwards also has a brace of centuries from number three and his place at the top of the aggregates alongside Musa Ahmad assures him a spot somewhere in the line-up, though he’s generally been flexible about where exactly he comes in. Rotterdam’s Mohsin Riaz has rather less competition at four, though Kent Goedeke accumulated more runs across the season his top score came at five. Saqib Zulfiqar also has a strong claim to the number five slot however, the majority of his 528 runs coming at that position and his extraordinary strike rate of more than eight an over arguing strongly in his favour.
RL: I’d want to add to that list Lucas del Bianco of HBS, who probably did as much as anybody to keep the Crows in the top flight for another year: his 573 runs at 71.63 included seven fifties in just 12 innings. He is, moreover, a remarkable utility player, having broken into the side as a keeper, but increasingly slotting into the attack. He’s batted at five or six this year, and I reckon there’s a strong case, given the number of batting allrounders on offer, that we can extend our top order at least to number six. There really is very little to choose between Smal, Botha and Gondal, all of whom probably have a stronger case than Riaz, although his storming finish to the campaign put the icing on Rotterdam’s victory cake. So my four would be Smal, Gondal, Saqib and Del Bianco, with Edwards picked as keeper – a role he has seldom played for Kampong this season – and batting at seven.
Bowling
RL: Given that six of the top seven bowled more or less regularly during the 50-over season, though rarely if ever a full quota of overs, we can perhaps reasonably restrict our selection of specialist bowlers to four. Averaging 12.48 for each of his 23 wickets until injury put him on the sidelines, Vikram Singh was a dominant force for VRA in the first half of the season, and really does demand to be given the new ball, even if it would mean his batting, as Bertus signalled earlier, in a somewhat unfamiliar role. But can you imagine a more intimidating number eight? His partner should probably be Voorburg’s Jaynul Islam, who despite playing only ten matches finished with the most wickets, 28, at an average of 16.79. Josh Brown and Daniel Crowley both did sterling service for HCC, taking 25 and 19 wickets respectively, while Justin Trijzelaar had a better economy rate than either of them and deserves at least an honourable mention. Another of the up-and-coming brigade is Joris van Oosterom of HBS, whose best deliveries are capable of dismissing the best batters. If we’re looking for a third seamer, and we probably should be, then my nod would go to Crowley out of those candidates. Among the spinners, given that we already have several options among the top order, the chief claimants are probably Rotterdam’s Ahmed Shafiq, Sahil Kothari of Hermes-DVS, and Pierre Jacod of Kampong. Again, there’s little to separate them, but Shafiq’s contribution to his side’s title probably gives him the edge; genuine allrounder Jacod would be a strong contender for the twelfth man role.
BdJ: Zulfiqar looks a lock for the spin all-rounder slot, and with de Lange and Ahmad able to chip in there’s perhaops even a case to do without a second spinner. Shafiq probably has the strongest case as specialist slow bowler, aided by his outstanding 13 outfield catches across the competition, though Jacod’s all-round season does make him tough to leave out. A mention at least should also be made here of the evergreen Lorenzo Ingram, who took just six wickets this summer but was the only frontline bowler to go at under 3.5 an over in what’s been a remarkably high-scoring season, while Aryan Dutt’s 15 wickets at an economy of a shade over 4s is also worth acknowledgement in this context. It’s on grounds of economy and average too that I’d be minded to give the nod to Trijzelaar over Crowley or Brown, being the only frontline seamer to go at under fours this season, and his 18 wickets also coming at an average of under 20. It’s worth pointing out here that Kampong’s Shashank Kumar took as many wickets at a better average and at an economy rate barely over four, but the deciding factor for mine is that Trijzelaar has tended to bowl first change or later, a role for which there is comparatively little competition among the options above. In a season where bat has dominated over ball, anyone who can keep the scoring rate contained through the middle is an invaluable asset.
A strong showing for home-grown talent and long-time stalwart this season means we can be fairly confident of meeting any restrictions one might car to pick this year, but leaving the question of totalling up the exact points value as an exercise for the reader, here’s TKcricket’s 2026 Topklasse Team of the Year:
Cedric de Lange (VCC), Musa Ahmad (RCC), Johan Smal (VRA), Lehan Botha (HBS), Saqib Zulfiqar (RCC), Lucas Del Bianco (HBS), Scott Edwards (Kampong), Vikram Singh (VRA), Ahmed Shafiq (RCC), Justin Trijzelaar (HCC), Jaynul Islam (VCC)
12th man: Pierre Jacod (Kamping)
