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.
The KNCB today confirmed a substantial overhaul of the Dutch domestic one-day competition structure, with both the Topklasse and Hoofdklasse to return to an eight-team divisional league format from 2026 onwards.
The coming 2025 edition will dispense with the play-off system, reverting to a simple double round robin format, with the ten teams playing each other home and away. At the end of the season the bottom three Topklasse teams will be relegated, with the Hoofdklasse champions promoted to join the remaining seven for an 8-team competition in 2026. The crowded calendar precludes the possibility of a finals day or relegation play-off, meaning both the title and promotion/relegation will be directly determined by the final standings on the table. Similarly, the crowded schedule leaves no room for replays or reserve days during the competition.
The Hoofdklasse will likewise be returning to an 8-team format from 2026, with the consequence that no less than five teams will face relegation to the Eersteklasse at the end of the 2025 season, while the 2025 Eersteklasse champions will join the three relegated Topklasse sides and the four surviving Hoofdklasse sides for the 2026 Hoofdklasse season. As with the top division, there is no provision for a relegation play-off.
Conversely the Eersteklasse will be expanding from the current 10-team format to a two-pool 16-team leaguev (similar to the current Overgangsklasse) from 2026 onwards. The champion of the 2025 edition, also played as a straight ten-team double round robin, will win promotion to the 2026 Hoofdklasse, while the bottom two sides will be relegated to the Overgangsklasse, the latter to be renamed “Tweedeklasse”. A similar numerical naming scheme is to be applied to lower leagues, which remain otherwise unchanged.
The one-day season for 2025 is set to begin on the 26th of April and run until the 6th of August, with matches again played on Saturdays until the switch to Sundays in mid-July. The T20 competitons look broadly similar in format to last season, albeit switch to the other end of the Summer, commencing on August 13th and culminating in a finals day a month later.
In May I posted an article about the delicate future of our beloved Game in The Netherlands. The vast majority of the feedback I received was positive. In this polarised digital world and a quite tribal Dutch cricket community, that is a remarkable thing. It stands to reason that there are several ways to solve the issue I tried to address. The most important thing is that we acknowledge the problem and try to formulate a strategy to face it.
You might think that I, as a lawyer, would propose strict rules and regulations. That is only partly true. Sure, I salivate by the thought of drafting such documents, but rules are more effective if they are broadly supported, are seen as ‘obvious’ and, finally, reflect an internal moral belief. The reason one does not steal is -hopefully- not that it is illegal, but that is ‘not right’. It goes against your moral fabric and would make your mother very very disappointed in you.
Breaking the trend
A rough estimate by ‘those-in-the-know’ is that we collectively, as clubs, might have spent as much as half a million Euro’s this year on players. If true, and I am afraid it might be, that is a shocking amount of money. At best one would hope that this money was spent on a lot of junior coaching hours…. if there were any juniors to coach.
I would suggest that it is time to start the (long) process towards addressing our unhealthy habits that have crept into our top leagues. We must stop spending resources on things that not evidently ensure the long term survival of the Game as a whole. A club will truly survive a relegation. Trust me, I have been there. Healthy clubs that invest in their home-grown stock and the health of their own club organisation and culture, will survive and return. Take VCC as an example, they went through a major lean patch some years ago but now they were (again) in contention for a championship. Good on them!
Only if the club does not have a strong foundation, the players might move on. That is the risk of those clubs who are ‘a bank account with a first team’. Mercenaries follow the money.
If we are to survive, a collective action is needed to stop ‘stupid money’ and encourage ‘smart money’. In my very humble opinion, a points based system as suggested by me in May, would stimulate that and see to it that clubs are forced to make the right choices. We must break the arms-race.
Let’s have a look at our semi-finalists in the Topklasse of this year: Punjab Ghausia (Punjab), VRA, VCC and HCC.
When I speak of local players, I mean those players that are either home-grown players or are players that are here for other reasons than cricket. This last group are those that moved here for work, study or other non-cricket related reasons like marriage/relationships/family reunion or refugee status. Home-grown players are players that learned their cricket here. Overseas players are players whose main reason for being in The Netherlands is to play cricket.
In this piece I will add the distinction between home-grown players by the club itself and home-grown players that came from other clubs. Why keep things simple?
Semi-finalists
On 1 September 2024 I partly watched VCC 1 beat my beloved HCC 1. No complaints there: they were the better side, especially on the day. If one breaks down the makeup of the teams, HCC fielded 3 home-grown HCC players, 2 home-grown players that moved from other clubs, 3 local players (players who live here but are not home-grown) and 3 overseas players. VCC fielded 4 home-grown VCC players, 3 home-grown players that moved from other clubs, 1 local player and 3 overseas players. The home-grown players on a whole were quite influential, so cheers all round!
Punjab, a powerhouse in the last years, was in the Grand Final. Again, good on them. VRA had a sniff at victory but fell just short. A breakdown of these teams is as follows. Punjab fielded 0 home-grown Punjab players, 4 home-grown players that moved from other clubs, 3 local players (if Belgium is deemed local / plus a player I could not place in the other columns) and 4 overseas players. VRA fielded 3 home-grown VRA players, two home-grown players that moved from other clubs, 3 local players and 3 overseas players.
The differences between the clubs are not extreme.
The main reason Punjab does not have Punjab home-grown players is their recent rapid rise to prominence. Their efforts in junior cricket will reap benefits in due time. VCC fielded 4 VCC home-grown players on Sunday and 3 home grown players that came over from other clubs (two HCC raised and one ACC). 7 home grown players in total. Well done. Fair play!
Breakdown of relative influence of types of players in last Sunday’s games:
This is only one game but it should be interesting to make a broad analysis over the whole season. Certain retired CBS statisticians might be interested to have a go at this…
Second teams
In the Eerste Klasse VRA 2 beat Punjab 2 in the Grand Final. Punjab 2 beat HCC 2 in the semifinal. The fact that all-but-one player in HCC 2 are HCC home-grown players, delights me. They beat Qui Vive 1 in the elimination final and are clearly a tight group that have a boat load of fun together. That is what it is all about.
VCC 2 might have relegated to the Eerste Klasse, but that might only be healthy for the team as a whole so that they can rebuild and play at a level that might be more fun for younger players. I would say that VCC and HCC, for now, have a bright future. The strength of VRA 2 and Punjab 2 is very promising as well, albeit that the latter team contains not a lot of home-grown players and even overseas players.
The point that I am trying to make here is that the second teams of all the semi-finalists in the Topklasse are vibrant as well. That shows a broader basis of playing talent than just the flagship team. These second teams are usually not stacked with ringers, albeit that they might have potential first team players that were pushed out by overseas players acquired for the first team. If you would add to that picture the line up of these clubs in the U17 and U15 leagues, these Topklasse semi-finalists are largely healthy clubs. They are not an empty shell.
Points system
field competitive teams with the back up of strong second elevens and talented youth. VCC survived a drain from the Dutch XI and pro’s leaving home by fielding a slew of home-grown players; so did VRA. Again, cheers all around. The four finalists had enough depth in their selection to fill the gaps.
I would say all potential champions this year were clubs with a role to play in the future of our local Game.
If we would be able to reduce the amount (and influence) of overseas players in these (and other) teams, the further development of home-grown players could be stimulated and create a more level playing field for all clubs with good intentions. I am sure that these four clubs would support that idea (as they live in relative luxury). Others might be more reluctant, but it has to be done!
Clubs have limited resources that could and should be used wisely. The club members should demand transparency from their committees regarding the finances surrounding players. Depending on sugar daddies and non-recurring donations (even in kind) is no basis for long term policy. If they suddenly leave, you are done for.
The introduction of a points system results in a reduction of overseas players, this would reduce the need to spend money on everything surrounding overseas players and could free up resources for other, more productive, causes.
I hope that this autumn and winter will provide us with ample time to develop ideas to improve the future of or local Game.
Just 24 hours away from the first round of games in what is now best called the league phase of the 2021 Topklasse season, it has emerged that this year’s competition will also feature a playoff finals phase in the second half of August.
The new-look Topklasse finals phase
Following the ten team double round-robin league phase, the top four teams will contest IPL-style playoff finals. The top two teams will be face off in a de-facto semi final, with the winner progressing to the grand final, while the third and fourth-placed teams will contest an eliminator playoff. The winner of the eliminator will then meet the loser of the first semi final to contend for the second spot in the national final.
The new format means the 2021 season will be the first iteration of the Dutch domestic 50-over competition to feature a national final since the 2016 season, when the decision was made to revert to a ten team format and scrap the best-of-three finals.
At the other end of the table, the bottom four teams will contest a similar series of playoffs to determine who takes the wooden spoon, though with no risk of relegation this season (the league is instead slated to expand to 12 teams for 2022) the lower table play-offs are effectively more of a post-season denoument, or perhaps a dress rehearsal for the relegation battle expected next year.
Topklasse Finals Schedule
Sun Aug 22: First Semi Final (1st v 2nd) Sun Aug 22: Elimination Playoff (3rd vs 4th)
Sun Aug 29: Second Semi Final (loser SF1 vs winner EPO)
Sat Sept 4: Topklasse Final (winner SF1 vs winner SF2)
“Relegation” Playoffs Schedule
Sun Aug 22: First Playoff (7th v 8th) Sun Aug 22: Second Playoff (9th vs 10th)
Sun Aug 29: Third Playoff (loser PO1 vs winner PO2)
Sat Sept 4: Woode Spoon Playoff (loser PO2 vs loser PO3)
TKcricket 