European Cricket League 2021
Published at 25 May, 2020From the ECN website
With COVID-19 forcing the abandonment of the 2020 European Cricket League, ECL founder Daniel Weston revealed exclusively on European Cricket Studio Live with Michael McCann, specific tournament information, along with recommended guidelines for participating countries to follow to determine their representative clubs at ECL21.
The second edition of the European Cricket League - ECL21 - will run for eight days, beginning on Sunday 30 May, and concluding Sunday 6 June 2021. The tournament will once again take place at La Manga Club & Resort, on the south coast of Spain. There will be 16 European clubs taking part, consisting of the reigning champions, V.O.C. Rotterdam, along with a champion club from each of the 15 affiliated countries.
This is where things get a little tricky, particularly in the current environment of uncertainty across the continent. With nobody sure about the prospect of a meaningful 2020 cricket season being played in the northern hemisphere, the ECL management issued recommendations for member countries covering a couple of different scenarios.
Dutch teams in ECL21
As defending champions of the ECL19, VOC Rotterdam automatically secured themselves a spot in the next edition of the ECL. After VOC also won the domestic Topklasse T20 in 2019 however, a second ticket became available for one of the Dutch teams. HBS The Hague claimed this spot by becoming second in the Topklasse T20 in 2019, and would have also represented the KNCB in the ECL20.
In a press conference on May 7, Prime Minister Rutte announced that no domestic matches can be played in the Netherlands until September 1, 2020. This leaves no room for a meaningful T20 league in 2020. It is therefor that the board of the KNCB has decided that VOC and HBS will represent the Netherlands in the ECL21.
