Flamingo Youth Tournament: Unprecedented Youth Cricket Spectacle
Published at 24 August, 2025
Dutch youth cricket is alive and kicking! The recent Flamingo tournament, celebrating its 100th edition this year, proved this. At the charming Diepput ground in The Hague, Voorburg CC and host HCC reached the final. VCC won, but more importantly, after a lean patch, the Netherlands is once again brimming with talented youth players.
Given the way HCC and VCC played and won in the group stage, it wasn't entirely surprising that these teams ultimately faced each other in the final. VCC lost two top guns, Thijs Vrolijk and Luuk Molkenboer, for ducks, and the Hague side couldn't recover from these blows. The final score was 98/9, a total VCC surpassed in 7.5 overs thanks to the golden opening pair of Cedric de Lange (66 not out) and Tom de Leede (21 not out).
In the semi-final, these two Voorburg talents had already proven their skill against a strong Punjab/VRA combination. Both scored centuries in that match (Cedric 125 not out, Tom 109 not out) in a record opening stand of 246/0. The last five overs yielded a remarkable 123 runs for VCC. It was thanks to Punjab/VRA's fighting spirit and sense of pride that they managed 208 runs (Adnan Ahmad 75): high-level cricket that proved the pessimists who believe cricket in the Netherlands was on the decline were proven wrong.
Losing finalists HCC had reached the final by beating Rood en Wit—fortunately it’s back with a strong youth team in the top age group—172-140.
The consolation final was won by Punjab/VRA, who, thanks in part to four run outs, reduced Rood en Wit to 48/9 in ten overs.
The century edition of the Flamingo Tournament was successful and offers stability for the future. The "Birds" can now work towards a double century.
