2019 European Cricket League

The 2019 European Cricket League (abbreviated as ECL19) was the inaugural edition of the European Cricket League. It was held in July 2019 with eight European champion club teams.[1][2] At ECL19, the domestic club champions of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia and Spain all competed for the chance to become club cricket's European champions. Players from 18 European nations as well as from more traditional cricket-playing nations took part. The league has adopted the T10 format and was played over three days. The La Manga Club in Cartagena, Murcia, Spain hosted the tournament, which was staged between July 29 and July 31, 2019.[3]

2019 European Cricket League
Dates29 – 31 July 2019
Administrator(s)European Cricket Network
Cricket formatT10
Tournament format(s)Group stage and knock-out
Host(s) Spain
ChampionsVOC Rotterdam (1st title)
Runners-upSG Findorff
Participants8
Matches17
Player of the seriesNetherlands Max O'Dowd
Most runsNetherlands Scott Edwards (233)
Most wicketsSpain Syed Sherazi (9)
Official websiteEuropean Cricket Network
2022

Tournament Play / Broadcast at ECL19

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Packing 17 matches into a T10 format over three days, every match was televised live in Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia across a combination of broadcast, digital and social channels, including the newly-launched European Cricket Network.[4] Over 100 countries worldwide broadcast coverage including the UK, Australia, India, Middle East, UAE, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Teams were split into two groups of four with matches being played on a round-robin basis in La Manga with the top two from each progressing to contest the semi-finals and final.

The current ECL title holders are V.O.C Rotterdam of the Netherlands, who won the inaugural 2019 season, beating SG Findorff (Bremen) from Germany in the final.[5][6]

Participating teams

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Eight clubs from across Europe participated in the inaugural edition.[7]

  1.   Svanholm Cricket Club, Brøndby
  2.   Dreux Cricket Club, Dreux
  3.   Sportgemeinschaft Findorff, Bremen
  4.   Janjua Cricket Club, Brescia
  5.   Volharding Olympia Combinatie, Rotterdam
  6.   Cluj Cricket Club, Cluj-Napoca
  7.   St. Petersburg Lions, Saint Petersburg
  8.   Catalunya Cricket Club, Girona

Group stage

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W L Pts NRR Qualification
1   V.O.C. Rotterdam 3 3 0 6 3.450 Advanced to semi-finals
2   Svanholm Cricket Club 3 2 1 4 1.740
3   Dreux Cricket Club 3 1 2 2 1.170 Advanced to 5th place playoff
4   Cluj Cricket Club 3 0 3 0 −6.060 Advanced to 7th place playoff

Fixtures

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29 July 2019
08:00
Scorecard
Dreux Cricket Club  
98/7 (10 overs)
v
  V.O.C. Rotterdam
99/2 (7.4 overs)
Muhammad Bhatti 37* (23)
Pierce Fletcher 2/19 (2 overs)
Max O'Dowd 53 (22)
Mohammad Shahzeb 1/8 (0.4 overs)
V.O.C. Rotterdam won by 8 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Lars Anderson and Muhammad Adnan
  • V.O.C. Rotterdam won the toss and elected to bowl.

29 July 2019
12:00
Scorecard
Dreux Cricket Club  
60/9 (10 overs)
v
  Svanholm Cricket Club
63/1 (6.3 overs)
Mohammad Shahzeb 14* (13)
Zeeshan Khan 3/10 (2 overs)
Zishan Shah 35* (23)
Yaseen Afridi 1/21 (2 overs)
Svanholm Cricket Club won by 9 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Andrew Begg and Muhammad Adnan
  • Dreux CC won the toss and elected to bat.

29 July 2019
16:00
Scorecard
Cluj Cricket Club  
87/5 (10 overs)
v
  V.O.C. Rotterdam
88/2 (5.3 overs)
Taranjeet Singh 42 (26)
Max O'Dowd 1/4 (1 over)
Pieter Seelaar 25* (11)
Taranjeet Singh 2/24 (2 overs)
V.O.C. Rotterdam won by 8 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Shanaka Weerahennedige and Lars Anderson
  • V.O.C. Rotterdam won the toss and elected to bowl.

30 July 2019
08:00
Scorecard
Dreux Cricket Club  
164/6 (10 overs)
v
  Cluj Cricket Club
69/5 (10 overs)
Ahmad Nabi 105 (30)
Muhammad Ahmed 2/11 (1 over)
Satwik Nadigotla 27* (25)
Wahid Abdul 3/9 (2 overs)
Dreux Cricket Club won by 95 runs
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Shanaka Weerahennedige and Andrew Schou
  • Cluj CC won the toss and elected to bowl.

30 July 2019
12:00
Scorecard
Cluj Cricket Club  
75/7 (10 overs)
v
  Svanholm Cricket Club
76/0 (8.2 overs)
Taranjeet Singh 35 (18)
Zeeshan Khan 2/10 (2 overs)
Zishan Shah 53* (34)
Svanholm Cricket Club won by 10 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Martin Hancock and Andrew Schou
  • Svanholm CC won the toss and elected to bowl.

30 July 2019
18:00
Scorecard
V.O.C. Rotterdam  
133/7 (10 overs)
v
  Svanholm Cricket Club
126/8 (10 overs)
Corey Rutgers 29* (7)
Zeeshan Khan 2/36 (2 overs)
Mads Henriksen 53* (21)
Pierce Fletcher 2/14 (2 overs)
V.O.C. Rotterdam won by 7 runs
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Andrew Schou and Muhammad Adnan
  • Svanholm CC won the toss and elected to bowl.

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W L Pts NRR Qualification
1   SG Findorff 3 3 0 6 0.690 Advanced to semi-finals
2   Catalunya Cricket Club 3 2 1 4 1.060
3   St. Petersburg Lions 3 1 2 2 −4.790 Advanced to 5th place playoff
4   JCC Brescia† 3 0 3 0 3.570 Advanced to 7th place playoff

† Lost all points due to player eligibility infringement.[8]


29 July 2019
10:00
Scorecard
Catalunya Cricket Club  
128/5 (10 overs)
v
  St. Petersburg Lions
62/7 (10 overs)
Muhammad Mughal 76 (27)
Vijay Gautam 3/12 (2 overs)
Rinku Singh 24 (20)
Syed Sherazi 3/5 (2 overs)
Catalunya Cricket Club won by 66 runs
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Martin Hancock and Waseem Dar

|toss=Catalunya CC won the toss and elected to bat.


29 July 2019
14:00
Scorecard
Catalunya Cricket Club  
118/2 (10 overs)
v
  JCC Brescia
120/4 (8.3 overs)
Muhammad Khan 63* (32)
Muhammad Iqbal 1/21 (2 overs)
Muhammad Jafri 38 (15)
Muhammad Mughal 2/19 (2 overs)
Catalunya Cricket Club declared winners†
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Andrew Schou and Martin Hancock

|toss=Catalunya CC won the toss and elected to bat.

JCC Brescia initially won all their matches, but were later found breaching the player eligibility criteria and thus their opponents were declared winners.


29 July 2019
18:00
Scorecard
SG Findorff  
97/5 (10 overs)
v
  JCC Brescia
99/2 (5.5 overs)
Ahmed Wardak 37 (25)
Zahid Cheema 1/17 (2 overs)
Muhammad Jafri 59 (17)
Israr Khan 2/15 (2 overs)
SG Findorff declared winners†
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Andrew Begg and Waseem Dar

|toss=JCC Brescia won the toss and elected to bowl.

JCC Brescia initially won all their matches, but were later found breaching the player eligibility criteria and thus their opponents were declared winners.


30 July 2019
10:00
Scorecard
St. Petersburg Lions  
53/8 (10 overs)
v
  SG Findorff
59/2 (6 overs)
Vijay Gautam 18 (23)
Iftikhar Khan 2/12 (2 overs)
Israr Khan 25* (17)
Lalit Lalit 1/14 (2 overs)
SG Findorff won by 8 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Muhammad Adnan and Waseem Dar
  • St. Petersburg Lions won the toss and elected to bat.

30 July 2019
14:00
Scorecard
JCC Brescia  
116/7 (10 overs)
v
  St. Petersburg Lions
91/6 (10 overs)
Muhammad Jafri 40 (15)
Lalit Lalit 3/10 (2 overs)
Anil Singh 35 (13)
Muhammad Iqbal 2/30 (2 overs)
St. Petersburg declared winners†
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Lars Anderson and Andrew Begg
  • St. Petersburg Lions won the toss and elected to bowl.

JCC Brescia initially won all their matches, but were later found breaching the player eligibility criteria and thus their opponents were declared winners.


30 July 2019
16:00
Scorecard
Catalunya Cricket Club  
115/7 (10 overs)
v
  SG Findorff
116/4 (8.4 overs)
Rauf Zaman 41* (16)
Iftikhar Khan 2/11 (2 overs)
Ammar Khalid 45* (15)
Syed Sherazi 3/24 (2 overs)
SG Findorff won by 6 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Shanaka Weerahennedige and Martin Hancock
  • SG Findorff won the toss and elected to bowl.

Minor play-offs

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7th place playoff

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31 July 2019
09:00
Scorecard
Cluj Cricket Club  
84/7 (10 overs)
v
  JCC Brescia
86/4 (9.1 overs)
Vasu Saini 25 (14)
Zain ul Abdeen 2/15 (2 overs)
Shahrukh Nawaz 25* (15)
Gaurav Mishra 2/10 (2 overs)
JCC Brescia won by 6 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Andrew Schou and Martin Hancock
  • Cluj CC won the toss and elected to bat.

5th place playoff

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31 July 2019
11:00
Scorecard
Dreux Cricket Club  
82/7 (10 overs)
v
  St. Petersburg Lions
70/7 (10 overs)
Niaz Hamza 22 (16)
Rinku Singh 2/18 (2 overs)
Anil Singh 34 (22)
Muhammad Bhatti 3/4 (2 overs)
Dreux Cricket Club won by 12 runs
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Andrew Begg and Muhammad Adnan
  • Dreux CC won the toss and elected to bat.

Playoffs

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Semi-finals

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Semi-final 1

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31 July 2019
13:00
Scorecard
Catalunya Cricket Club  
129/5 (10 overs)
v
  V.O.C. Rotterdam
133/1 (7.4 overs)
Yasir Ali 45 (15)
Jelte Schoonheim 2/12 (1 over)
Scott Edwards 55 (15)
Syed Sherazi 1/21 (2 overs)
V.O.C. Rotterdam won by 9 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Lars Anderson and Waseem Dar
  • Catalunya CC won the toss and elected to bat.

2nd Semi-final

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31 July 2019
15:00
Scorecard
Svanholm Cricket Club  
88/4 (10 overs)
v
  SG Findorff
94/3 (8.5 overs)
Mads Henriksen 27 (11)
Israr Khan 2/10 (2 overs)
Aziz Dawodzy 25 (13)
Zeeshan Khan 1/10 (2 overs)
SG Findorff won by 7 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Martin Hancock and Shanaka Weerahennedige
  • SG Findorff won the toss and elected to bowl.

Final

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31 July 2019
17:00
Scorecard
V.O.C. Rotterdam  
222/0 (10 overs)
v
  SG Findorff
121/9 (10 overs)
Scott Edwards 137* (39)
Farooq Amirie 45 (17)
Dirk van Baren 3/8 (1 over)
V.O.C. Rotterdam won by 101 runs
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Lars Anderson and Waseem Dar
  • SG Findorff won the toss and elected to bowl.

Player of the Tournament

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Max O'Dowd of V.O.C. Rotterdam was awarded “Player of the Tournament” at the 2019 European Cricket League. O’Dowd scored 219 runs in five innings (2 not outs) at an average of 73 and strike rate of 263.86, including an undefeated 74 in the final against SG Findorff. He also took four wickets in the tournament with his leg-break bowling with a best of 2-25 against Catalunya Cricket Club in the semi-final. O’Dowd is a current Netherlands international.[9][10][11]

Pavel Florin at ECL19

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The inaugural tournament gained significant worldwide prominence after the remarkable performances of Cluj all-rounder Pavel Florin during the group stages.[12] Florin, a 40-year-old professional bodyguard and president of Cluj Cricket Club in Romania, caused a stir after his bowling performance went viral on social media. Many of the sport's most famous figures, including Australian legend Shane Warne, expressed their support and admiration of Florin because of his pure unaffected love for the game.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Florin has since gone on to play in Australia where he again hit the headlines over the winter. Florin will take part in the second-staging of the European Cricket League - ECL20 - with Cluj Cricket Club, Romania.

References

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  1. ^ Cronin, Ben (6 November 2019). "European Cricket League adds five new teams". SportBusiness. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  2. ^ "La Manga club to host ECL20". European Cricket League. 25 December 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  3. ^ "European Cricket League – Live Streaming Details, Fixtures, Schedule, Stadium, Squads, Match Timings". News Nation. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  4. ^ "ECN - European Cricket Network". ecn.cricket. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  5. ^ "'Can't believe it': 28 sixes in 10 overs". NewsComAu. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Champions Leagues - contrasting visions for European cricket's future". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  7. ^ "First European Cricket League set for huge global audience". realwire. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  8. ^ Mark Lovell (31 July 2019). "Brescia forfeits games due to ineligible player". European Cricket League. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  9. ^ "ECN - European Cricket Network". ecn.cricket. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Max O'Dowd". Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Ryan Campbell announces squad for T20 World Cup Qualifier". KNCB. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  12. ^ Ramakrishnan, Vineet (27 August 2019). "How the Champions League model and Pavel Florin made the European Cricket League a success story". Cricket Country. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  13. ^ Masters, James. "European Cricket League: Pavel Florin gets backing from Shane Warne". CNN. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  14. ^ "'I love cricket': Video of Romanian bowler goes viral". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Is this the most unusual bowling action you have ever seen?". BBC Sport. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Pavel Florin: Twitter fame, Transylvania and a night at The Oval". thecricketer.com. Retrieved 11 February 2020.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ League, Source: European Cricket (31 July 2019). "Pavel Florin: cricket's newest hero in action – video". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  18. ^ Rehman, Sajawal. "This Romanian Bowler Has Become an Internet Sensation Due to His Bowling Action". propakistani.pk. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  19. ^ "In Cluj? How about some cricket?". Hindustan Times. 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.