A new European T20 cricket league is to be held from 30 August to 22 September 2019, following an agreement between the boards of Cricket Scotland, Cricket Netherlands and Cricket Ireland.
Similar in style to other well-known T20 leagues around the world, the new tournament will feature city-based franchise teams (six teams, two from each country). The tournament will involve 33 matches across all three countries, featuring a Group Stage followed by semi-finals and a final.
Tournament rules will ensure that each franchise must have a minimum of nine domestic players, and up to a maximum of seven overseas players within their squads. Furthermore, the rules mandate that of the 11 players taking the field in each match, six players must be domestic players.
The tournament, developed following consultation with ICC, will be delivered under an initial 10-year agreement with event and funding partners GS Holding Inc. and Woods Entertainment, and will be broadcast in cricket markets globally. A Governing Committee comprising representatives from GS Holding Inc./Woods and the participating cricket boards will be established to oversee the tournament.
Malcolm Cannon, Chief Executive of Cricket Scotland, said:
“Cricket Scotland is always looking for more fixtures against high-quality opposition to develop the talent in our national team. The proposal for a six-team European tournament featuring teams from Ireland and Netherlands provides an excellent basis for Scottish cricket to prosper.
“Off the back of our highest ever global T20I ranking of 11th, the tournament comes at a fantastic time for Scottish cricket. The chance to play alongside some of the best in the business will provide a great opportunity for our players to learn and develop their own skillset as we strive to achieve Full Membership and climb the ICC team rankings.
“The league also comes at an important time of year for Scotland, with the proposed timeframe presenting an opportunity to play quality competitive cricket ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup Global Qualifier in UAE in October.
“We are excited to bring the global phenomenon of T20 franchise cricket to Scotland, with our vision to have two city-based teams in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Not only will the tournament help develop our players and coaches, we hope the tournament will increase public perceptions of the sport as well as engage communities around our franchise teams, with the opportunity to watch top cricketers from across the globe.
“We would like to thank GS Holding Inc. and Woods and of course the Boards of Cricket Ireland and the KNCB for working so hard to bring this exciting development to Europe. Cricket Scotland very much looks forward to watching Scottish cricket evolve over the next 10 years.”
