The inaugural season of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) is ready to kick off on August 26 in Voorburg, in the Netherlands. Here's everything you need to know about the brand-new T20 league.
Is this the first major T20 league in Europe?
Yep. The Euro T20 Slam, which was supposed to happen in 2019 was cancelled, just two weeks before the competition was scheduled to begin and the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to postponements. The ETPL was supposed to take off in 2025, but was eventually postponed to 2026 after sufficient external investment failed to materialise.
It's finally here, hot on the heels of the Euro T20 Belgium, which was held in Zemst in June, but that competition didn't really feature top-tier T20 talent. A number of players believe that the ETPL can raise the profile of cricket in the region just like how the Major League Cricket (MLC) boosted USA cricket. The ETPL is also Europe's first ICC-sanctioned multi-country franchise T20 league.
Who are the teams?
Amsterdam Flames
Belfast Wolves
Dublin Guardians
Edinburgh Castle Rockers
Glasgow Cosmic
Rotterdam Dockers
Notably, former captains Rahul Dravid (Dublin), Steve Waugh (Amsterdam) and Faf du Plessis (Rotterdam) are among the co-owners in the six-team league. The ETPL faced a setback when the proposed owners of Edinburgh pulled out, but the league has since stepped in as the franchise owner in the lead-up to the tournament.
Okay, who are the captains?
Mitchell Marsh was originally appointed Amsterdam's captain, but has reportedly pulled out to prioritise Australia's upcoming white-ball series against Zimbabwe and South Africa. Former Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards will take over from Marsh as Amsterdam captain. Glenn Maxwell will lead Belfast in his new role as captain-co-owner while R Ashwin will be Dublin's captain-cum-mentor, a role that he has also performed for Dindigul Dragons in the state-run Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) in India. Ashwin also worked as Dindigul's team mentor before heading to Europe.
New Zealand's white-ball captain Mitchell Santner will be in charge of Edinburgh while his former IPL team-mate du Plessis will captain Rotterdam. Scotland's George Munsey has been named Glasgow's captain ahead of Richie Berrington, who leads Scotland in international cricket. Munsey and Edwards are the only European captains in the six-team league.
Wait, isn't Ashwin injured?
Ashwin did suffer a knee injury, which limited his participation for San Francisco Unicorns in the MLC to just one game. He has since recovered and tuned up for the ETPL with a club cricket stint in Chennai, where he bowled and batted in 50-over games. He is set to return to top-flight action in the ETPL, his second franchise T20 competition since his retirement from the IPL at the end of the 2025 season.
Any other (former) Indian internationals in action?
Ajinkya Rahane has been signed by Amsterdam and this will be his first franchise T20 tournament since he announced his retirement from international and Indian cricket in late July. Former India allrounder Vijay Shankar will team up with Ashwin at Dublin after playing for Kandy Royals as their finisher in the Lanka Premier League (LPL). Vikram Rathour, the former India batter who is also part of Rajasthan Royals' support staff in the IPL, will coach Dublin. Former India fast bowler Varun Aaron has been appointed Glasgow's bowling coach and will be part of the support staff led by head coach Matthew Hayden.
Give me a rundown of some key overseas players
Tim David, who is among the best T20 finishers in the world right now, will turn out for Amsterdam along with Steven Smith, who cracked a 40-ball hundred in the MLC Eliminator in July.
Ashwin (Dublin) and Heinrich Klaasen, who is also one of the co-owners of Rotterdam, should also be on your watchlist. Then there's USA wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous, who has enjoyed success in franchise leagues around the world. Gous recently hit a match-winning 82 off 51 balls for Daren Sammy's St Lucia Kings in the CPL as a short-term replacement before linking up with Edinburgh for the ETPL.
Daryl Mitchell, who suffered a hip injury during New Zealand's tour of the Caribbean and also missed Guyana's Global Super League (GSL), is set to return to action in the ETPL for Dublin. Devon Conway, meanwhile, will represent Belfast along with England quick Chris Jordan, who is the seventh-highest wicket-taker in the history of T20 cricket.
Any bright European talents to watch out for?
Many. You can't look past Ireland left-arm seamer Jai Moondra, who was Rotterdam's first-round pick in the draft following his heroics against T20 World Cup champions India in Belfast in late June. Moondra's victims included Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma. Seamer Matt Hollard, who was just as impressive for Ireland in the home T20I series win against India, will play for Dublin.
Also keep an eye on Munsey, who has a number of trick shots in his repertoire, including the switch-hit and the reverse-sweep. Munsey is a well-travelled player on the franchise circuit, but is yet to captain in official T20 cricket, according to Cricinfo's logs.
Bas de Leede, the new Netherlands captain and one of European cricket's premier allrounders, will be in action for Amsterdam. He also has a killer knuckle ball in his repertoire, which he showcased during the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
Italy wristspinner Crishan Kalugamage is also a must-see. He comes into the competition on the back of a rich haul in the one-day CWC Challenge League and a stint with Colombo Kaps in the LPL. He will turn out for Belfast in the ETPL.
You will be more familiar with Moises Henriques, the former Australia allrounder and IPL winner, who has now switched to Portugal and will feature in the ETPL as an European player. Henriques' recent form is encouraging for Glasgow: he hit 66 not out and then 111 for Portugal in the T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier earlier this month.
What's the format of the league like?
Each team faces every other side twice, contributing to 30 league matches. The team that tops the table at the end of the group stage will directly progress to the final. The teams finishing second and third will clash in the Qualifier on September 19, with the winner of this fixture meeting the table-toppers in the final on the very next day.
How many venues are hosting the tournament?
Voorburg and Dublin will host the entire tournament, which will run from August 26 to September 20. Voorburg will stage the first leg of the competition before it heads to Dublin, which will host the knockouts, including the final.
How many overseas players can slot into the XI?
A maximum of four overseas players can be part of the playing XI, and there is no minimum requirement for overseas players in the team. The playing XI may comprise of four overseas players and seven local players or two overseas players, four associate players (any combination of Global Associate Players or European Associate Players), and five local players.
There is no IPL-style Impact Player rule in the ETPL.
Is there a clash with any other T20 tournament?
Of course, it overlaps with the CPL, which has affected talent recruitment in both tournaments. A number of squads across both the CPL and ETPL have undergone late changes.
Some of the high-profile T20 players such as Finn Allen and Donovan Ferreira have withdrawn from the ETPL along with Pakistan's legspin-bowling allrounder Shadab Khan, who is now likely to be available to Antigua & Barbuda Falcons for the entire CPL. Trevor Bayliss has taken over as Edinburgh's head coach after James Foster was initially appointed to the post. Samoa allrounder Sean Solia, who has also played for New Zealand A, has also joined Edinburgh as a late replacement.
Both the CPL and ETPL are scheduled to conclude in late September. Then, there's only a gap of around one week between the end of the ETPL and the start of the Canada Super60.