Euro T20 Slam

Euro T20 Slam
Official logo of Euro T20 Slam
CountriesIreland, Netherlands, England,Scotland and Wales
FormatTwenty20
Tournament formatRound-robin and playoffs
Number of teams8
Websitewww.et20s.com

The Euro T20 Slam is a planned professional Twenty20 cricket league. The first edition of the tournament was initially scheduled to start in August 2019, with matches to be held in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands.[1] Its launch has been postponed on several occasions due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

In March 2019, Cricket Scotland, Cricket Ireland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association officially announced the Euro T20 Slam.[2] It was to start on 30 August and conclude on 22 September 2019 and feature 33 matches.[3][4] The tournament was to have six city-based franchise teams, two each from Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands.[5][6] In April 2019, six cities were awarded a franchise: Belfast and Dublin in Ireland, Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland, and Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.[7] The team names and schedule were released on 30 April 2019.[8]

Shahid Afridi, Martin Guptill, Rashid Khan, Brendon McCullum, Eoin Morgan and Shane Watson were announced as the six icon players,[9] and Babar Azam, JP Duminy, Chris Lynn, Luke Ronchi, Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir were announced as the six marquee players.[10][11][12][13]

In June 2020, the tournament's organisers were looking to start the tournament on 20 August 2020, with all the matches played in Malahide, Ireland, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14] However, the following month, the organisers confirmed that the event would be launched in 2021, because of the pandemic.[15] In June 2021, it was announced that the league would be further delayed as the planned dates in 2021 clashed with the restart of the rescheduled IPL 2021.[16]

In March 2023, Cricket Ireland announced that the tournament would be further delayed although they were aiming to begin in 2024.[17]

Teams

The teams due to participate in the first season were:[18]

Team Country Home ground Captain
Amsterdam Anchors  Netherlands VRA Cricket Ground Scott Edwards
Belfast Bears  Northern Ireland Malahide Cricket Club Ground Andrew Balbirnie
Dublin Daredevils  Ireland Malahide Cricket Club Ground Mark Adair
Edinburgh Elites  Scotland The Grange Club Brandon McMullen
Glasgow Gladiators  Scotland The Grange Club George Munsey
Rotterdam Riptides  Netherlands VRA Cricket Ground Bas de Leede
Cork Rebels  Ireland Malahide Cricket Club Ground Paul Stirling
Aberdeen Avengers  Scotland The Grange Club Richie Berrington

References

  1. ^ "New League featuring Irish, Scottish and Dutch teams to be called Euro T20 Slam". BBC Sport. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  2. ^ "'Euro T20 Slam' – Name of the new European T20 league confirmed". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Scottish, Irish & Dutch teams feature in new European T20 league". The Cricketer. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Scotland, Ireland and Netherlands announce combined T20 league". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands set to launch Euro T20 League". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  6. ^ "New European T20 League Announced Starting August 2019". Cricket Scotland. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Euro T20 Slam finalises the six participating cities". Inside Sport. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Amsterdam Kings and Glasgow Giants... Euro T20 Slam team names unveiled". the cricketer. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Euro T20 Slam Squads". Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Bash Bros headline Euro tournament". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Shahid Afridi announced as icon player for Euro T20 Slam". The Indian Express. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Eoin Morgan signed as icon player for Euro T20 Slam". Business Standard. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Steyn and Guptill signed". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  14. ^ "Euro T20 Slam organisers eye August window". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Euro T20 Slam set for 2021 start as short-term uncertainty requires "prudent measures"". Cricket Ireland. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  16. ^ "Euro T20 Slam postponed for 2021 due to COVID and scheduling impacts". Cricket Ireland. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Update on Euro T20 Slam concept | Cricket Ireland". www.cricketireland.ie. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  18. ^ "TEAMS". Euro T20 Slam. Retrieved 30 April 2019.