Although Germany or Denmark aren’t necessarily countries you’d associate with cricket, the European Cricket League (ECL) is doing its level best to change these perceptions.
With its second event due to take place from 31st May to 25th June 2021, cricket fans will want to stay abreast of all the results by following the ECS T-10 live scores. It means they can stay glued to what could be one of next year’s most exciting events.
The countdown to the launch of the ECL is on but how does the tournament work, who set it up and who are the teams lining up to compete? Here’s the ECL explained…
How the ECL works
The tournament is based around the fast-paced T-10 format. These games are short and fast with each team only playing a single inning of ten overs each, with every match only lasting 90 minutes. It’s the speed of the competition which has attracted a large following with the first event seeing over 140 million household viewers.
The first contest, which took place in 2019, saw an incredible 17 matches packed into three days.
Who competed at the first ECL tournament?
The first event was hosted in Spain at the La Manga Club and welcomed eight teams when it was run in 2019.
Organisers invited teams from France (Dreux), The Netherlands (Rotterdam), Denmark (Svanholm), Bremen (Germany), Russia (St Petersburg), Italy (Brescia) and Romania (Cluj).
Who won the first tournament?
The first winners of the contest were VOC Rotterdam who managed to defeat SG Findorff by more than 100 runs.
The team dominated the competition, scoring a huge 675 runs during five games at an average of 135. They saved the best for the final, notching up 222 in their ten overs. Scott Edwards finished with a record-breaking 137, with Max O’Dowd amassing impressive innings of 74 off only 25 balls.
Who will be playing in the ECL 2021?
Organisers are looking to take the action up a notch when the ECL returns in 2021 by inviting 15 teams to participate.
The first three weeks will see five teams performing across three different groups. Each team will compete in a double round-robin format with the top teams qualifying for a finals day. They will then have the opportunity to win a place in the finals week.
The groups were recently drawn and are as follows:
Group A:
Dreux (France), Minhaj / La Manga Torrevieja (Spain), Darmstadt (Germany), Brescia (Italy), Swardeston (England)
Group B:
Lund (Sweden), Ostende Exiles (Belgium), HBS Crayenhout (Netherlands), Bjrvika (Norway), Forfarshire (Scotland)
Group C:
Moscow Foxes (Russia), Helsinki Gymkhana (Finland), Svanholm (Denmark), Cluj (Romania), CIYMS (Ireland)
Who is behind the ECL tournament?
The ECL was founded in 2018 by German cricket player Daniel Weston, before inviting top media, marketing and advertising professionals Roger Feiner, Frank Leenders and Thomas Klooz on to the board.
The future of the ECL
Dubbed as the cricketing equivalent of the UEFA Champions League, the event has already done much to bring European cricket a bigger profile.
Daniel Weston’s ambitions are aimed at providing more matches and more competition with 96 games now scheduled. 2021 will see 16 teams compete with 30 believed to be targeted for the following year. The organiser’s target is for cricket to become Europe’s number one summer bat and ball team sport – and with a big 2021 in the offing, their efforts to crown Europe’s ‘King of Cricket’ are paying off in spades.
