Look out Pavel Florin: the English are coming. The England and Wales Cricket Board has granted permission for the village side Swardeston to become the first English T20 club champions to play in the European Cricket League.
The ECL is the self-styled Champions League of cricket, designed to grow the game around Europe in what is a huge and largely untapped market.
Its first edition was televised in 140 countries earlier this year. It went viral briefly when Florin of the Romanian Twenty20 champions Cluj was captured bowling some of the most unorthodox right-arm-slow ever captured on camera, attracting in the process a degree of cult celebrity.
Florin has since become a familiar face in Australia, appearing on television alongside Brian Lara and Jeff Thomson, but failing, so far, in a much-trailed bid to gain a visa to play for Surrey Hills Cricket Club in Melbourne.
Either side of Florin’s burst of fame the competition brought a high standard of club cricket and a first televised meeting of European club teams away from the ICC circuit.
The ECB’s backing coincides with the spread of the tournament from eight champion teams to 16 over an eight-day T10 competition. There is also talk of a significant TV deal in the offing. For the players of Swardeston, and indeed for every other English and Welsh club now given the chance to compete in Europe, it presents a genuinely intriguing opportunity.
“ECB are delighted that Swardeston Cricket Club from the East Anglian Premier League have been invited to participate in the expanded European Cricket League for 2020,” said Paul Bedford, the ECB’s National Participation Manager Leagues & Competitions.
“Many clubs across England and Wales will take a keen interest in the progress of Swardeston having enjoyed recent success in ECB National Club Competitions in both 40 overs and T20 formats.
“The new European Cricket League will see them play against passionate, unorthodox teams in an even shorter format, where one over, one innings or one great piece of fielding can make a difference to the result.”
At a time when cricket needs more than ever to spread its footprint the ECB’s backing for a low-cost new presence in the calendar will be welcomed by many. Not least the players and supporters of Swardeston CC, who have been giants of club cricket in recent years under the captaincy of Joe Gatting, nephew of Mike. The Norfolk-based club became the first English team to win the domestic double this summer, a feat sealed with victory against Toft CC, home of Joe Root and Michael Vaughan, in the English Club T20 finals in a day-night game at Derby.
“2019 was an incredible season for our club,” said Swardeston’s chairman Stuart Bartram. “Over the last 10 years we have achieved a great record in the ECB’s national competitions. We are thrilled to be invited to take our chance on the international stage and meet the best of Europe at ECL20.”
The challenge from here will be to haul in VOC Rotterdam, current kings of European T10 club cricket. The second ECL will take place between 31 May and 7 June at La Manga in Spain.
