2022 European Cricket League
| Dates | 7 February – 19 March 2022 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | European Cricket League |
| Cricket format | T10 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round robin and knockout |
| Host(s) |  Spain |
| Champions | Pak I Care Badalona (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Tunbridge Wells |
| Participants | 30 |
| Player of the series | Muhammad Babar |
| Most runs | Chris Williams (477) |
| Most wickets | Muhammad Babar (23) |
| Official website | European Cricket Network |
The 2022 European Cricket League (abbreviated as ECL22) also known as the 2022 Bet2Ball European Cricket League was the second edition of the European Cricket League that was held at the Cartama Oval in Málaga, Spain. It was postponed from 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.[1]
Background[edit]
The European Cricket League was founded in 2019 by German cricketer Daniel Weston intended as a way to develop cricket in emerging nations in Europe as a cricket equivalent to football's UEFA Champions League.[2][3] In 2020, it was announced the European Cricket League expanded from 8 teams to include the national club champions of 30 European countries.[2] This came after Weston signed agreements with several European cricket boards to ensure their domestic champions would be invited.[4]
The host for the 2021 and 2022 editions was announced as Spain.[5] The Cartama Oval in Málaga was chosen as the host city ahead of La Manga, Murcia, who were due to host in 2021.[3] It was announced the 2022 edition would run from 7 February 2022 to 25 March.[6]
Participants[edit]
The following teams were invited to take part as champions of their domestic leagues.[7] The draw was made according to International Cricket Council seedings with England's ECB National Club Twenty20 champions Tunbridge Wells entering as top seeds.[3] Jersey's Farmers expressed concern about the scheduling of the tournament due to the Jersey national cricket team's participation in the 2019–2022 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League and qualifiers for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, as well as their players needing to use leave from their jobs to play.[8] The reigning European Cricket League champions VOC Rotterdam were also invited back to participate.[9]
It was announced that, due to issues with getting visas, that Petersburg Sporting would not be taking part in their group. They would be replaced by the Calpe Giants of Gibraltar.[10]
| Groups | Teams participated in the 2022 European Cricket League | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group A | Tunbridge Wells
|
 Svanholm
|
 Austrian Tigers
|
 Star CC
|
 Helsinki Titans
|
 Dreux
|
| Group B |  Brigade
|
 Griffins
|
 Bjørvika
|
 Royal Tigers
|
 Indo Bulgarian
|
 Zagreb Sokol
|
| Group C |  Carlton
|
 Brescia
|
 Cluj
|
 Prague CC Kings
|
 Olten
|
 Zeytinburnnu Zafir
|
| Group D |  V.O.C Rotterdam
|
 MSC Frankfurt
|
 Alby Zalmi
|
 Ostend Exiles
|
 Malta Super Kings
|
 Calpe Giants
|
| Group E | HBS Craeyenhout
|
 Farmers
|
Pak I Care Badalona
|
 Malo
|
 GEK Corfu
|
 Punjab Lions Nicosia
|
Group stage[edit]
The Group Stage is to be played across the first 5 weeks of the tournament, with each Group lasting a week. Each week starts with a 3-day round-robin tournament, from which the top 3 progress to a Super 3 playoff. The bottom two teams face off in an eliminator, with the winner going on to play the team who finished 4th. The winner of that game then plays the 3rd place team from the Super 3 playoff, while the Top 2 from that playoff play each other in the first Qualifier. The loser of that game and the winner of the third eliminator then play in the second qualifier. The winners of the Qualifiers then play in the group final to decide the overall Group Winner.
Group A[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austrian Tigers
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 2.699 | Advance to Super 3 |
| 2 | Tunbridge Wells
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1.656 | |
| 3 | Dreux
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3.473 | |
| 4 | Svanholm
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −0.418 | Advance to Eliminator 2 |
| 5 | Helsinki Titans
|
5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | −0.615 | Advance to Eliminator 1 |
| 6 | Star CC
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | −5.000 |
Fixtures[edit]
Super 3[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tunbridge Wells
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2.550 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Austrian Tigers
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.292 | |
| 3 | Dreux
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | −2.891 | Advanced to Eliminator 3 |
Playoffs[edit]
Eliminators[edit]
Helsinki Titans
118/8 (10 overs) |
v
|
Star CC 118/6 (10 overs) |
Ahad Qureshi 50 (18)
Jatin Madan 3/20 (2 overs) |
Jatin Madan 49 (20)
Wahid Qureshi 3/12 (2 overs) |
- Star CC won the toss and elected to Bat
Svanholm
43/0 (4.2 overs) |
v
|
Star CC 44 (8.3 overs) |
Wahab Hashimi 23* (12)
Jatin Madan 0/15 (2 overs) |
Shiv Karan Gill 23 (16)
Zeeshan Khan 3/3 (2 overs) |
- Star CC won the toss and elected to bat
Dreux
101/8 (10 overs) |
v
|
Svanholm 80/8 (10 overs) |
Kamran Ahmadzai 26 (9)
Toqeer Ahmad 2/15 (2 overs) |
Hamid Shah 21 (14)
Kamran Ahmadzai 3/18 (2 overs) |
- Svanholm won the toss and elected to Bowl
Qualifiers and Final[edit]
Tunbridge Wells
141/4 (10 overs) |
v
|
Austrian Tigers 113/8 (10 overs) |
Alex Williams 58 (25)
Imran Asif 2/19 (2 overs) |
Imran Asif 33 (19)
Dave Smith 3/15 (2 overs) |
- Austrian Tigers won the toss and elected to bowl.
Austrian Tigers
83/9 (10 overs) |
v
|
Dreux 86/3 (6.4 overs) |
Ahsan Yousuf 21 (8)
Shahzeb Mohammad 3/14 (2 overs) |
Hamza Niaz 28 (11)
Adal Afzal 2/24 (1.4 overs) |
- Austrian Tigers won the toss and elected to bat
Tunbridge Wells
128/5 (10 overs) |
v
|
Dreux 101/8 (10 overs) |
Dave Smith 28 (12)
Tabush Bhatti 2/20 (2 overs) |
Mohammad Nisar 48 (19)
Marcus O'Riordan 4/17 (2 overs) |
- Tunbridge Wells won the toss and elected to Bat
Group B[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Tigers
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1.923 | Advanced to Super 3 |
| 2 | Brigade
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0.297 | |
| 3 | Griffins
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2.103 | |
| 4 | Bjørvika
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0.255 | Advanced to Eliminator 2 |
| 5 | Indo-Bulgarian
|
5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0.648 | Advanced to Eliminator 1 |
| 6 | Zagreb Sokol
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | −5.236 |
Super 3[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brigade
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0.644 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Royal Tigers
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.623 | |
| 3 | Griffins
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | −1.381 | Advanced to Eliminator 3 |
Eliminators[edit]
Indo-Bulgarian
149/1 (10 overs) |
v
|
Zagreb Sokol 111/1 (10 overs) |
Jamie Batten 54* (28)
Sam Houghton 1/37 (2 overs) |
Dan Lazarides 47* (29)
Chris Lakov 1/26 (2 overs) |
- Zagreb Sokol won the toss and elected to Bowl
Bjørvika
71/0 (6.3 overs) |
v
|
Indo-Bulgarian 70/8 (10 overs) |
Chris Lakov 28* (21)
Waseem Abbas 2/10 (2 overs) |
Qamar Ejaz 33* (19)
Jamie Batten 0/11 (2 overs) |
- Indo-Bulgarian won the toss and elected to Bat
Griffins
63/8 (10 overs) |
v
|
Bjørvika 69/3 (7.5 overs) |
Adam Martel 18 (10)
Muhammad Afzaal 4/6 (2 overs) |
Khurram Shahzad 27* (12)
Jordan Martel 2/12 (2 overs) |
- Bjørvika won the toss and elected to Bowl
Qualifiers and Final[edit]
Group C[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlton
|
5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 2.301 | Advanced to the Super 3 |
| 2 | Olten
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2.153 | |
| 3 | Cluj
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0.760 | |
| 4 | Brescia
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3.296 | Advanced to Eliminator 2 |
| 5 | Prague Kings
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1.173 | Advanced to Eliminator 1 |
| 6 | Zeytinburnu Zafer
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | −1.141 |
Super 3[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlton
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3.076 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Cluj
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | −2.634 | |
| 3 | Olten
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | −3.331 | Advanced to Eliminator 3 |
Eliminators[edit]
Qualifiers and Final[edit]
Group D[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MSC Frankfurt
|
5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 2.402 | Advanced to the Super 3 |
| 2 | Ostend Exiles
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1.636 | |
| 3 | V.O.C Rotterdam
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1.118 | |
| 4 | Alby Zalmi
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −0.754 | Advanced to Eliminator 2 |
| 5 | Malta Super Kings
|
5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | −0.504 | Advanced to Eliminator 1 |
| 6 | Calpe Giants
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | −4.177 |
Super 3[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MSC Frankfurt
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.957 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Ostend Exiles
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.645 | |
| 3 | V.O.C Rotterdam
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | −1.813 | Advanced to Eliminator 3 |
Eliminators[edit]
Qualifiers and Final[edit]
Group E[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pak I Care Badalona
|
5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 3.906 | Advanced to the Super 3 |
| 2 | HBS Craeyenhout
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0.300 | |
| 3 | Punjab Lions Nicosia
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0.022 | |
| 4 | Malo
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −0.599 | Advanced to Eliminator 2 |
| 5 | Farmers
|
5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | −1.382 | Advanced to Eliminator 1 |
| 6 | GEK Corfu
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | −1.836 |
Super 3[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pak I Care Badalona
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.984 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Punjab Lions Nicosia
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −0.067 | |
| 3 | HBS Craeyenhout
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | −1.960 | Advanced to Eliminator 3 |
Eliminators[edit]
Farmers
88/2 (7.5 overs) |
v
|
GEK Corfu 85/9 (10 overs) |
Asa Tribe 44* (22)
Ilias Bardis 2/24 (2 overs) |
Tasos Manousis 27 (12)
Charles Perchard 2/12 (2 overs) |
- Farmers won the toss and elected to Bowl
Malo
95 (10 overs) |
v
|
Farmers 97/4 (9.3 overs) |
Najam Shahzad 49 (22)
Ben Kynman 4/12 (1 over) |
Zak Tribe 26 (11)
Adnan Gondal 1/19 (2 overs) |
- Farmers won the toss and elected to Bowl
HBS Craeyenhout
95/3 (10 overs) |
v
|
Farmers 96/4 (10 overs) |
Tayo Walbrugh 47* (28)
Joel Richardson 2/5 (2 overs) |
Asa Tribe 46 (22)
Ferdi Vink 2/17 (2 overs) |
- Farmers won the toss and elected to bowl
Qualifiers and Final[edit]
Pak I Care Badalona
88/8 (10 overs) |
v
|
Punjab Lions Nicosia 94/9 (10 overs) |
Sikandar Ali 28 (13)
Gurpartap Singh 2/13 (2 overs) |
Qasim Anwar 27* (11)
Muhammad Babar 2/7 (2 overs) |
- Pak I Care Badalona won the toss and elected to bowl
Pak I Care Badalona
112/5 (10 overs) |
v
|
Farmers 71/8 (10 overs) |
Muhammad Babar 75 (35)
Charles Perchard 2/7 (2 overs) |
James Smith 12 (9)
Sheroz Ahmed 3/15 (2 overs) |
- Farmers won the toss and elected to bowl
Pak I Care Badalona
93/9 (10 overs) |
v
|
Punjab Lions Nicosia 18/5 (3 overs) |
Muhammad Kamran 35 (15)
Sushil Kumar 2/7 (2 overs) |
Gurpartap Singh 6 (5)
Muhammad Babar 3/5 (1 over) |
- Pak I Care Badalona won the toss and elected to bat.
- Rain reduced Punjab Lions Nicosia's innings to 3 overs.
- According to the DLS method, their target was 33 runs.
Championship Week[edit]
The Champions Week features a slightly modified version of the Group Stage model. The 5 group winners play in a double round-robin format from the Monday to Thursday. The top 2 teams after this progress to the 1st Qualifier, while 3rd and 4th go to the Eliminator. The loser of the Qualifier and the Winner of the Eliminator then face off for the right to play the Qualifier winner in the Championship Final. The teams moving on to the Finals week are:
| Team |
|---|
| Tunbridge Wells
|
| Brigade
|
| Brescia
|
| Alby Zalmi
|
| Pak I Care Badalona
|
Due to adverse weather conditions in Malaga, the first 3 days of competition were suspended. The games were shortened to 5 overs a side, with 10 games on Day 1 (Thursday), and 10 games on Day 2 (Friday), with the Saturday now acting as the Final Day of the tournament
Round robin[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pak I Care Badalona
|
8 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 1.492 | Advance to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Tunbridge Wells
|
8 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 3.781 | |
| 3 | Brescia
|
8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | −0.414 | Advance to Eliminator |
| 4 | Brigade
|
8 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −3.119 | |
| 5 | Alby Zalmi
|
8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | −1.752 |
Eliminator, Qualifiers and Final[edit]
Bresica
96/4 (9.3 overs) |
v
|
Brigade 95/3 (10 overs) |
Ali Raza Islam 41 (21)
Ryan MacBeth 3/10 (2 overs) |
David Murdock 48 (26)
Ali Raza Islam 3/3 (2 overs) |
- Brigade won the toss and elected to bat
Pak I Care Badalona
122/7 (10 overs) |
v
|
Tunbridge Wells 95/6 (10 overs) |
Muhammad Babar 30 (10)
Bailey Wrightman 2/11 (2 overs) |
Ian McLean 35* (15)
Atif Muhammad 3/13 (2 overs) |
- Tunbridge Wells won the toss and elected to bowl
Tunbridge Wells
150/5 (10 overs) |
v
|
Brescia 120/6 (10 overs) |
Alex Williams 49 (18)
Bashar Khan 1/16 (2 overs) |
Ali Raza Islam 54 (23)
Matt Barker 2/6 (2 overs) |
- Brescia won the toss and elected to bowl
Pak I Care Badalona
84/3 (9 overs) |
v
|
Tunbridge Wells 81/7 (10 overs) |
Mohammad Yasin 24 (20)
Michael Waller 1/8 (1 over) |
Christian Davis 23 (18)
Muhammad Babar 3/14 (2 overs) |
- Pak I Care Badalona won the toss and elected to bowl
Statistics[edit]
Most Runs[edit]
| Runs | Player | Team | Inns | HS | Ave | SR | 50 | 30 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 477 | Chris Williams | Tunbridge Wells
|
19 | 61 | 29.81 | 248.43 | 2 | 6 | 24 | 54 |
| 445 | Alex Williams | Tunbridge Wells
|
19 | 58* | 40.45 | 223.61 | 2 | 5 | 34 | 37 |
| 433 | Muhammad Babar | Pak I Care Badalona
|
20 | 75 | 25.47 | 220.91 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 53 |
| 384 | Babar Hussain | Brescia
|
19 | 102* | 25.60 | 193.93 | 1 | 2 | 34 | 27 |
| 361 | Graeme McCarter | Brigade
|
18 | 56* | 25.78 | 184.18 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 28 |
| 356 | Ali Raza Islam | Brescia
|
16 | 54 | 25.42 | 215.75 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 37 |
| 310 | Yasir Dullu | Brescia
|
19 | 66* | 20.66 | 174.15 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 21 |
| 282 | Azam Khalil | Alby Zalmi
|
17 | 53* | 20.14 | 157.54 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 18 |
| 262 | Sudesh Wickramasekara | Prague CC Kings
|
6 | 76* | 52.40 | 231.85 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 28 |
| 261 | Zeeshan Kukikhel | Royal Tigers
|
10 | 54 | 32.62 | 193.33 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 22 |
| Source: European Cricket Network | ||||||||||
Most Wickets[edit]
| Wkts | Player | Team | Mat | Ave | Econ | BBI | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Muhammad Babar | Pak I Care Badalona
|
20 | 10.43 | 8.00 | 3/4 | 7.82 |
| 21 | Dave Smith | Tunbridge Wells
|
18 | 9.38 | 8.20 | 3/6 | 6.85 |
| Ryan MacBeth | Brigade
|
18 | 11.66 | 9.07 | 3/10 | 7.71 | |
| 19 | Ali Raza Islam | Brescia
|
17 | 7.57 | 7.51 | 3/0 | 6.05 |
| 18 | Iftikhar Hussain | Brigade
|
17 | 13.50 | 9.34 | 3/10 | 8.66 |
| 17 | Muhammad Kamran | Pak I Care Badalona
|
17 | 10.94 | 6.88 | 3/3 | 9.52 |
| Shehroz Ahmed | Pak I Care Badalona
|
20 | 11.35 | 8.90 | 4/8 | 7.64 | |
| 16 | Tas Qureshi | Alby Zalmi
|
16 | 11.50 | 8.00 | 2/7 | 8.62 |
| Matt Barker | Tunbridge Wells
|
18 | 14.00 | 8.90 | 3/8 | 9.43 | |
| Neeraj Tiwari | Punjab Lions Nicosia
|
9 | 10.50 | 9.33 | 3/11 | 6.75 | |
| Source: European Cricket Network | |||||||
References[edit]
- ^ "European Cricket League postponed until 2022". The Cricketer. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Exclusive: ECL to expand to 30 teams in 2022". Emerging Cricket. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ a b c "DRAW: Teams for European Cricket League finals at Spain's Cartama Oval". The Olive Press. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ "European Cricket League and Croatian Cricket Federation ink partnership deal". Croatia Week. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ "The European Cricket Championship is taking place in Cartama now". Euroweekly News. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ "Cricket Switzerland all systems go for European Cricket League". Cricket World. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club [@TWCricketClub] (9 November 2021). "We are off to the Euro's!! @EuropeanCricket will involve club teams that have won their domestic competition across the European countries. Our group stage is being played from Monday 7th to Friday 11th February and will be live on BT Sport from the @CartamaOval in Malaga!!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Farmers excited for European Cricket League challenge". Jersey Evening Post. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ "European Cricket League – ECL21 – Finals Week". ECN. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ "European Cricket on Twitter". ECN. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.