The 2019 European Cricket League (abbreviated as ECL19) was the inaugural edition of the

European Cricket League The European Cricket League (ECL), is a Ten10 cricket league contested by the cricket clubs of European countries. It was formed with a goal to develop and popularize cricket in the European continent. The league was founded in 2018. The league ...

. It was held in July 2019 with eight European champion club teams. At ECL19, the domestic club champions of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

all competed for the chance to become club cricket's European champions. Players from 18 European nations as well as from more traditional cricket-playing nations took part. The league has adopted the T10 format and was played over three days. The

La Manga Club La Manga Club is a sports and leisure resort located in the south-eastern region of Spain, Murcia, south of La Manga, and bordered by the Mar Menor and Calblanque Regional Park. The resort complex opened in 1972 and covers an area of 1,400 a ...

Cartagena, Murcia Cartagena () is a Spanish city and a major naval station on the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Iberia. As of January 2018, it has a population of 218,943 inhabitants, being the region's second-largest municipality and the country's sixth-lar ...

, Spain hosted the tournament, which was staged between July 29 and July 31, 2019.

Tournament Play / Broadcast at ECL19

Packing 17 matches into a T10 format over three days, every match was televised live in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

across a combination of broadcast, digital and social channels, including the newly-launched European Cricket Network. Over 100 countries worldwide broadcast coverage including the UK,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Teams were split into two groups of four with matches being played on a round-robin basis in La Manga with the top two from each progressing to contest the semi-finals and final. The current ECL title holders are V.O.C Rotterdam of the Netherlands, who won the inaugural 2019 season, beating SG Findorff (Bremen) from Germany in the final.

Participating teams

Eight clubs from across Europe participated in the inaugural edition. # Svanholm Cricket Club, Brøndby # Dreux Cricket Club,

Dreux Dreux () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Geography Dreux lies on the small river Blaise, a tributary of the Eure, about 35 km north of Chartres. Dreux station has rail connections to Argentan, Paris and Granvi ...

# Sportgemeinschaft Findorff,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

# Janjua Cricket Club,

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

Volharding Olympia Combinatie Volharding Olympia Combinatie (VOC) is a cricket and association football club from Rotterdam, Netherlands. Its home ground is Sportpark Hazelaarweg in Hillegersberg-Schiebroek. History VOC was formed on 1 January 1904 as a merger of RC & VV V ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

# Cluj Cricket Club,

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

# St. Petersburg Lions,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

# Catalunya Cricket Club,

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

Group stage

Group A

---- * ''V.O.C. Rotterdam won the toss and elected to bowl.'' ---- * ''Dreux CC won the toss and elected to bat.'' ---- * ''V.O.C. Rotterdam won the toss and elected to bowl.'' ---- * ''Cluj CC won the toss and elected to bowl.'' ---- * ''Svanholm CC won the toss and elected to bowl.'' ---- * ''Svanholm CC won the toss and elected to bowl.''

Group B

Lost all points due to player eligibility infringement. ---- * ''Catalunya CC won the toss and elected to bat.'' ---- * ''Catalunya CC won the toss and elected to bat.'' ''JCC Brescia initially won all their matches, but were later found breaching the player eligibility criteria and thus their opponents were declared winners.'' ---- * ''JCC Brescia won the toss and elected to bowl.'' ''JCC Brescia initially won all their matches, but were later found breaching the player eligibility criteria and thus their opponents were declared winners.'' ---- * ''St. Petersburg Lions won the toss and elected to bat.'' ---- * ''St. Petersburg Lions won the toss and elected to bowl.'' ''JCC Brescia initially won all their matches, but were later found breaching the player eligibility criteria and thus their opponents were declared winners.'' ---- * ''SG Findorff won the toss and elected to bowl.''

Minor play-offs

7th place playoff

* ''Cluj CC won the toss and elected to bat.'' ----

5th place playoff

* ''Dreux CC won the toss and elected to bat.''

Semi-finals

1st Semi-final

* ''Catalunya CC won the toss and elected to bat.'' ----

2nd Semi-final

* ''SG Findorff won the toss and elected to bowl.''

Final

* ''SG Findorff won the toss and elected to bowl.''

Player of the Tournament

Max O'Dowd Maxwell Patrick O'Dowd (born 4 March 1994) is a Dutch international cricketer who made his debut for the Netherlands national cricket team in June 2015. He is a right-handed opening batsman and has played for the Netherlands in three editions of ...

of V.O.C. Rotterdam was awarded “Player of the Tournament” at the 2019 European Cricket League. O’Dowd scored 219 runs in five innings (2 not outs) at an average of 73 and strike rate of 263.86, including an undefeated 74 in the final against SG Findorff. He also took four wickets in the tournament with his leg-break bowling with a best of 2-25 against Catalunya Cricket Club in the semi-final. O’Dowd is a current Netherlands international.

Pavel Florin at ECL19

The inaugural tournament gained significant worldwide prominence after the remarkable performances of Cluj all-rounder Pavel Florin during the group stages. Florin, a 40-year-old professional bodyguard and president of Cluj Cricket Club in Romania, caused a stir after his bowling performance went viral on social media. Many of the sport's most famous figures, including Australian legend

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australia ...

, expressed their support and admiration of Florin because of his pure unaffected love for the game. Florin has since gone on to play in Australia where he again hit the headlines over the winter. Florin will take part in the second-staging of the European Cricket League - ECL20 - with Cluj Cricket Club, Romania.

References

{{reflist Cricket leagues

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...