The European Cricket League (ECL), is a Ten10

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 ...

league contested by the cricket clubs of European countries. It was formed with a goal to develop and popularize cricket in the

European continent Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

. The league was founded in 2018. The league is played in the T-10 format among clubs all around Europe that are champions in domestic tournaments in their respective countries. The inaugural tournament in 2019 took place in

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 ...

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 ...

with 8 clubs participating. VOC Rotterdam were crowned the champions who defeated SG Findorff by 101 runs in the final. It was viewed on live TV & streamed around the world in over 120 countries in more than 140 million households by over 40 broadcasters. There have been two editions of the ECL, the first being in 2019. VOC Rotterdam won the inaugural edition, while Pak I Care Badalona are the most recent champions. The second edition took place in 2022 and involved 30 teams.

History

The league was founded in 2018 by

Daniel Weston Daniel Weston (born 11 March 1983) is a German cricketer. Born in Perth, Western Australia, he initially played cricket for that State alongside better-known players such as Shaun Marsh. In 2004, he founded Westware Computers Pty Ltd, which buil ...

with eight official

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

member federations on board, namely

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

for the first tournament in 2019. Event organisers have since increased the number of federations and eligible teams for future tournaments. The 2020 edition was scheduled to be once again held at the La Manga Club in Spain, this time with 16 participants (up from 8 in 2019, with the additions of the Belgian, English, Finnish, Irish, Norwegian, Romanian, Scottish, and Swedish National Champions), but was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Spain on 31 January 2020, when a German tourist tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in La Gomera, Canary Island ...

. The 2021 edition was then scheduled to once again be held at the La Manga Club, but was again cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ECL22 saw a massive expansion for the competition, seeing champions from 963 different club teams (plus the previous winners VOC Rotterdam) invited to take part. Bet2Ball was announced as the Title Sponsor, while Cryptocurrency Kiba Inu was announced to be sponsoring all 30 teams' jerseys.

ECL Board

Fellow ECL board members Frank Leenders and Thomas Klooz were both part of the marketing team of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. Leenders and Klooz both joined TEAM Marketing (Team Event and Media Marketing) in 1992 and played significant roles in the rebranding of the UEFA Champions League during its formative years. Leenders went on to become managing director and a member of the Board of Directors, while Klooz rose to become CEO of TEAM and was also on the board of directors. ECL CEO Roger Feiner is a former Director of Broadcasting at

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

from 1999 to 2002, responsible for the global TV rights and TV broadcasting of the FIFA Confederation Cup in Mexico in 1999 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan/Korea amongst others.

Seasons and winners

References

{{Reflist European Cricket League Cricket competitions in Europe Multi-national professional sports leagues