The European Cricket League ("ECL") is about to debut its maiden season at the La Manga Club in Spain in the final week of July 2019. The cricket fever has triumphantly hit the European shores and raised the temperature to its maximum.
The European Cricket League ("ECL") is about to debut its maiden season at the La Manga Club in Spain in the final week of July 2019. The cricket fever has triumphantly hit the European shores and raised the temperature to its maximum. The changing trends in international cricket have popularised the T20 cricket leagues at domestic levels in different continents and countries. This format of the game has successfully pulled the masses toward the stadiums because of its rapid pace and newly acquired colourful outlook.
The situation has raised an interesting question in the minds of all. Is there another Modi or Sethi in the offing? IPL and PSL – the brainchildren of Lalit Modi and Najam Sethi – have immortalised them in the field of cricket. The history seems to be repeating itself as Aussie born, German wicketkeeper Daniel Weston has taken the initiative of getting his dream of the European Cricket League materialised. He has given up a lucrative career in fund management to invest all of his energies and attention in the organisation of the upcoming mega cricketing event. His love for the sport is about to bear the fruit for the ECL has the leagues attention is on an upward moving trend in the media as well.
The reverberation of his plan entered the gates of the BBC and it broadcasted the voice of Daniel Weston on air to let him make his plan public and popularised. His passion for cricket was recognised and appreciated by this leading broadcasting corporation and it played its role in the promotion of ECL by disseminating his words across the globe through its program titled Podcast: BBC Stumped with Alison Mitchell. Mr. Weston unfolded his aim of making the ECL the second most popular league in the world in the following decades, of course with the IPL atop. He confirmed the participation of eight of the 2018 domestic champion clubs from around Europe in the first edition of the ECL. He is determined to make cricket Europe’s number one summer sport.
He considers the children of the expatriates in Europe to be the future of cricket on the continent. Because he knows that the children of expatriates are natives, and therefore embedded in the community at an early age and can make the biggest impact in to the future of a sport long term. Therefore, he wants them to live in an environment where there is access to strong cricket clubs, which can help nurture young cricketers to learn their cricketing skills at a much earlier stage. Because the chance for cricketers to have world-class skills can only occur if skills are learnt early in life. Such as batting, bowling and fielding techniques and game awareness. Daniel has expressed his excitement in the increasing number of cricket clubs in the region as it reflects the increase in the number of cricket lovers also.
He analogised his ECL with the football league in which the spirits of the players are sky high and they seem to be ready to put in everything on the line to win the competition. This was an apt answer to the question asked to him about the inclusion of the well-renowned international players. His confidence in Europe's local players is the key which makes ECL distinct from the other cricket leagues for it is a step towards the promotion of native players and domestic cricket.
To put it simply Daniel has remained successful in introducing his brainchild to the others in detail and he anticipates a promising development of the game and it's players in the upcoming event. His passion, devotion, and hard work have uplifted the spirits of the potential viewers and the players. It will not be an exaggeration to say that he is on the way of creating history and his efforts will result in the exploration of many new cricketing avenues in continental Europe. Simply making the game and the cricket community stronger, is his aim.
